I have had the lens for about a week and took it out on a few walks. I use a blackrapid strap, to the camera hangs off to my side, with the lens pointed downward. I have always carried my 4/3 Olympus bodies/lenses this way, without issue. The 12-40mm lens hood (maybe other m4/3 lenses are like this too? This is my first) has two push buttons on the sides, but really only one is needed to release the hood. The slightest touch (go ahead and try) is given and that baby slides freely. A replacement hood is going to cost $50. This is going to be a huge problem for me on my summer hikes. Even if I don't use the blackrapid strap, I can see this coming off easily with just regular use. But really. this is supposed to be a rugged lens/body system. I don't know Why Olympus put a pinch lock on this, if only one slight tap is needed to release it. The second button is if you put your lens hood on the reverse way (it's not a true pinch release). Anyone have any modifications or solutions? I am thinking about drilling a tiny hole and inserting a pin. Problem is I need to remove and store that pin when I want to take off the hood.
Sounds like you have a defective hood. Mine requires both buttons be pressed to release, and they need a decent amount of force. It's possible that they will loosen up over time, but so long as you don't press both simultaneously, I don't think there should be a problem losing it.
I initially thought both buttons had to pressed simultaneously but when I checked, I found that the buttons have different tones on the direction arrows. One is white and the other gray. With the hood mounted on the lens such that the words "Olympus lens Hood LH-66" are at the bottom, then the right hand button has the white direction arrow and if pressed on its own, the hood can be rotated and will come off. So not a defective hood.
Actually, I looked at the design. It apparently is by design. Press one and release. The notch on the other goes in the opposite direction (for when attached facing back towards the camera). I'll contact Olympus anyways to see what they say. Thank you.
I've been playing with it to figure out a solution. A 1/3 press of one button and that things is lose and ready to fall. There's no avoiding it. One slight bump and it goes. Definitely not something I can use when strapped to the blackrapid, but really something they failed with on the design. The buttoon things is nowhere near as secure as the friction-based locks before.
If it is coming off bumping against your body while hiking then maybe all you would have to do is to attach it 180 degrees rotated. The releasing button would then face the opposite direction which you might be less likely to accidentally press. Rudy
The range of ways that Oly use to attach hoods is bewildering - bayonets, thumbscrews, push-buttons, ... Why all the variety?
Gaffers tape, the photographers friend. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/insight...aphers-thoughts-why-gaffers-tape-awesome.html LOL
Like mattphotos, my hood needs pressure on one side only, one for the normal position the other for reversing the hood. thanks for the warning i was testing a the moment capture camera v2 or velcro + blackwidow spider holster ( its lighter than the capture camera ) on my backpack strap for hiking. ill try gaffer tape as suggested by Clint
Wow, this is a bit worrying. I was even praising how smart the hood release button design was, compared to the lens hood of the 12-35, which easily rotates slightly out of position while hanging on my side on a neck strap...
I'll try Gaffer's Tape for now, but nothing I want to keep on my beautiful new lens. The hood is really easy to detach accidentally. I can't believe this got tested in the real world. I guess it's all a part of Oly's evil scheme to get in the black by selling $50 replacement hoods I contacted them about it, but I think it's going to come down to either using a screw on, or some modification. I looked into drilling a hole to insert a pin that would prevent it from being pressed, but i can't get my dremmel at the right angle. I'm wondering now if I can reverse the lock on the other button.
You're right. I tried again, and this time one of the pins was sufficient to unlock the hood. If you look at the inside, you can see that one pin is on the inside of the screw through, and the other is on the outside. Seems like a dumb design to me. The levers themselves don't seem that loose, but I could definitely see one having bad luck and losing the hood.
Unfortunately this is not an uncommon problem. Back in my Nikon days several of their lenses had the reversible "push button" lens hoods, and there were similar complaints about those. given the range of the 12-40, I wonder how truly effective the hood is, but at least they included one. A screw-in replacement may be worht looking into, won't take up much additional space in the bag.
I'm still waiting for my 12-40 to arrive so can't test this for myself yet. I too use a BlackRapid strap on occasion so am interested in this issue. I'm wondering if building up some material in front of each push button might not help prevent accidental depression of the button(s)? Our fingers can easily adjust to pressing from the backside but I would think most accidental bumps capable of sufficiently depressing the button would need to come fairly straight on to the button and then hopefully the blocking would interfere. Maybe a block on backside will also be needed (just not sure if there is enough room to get good adhesion with the limited contact surface that appears to be available there). I'm think one of those little stick on black rubber bumpers for cabinet doors/drawers might work or perhaps even just a small piece of adhesive backed Velcro (hard for me to judge without having the hood in my hands.) Layers of good old Gaffer tape might also do the trick if you are patient enough to cut the mini strips that would be needed. Should be easy to try so please let me know what you think.
I ordered tape. I ordered a screw-on. I ordered a replacement oly hood to test modifications. Since I use a blackrapid strap exclusively, and I beat the **** out of my cameras, with hiking and travel, I need a good solution. Although tape and screw-on may be a good solution, since I bounce between filters and no filters (ND), it may be huge inconvenience. The stock hood popped off and fell to the ground three times already on just a normal walk with it on. Just a bump and a jostle is all it took. Once the button is bumped it need slight rotation to come free. Riderfan, the velcro idea is a good one. I may do that first. I'll report anything back here.
Now that I have my lens I have a few observations. When the hood is mounted with the OLYMPUS... label facing up it is only the button on the left that releases the hood. The danger of the hood coming off accidently occurs if the button is bumped from a direction that would cause it to also rotate counter clockwise. A bump from the other direction could also unlock the hood but since it would not rotate the locking mechanism would simply click back into place at the end of the incident. The blocking I suggested will definitely be needed on the left hand side of this button, Only testing will determine if its also needed above and to the right hand side. I don't want to try adding anything to my hood until my 7 day no hassle return period is over (just in case I got a lens with bad mount - see the Olympus 12-40 Ouch! thread). I have already had the hood come off twice. Once in my lap while juggling things around (I was taking off the stupid little parts to put on the E-M5's mini-flash). The second time was when I lay it on a table on its side (with right hand grip facing up). I do this all the time when I have a large lens on my cameras as it makes grabbing the grip easier. I have to say I prefer the friction mount hoods used on 90% of my other lenses (I have hoods for all 12 of my Canon/Oly/Pan lens). Looking forward to mattphoto's report on mods etc.
Temporary Solution Gaffers Tape or Masking tape Use thin gaffers tape or lack masking tape. Stickiness is important. Also you want the non-sticky surface to stand up to friction. I went with a high quality black masking tape. Cut 4 thin strips of it about 7cm long and about a 3-4mm width. Line the two threads inside the hood with the strips. There are two totally separate threads. Be careful not to over the two latches. Take a Q-tip to push the take down securely into the thread. Push the cotton Q-tip down tight and run it back and forth along the tape to assure it sticks down. This should give it some good friction. If the button is pressed, at least it will take a bit more for it to turn and come off. Who knows how much this will withstand. I will report back if I get have any more info.
Just a small additional tip: I was at a customer and took a few photos of his premises for documentary purposes. No need for quality, so I didn't chimp, just saw the image in the viewfinder for a second after the shot. When I looked at the photos on the computer, there was a black vignette-type corner top-right and bottom-left. Checked the camera and the hood was not clicked in place and slightly rotated. So make sure the hood is 'clicked' and the tulip 'petals' are in the right place before shooting anything important. I just cropped a little.
