Viewing Hood for 8X10 Toyo

[Neal Chaves]

Here's a viewing hood I made for my 8X10 Toyo. It is made up from two identical pieces of 7mm wet suit neoprene glued up with neoprene glue and then glued to a 3/16" aircraft plywood frame with the same glue. The frame goes in place under the sliding bar lock on the back of the 8X10 Toyo. I glued and sewed Velcro patches on to keep it folded in the case and in transport. I always use a viewing hood on a camera if I can, as opposed to a dark cloth. As many of you must know, you never realize how many idiots there are in the world until you get under a view camera dark cloth by the side of the road!

[tgtaylor]

[Ari]

Neal, any plans to make another one and sell it to me?

[Frank Petronio]

That looks like a pretty good design for a lot of cameras. Is the rear opening sized OK or do you wish it was larger?

[Ramiro Elena]

Good idea! What do you do for loupe focussing?

[finnagainn]

This is the solution that takes this idea further, not mine, overheard it on some forum.
Install skiing glasses frame (empty, no filter) into the rear opening of the hood. Glue a standard camera cold shoe inside of this frame above your leading eye. When needed you can mount a loupe into this cold shoe, just glue an appropriate foot to it.
So you put these "skiing glasses" on, held by the standard rubber strap, your hands are free, you don't breath onto the ground glass, profit.
I wish I had hands straight enough to do this myself.

[Neal Chaves]

This hood is actually a replacement for one that I made back in the 80s. That one attached with Velcro, and I first used it on a Deardorf where I had put self-stick Velcro on the ground glass frame. When I moved from the Deardorf to the Toyo, I made the plywood frame and put Velcro on that to fit the hood. When I made the new hood I tested the glue to see how it would hold the neoprene on the plywood, and when I found that it bonds tightly, I decided to eliminate the Velcro.

The view of the ground glass is completely unobstructed and my new hood is supple enough to get a loupe in there if I want to, but a pair of reading glasses is all I really need. My old one had a bigger opening, but when I made the new one I had plenty of extra material so I made the cone longer and then cut it back to a comfortable size. It is about the size of a diving mask and I can get a light tight seal against my eyes and nose while I can breath through my mouth and not fog the glass.

If you want to make one, make up two patterns out of paper first and tape them together. When you have it the way you want it, use one of those patterns to cut the two pieces of neoprene. If you attach with Velcro, put the loops on the frame and the hooks on the hood. You can use self-stick on the frame OK, but on the neoprene, use the plain Velcro and glue it on with neoprene glue. Sew it, too if you can.

A dive shop that makes custom suits could make this right up for you from your patterns. I once had a Linhof bag magnifier that developed bad foam and a dive shop made a duplicate for me from thin neoprene that was perfect and far better than the original.

[TheDeardorffGuy]

Very nice!

[imagecom]

Hello,
Do you have any photos of the hood, I cannot see them on the forum? Also, any photos of the making process would be helpful. Thanks!

Here's a viewing hood I made for my 8X10 Toyo. It is made up from two identical pieces of 7mm wet suit neoprene glued up with neoprene glue and then glued to a 3/16" aircraft plywood frame with the same glue. The frame goes in place under the sliding bar lock on the back of the 8X10 Toyo. I glued and sewed Velcro patches on to keep it folded in the case and in transport. I always use a viewing hood on a camera if I can, as opposed to a dark cloth. As many of you must know, you never realize how many idiots there are in the world until you get under a view camera dark cloth by the side of the road!

[Neal Chaves]

Here are photos of the hood described in the above thread. I am still using it but have have gathered materials to make two more of an improved design. I now have an 810G that needs one too. Instead of cutting out a sheet of plywood to make the frame, I am going to use a full size sheet of Lexan which will also serve as rugged ground glass protector. I can focus right through it with no problem. My local dive shops no longer repair wet suits or make custom neoprene items and they no longer stock the material or even the glue. I obtained what I need from Ebay. Lexan is available at Home Depot and Lowes. The first step will be to make paper patterns of the two neoprene pieces which I will cut out and glue together and then glue to the Lexan sheet. I will post details when complete.