How many times have you been to a super-tall building like the One World Trade Center, looked out, and been totally blown away by the magnificent views of Manhattan? Then reality struck. You want to capture the views as you saw them, but the reflection on the specialized, high-performance, low-iron tempered laminated glass just kills it. Well, that, my friend, is where the Ultimate Lens Hood (ULH) comes in. It is a soft, flexible silicone hood that attaches to your camera lens to block reflections and glare when shooting through glass.
The idea is almost so simple that no one before ULH thought of it. Sure, you can choose to stick your phone or camera flat on the window. But you know the lenses on modern-day iPhones? They are sapphire, and they will scratch almost anything. I know because it did that to my Pixel 10’s screen. Ugh.
Anyhoo, over the years since it was introduced to the market, ULH has had several versions, and this year comes the next-generation ULH, called ULHpro. Billed as the most significant update to the lineup yet, the ULHpro is smaller, lighter, and now capable of true hands-free shooting. Not sure why you need the latter, but hey, if it can do that, why not?
Anyhoo, the new ULHpro boasts integrated suction cups to enable it to grip securely to glass surfaces. It is one-size fits (almost) all. It stretches to fit lenses of around 55 mm diameter to over 100 mm. Though I suppose there’s a limit to how heavy a camera and lens combination it can support before the suction cups start detaching. Perhaps you would probably use a tripod for heavier rigs. Oh, it also stretches to fit traditional rigid hoods, too.
Along with the new ULHpro, there is also the new ULHmobile that boasts universal compatibility, thanks to the black plastic clip that stretches to fit over smartphones with or without a case. It rocks a new 40 mm opening that allows it to fit the latest generation of smartphones, and ULH said it is designed to stay future-proof for upcoming models.
And finally, there’s the ULHaction, designed to do the same for action cameras like those from GoPro and DJI OSMO. It fits GoPro Hero 7 and newer, and it also works with DJI OSMO Action models.
You can pre-order all three for a crowdfunding special price of 40 quid (about US$55) on Kickstarter. Individual model-wise, the ULHpro has an early bird price of £21 (about US$29), while the ULHmobile and ULHaction cost £12 each during the Kickstarter campaign. There are also other perks, but we’ll let you explore them on your own.
But do note that the campaign is on its last leg, having just six days left on the calendar. So if you want any of the ULH at these special prices, you will need to act quickly. The campaign has already met its funding goal, having garnered nearly 5,000 backers who helped bring in over US$230K in funding.
Images: Ultimate Lens Hood.