Loose lens hood

Sagged bridge on my HB-35 lens hood.

When I bought my D300 a couple summers ago, it came with a Nikkor 18-200mm VR lens, but the lens had no hood.  As I already have an 18-200mm lens, I gave the new lens to my eldest brother and gave him the original hood that came with my older lens.  I decided then to buy an HB-35 lens hood from eBay.

Maybe the old adage rings true even for accessories like a lens hood.  You get what you pay for.  The lens hood was super cheap, shipped from China.  It worked great--well, it's just a lens hood--but there was one thing that irked me for over a year now.  The lens hood was a little loose.  It was easy to knock it off and it's something that is constantly on my mind on hiking excursions.  I remember having to deal with it in Cape Breton by inserting a strip of birch bark in between the hood and the barrel.  (I did not have any plastic or paper at the time.)  In contrast, the original lens hood had a tight fit and wouldn't easily get knocked off, although it is still very possible--I almost lose mine on a hiking trip in Costa Rica one year.

Today, I read somewhere someone had the idea of using tape around the barrel.  I guess that could work but tape may come off and leave a gluey residue behind.  Someone had melted the plastic of the hood for a better fit.  So, I thought I'd try that, and above right is the result.  Notice the imperfect bridge.  That was my melted hood.  I held a lighter under the hood at some distance but close enough to heat up the bridge where the small nodge is.  It could see the plastic starting to sag a little.  As soon as gravity started to bend the plastic, I remove the flame, and let the plastic cool down and harden once again.  Now, I've got a really good, tight fit!

Disclaimer:  If you try this, be very careful.  That plastic melts really quick and can easily catch fire too!  Do so at your own risk!