Blue & Gray Nylon Focusing Hood?

[Ken Lee]

I acquired a blue and gray nylon focusing hood with the purchase of a used 4x5 Tachihara. It has an elastic section to fit around the camera, and it's held together with Velcro.

Before using it in the field, I washed it in water - and now the gray material has started flaking off rather badly.

Does anyone know who makes or made this focusing hood? I'd like to replace it. It's very light weight.

Thanks!

[Jon Shiu]

It may be an early BTZS, View Camera Store, hood.

Jon

[John Powers]

If it is a BTZ, and you replace it, in the future try wet sponging off the dirt rather than washing the whole thing. I use two different size BTZ hoods (8x10 and 7x17) and this method has allowed me to keep them tolerably clean without destroying them in the wash.

This a common problem with some vinyl products. I have had the same results from washing a sailing clothes bag and also an old sailing slicker or light rain jacket.

Being seen in the old dirty jacket (30 years old) can lead to your wife being discussed enough to buy you a new one. I now have the old dirty one I wear to hike the dogs in the mud when rain is possible and the clean one for when my wife is about.

John

[Ken Lee]

Thanks!

Any idea if the new one is heavier than the old one? This one, ruined unfortunately, is feather-weight. I'd only replace my current cotton dark-cloth if the replacement were very light weight.

[Ebrahiem]

i'm still planning to buy one,....!

[Daniel Stone]

Ken,

could you post a photo of the one you have?

thanks

-Dan

[Roger Cole]

Thanks!

Any idea if the new one is heavier than the old one? This one, ruined unfortunately, is feather-weight. I'd only replace my current cotton dark-cloth if the replacement were very light weight.

I just bought the new one. It's pretty light, huge improvement over my old horse blanket, though it's no good for sitting on the ground nor using as a reflector. According to the info on the View Camera Store site, the 4x5 model weighs less than a pound:

http://www.viewcamerastore.com/servlet/the-198/BTZS-Focus-Hood%2C-Dark/Detail

[Ken Lee]

Here's what the cloth looks like, with a 1-Gallon bottle for scale. You can see some flaking particles in the lower left. It's a mess.

http://www.kenleegallery.com/images/forum/FocusingCloth1.jpg

Now here's a close-up which shows the current state of the interior:

http://www.kenleegallery.com/images/forum/FocusingCloth2.jpg

I wonder if there's a way to get all the flaking material off. The secondary material made it light-proof, but it's still fairly dark without it - and even lighter too :rolleyes:

All I did was soak it in water with a bit of detergent: perhaps some kind of solvent would do that, without harming the nylon. Any ideas ? Hot water with more detergent ?

[Daniel Stone]

try using a scrub brush with some hot water. I'd steer clear of doing this in a sink though. Get a 5gal "homer" bucket from Home Depot, and do it out in the yard. Gunk like that flaking stuff might not be good in your pipes, or leech pad(if you've got one). Just a suggestion, IDK what it's made of though...

-Dan