I just got a nice Super D, and the synthetic covering on the focusing hood seems to not be glued to the inner liner at all. It works fine, and is in perfect cosmetic condition. (pun intended; I had to clean out the mascara that a previous user had allowed to accumulate in the fur and inside). I have never seen one of these late synthetic hoods before; did they deliberately leave the covering unglued? My first thought was to open it and "reglue" it, but then when I noticed that it does not seem to be glued anywhere at all I began to think it must have been made this way. I find it hard to believe that every bit of glue would have let go.

Anyway, I am inclined to leave it alone.

if it ain't broke, DON'T fix it. ie:if it opens and closes correctly with the door then leave it as is.

Well...better late than never!

The leatherette material was glued to cardboard panels on the inside. With age, the material seperates. If you study photos on Ebay listings you will see various degrees of this problem. My own 4x5 Super D had this problem. As it turns out, Fred Lustig has (or may be had at this point) some new hoods but requires the old one be traded in. I did as such and am pleased with it. I paid around $95 with postage.

Now that the hood looks perfect I don't close the camera! I store it on a shelf with a brown paper bag over it. In fact, when I moved from Ft. Worth to Atlanta 1 1/2 years ago I made the packers box up the camera in it's open position. I am more of a collector so retaining the newness is important to me.

I have heard of injecting glue in between the leatherette and cardboard. But this would take a lot of care and patience! If it really matters to you I would suggest calling Fred out in Reno, NV and see if he has any new hoods left.