Mounting a Toyo 45gx compendium hood on a 45a

[jonathan_lipkin]

Just purchased a compendium lens hood for my toyo 45a without carefully reading the description - it's actually the hood that mounts on the G/GX. Has anyone ever adapted this hood for a 45a? I have metalworking tools (dremmel, mig welder, tap and die) and no fear of cutting into things. From what I can gather, the 45g hood has a nut and two pins that attach to the front standard. My 45a has a threaded hole, but not the blanks that the pins would go into. If I were to cut off the pins, would it attach? I'm also told the other difference is an adapter on the back that can be fashioned out of duct tape.

[jonathan_lipkin]

45A hood
http://www.adorama.com/catlite.tpl?op=large_imagemulti&sku=TY180623

The one I bought:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350440953495&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

Seller is being very nice and willing to let me examine the hood or cancel the transaction.

[Dave Hally]

Jonathan,
I have a 45A compendium hood. It slides on two rods that are mounted on a pivot piece. The mount pivots on a "block" that has one screw to fasten it to the lens standard. It looks like your hood mounts directly to the pivot piece (slightly different). I don't see the two pins that you mentioned, but they may unscrew and you could try to mount yours to the 45A. It will be very close to the lens board, but may work.
The 45A hood has a plastic collar that comes back over the lens (it also has a slot for a filter), which may be why they made it extendible. You may be able to make it work, but the correct one will be a little more versatile, but it will also be a little bulkier to pack.
Dave

[jonathan_lipkin]

Thanks, Dave. The seller is going to send it to me for a trial. Hopefully I can kludge it on somehow. Used 45a hoods are pretty rare, otherwise I'd try to get the correct one. New hoods are very pricey.

[jonathan_lipkin]

Shade arrived friday. Would have been pretty easy to replace the mounting screw (too large to fit in my front element) and drill holes for the mounting pins. However, the frame of the bellows is too big and won't fold down completely over the lens without hitting the bottom of the camera.