thanks for the suggestion about the super glue Michael. I tried epoxy and then the minute i rotated the hood on my lens the glued ring snapped loose again. I have ordered a hood meant for the 45mm and will either use that hood on my 80mm or take the ring off and put it on my broken lens hood. I haven't really worried about the contax situation too much, but i must admit when i started looking around and i found out just how scarce both the lenses and accessories are, i found the situation a bit intimidating. I used to shoot with Hasselblad years ago and those wonderful manuel focus lenses that, as I understand it, were then made by Zeiss. When i bought the Contax lenses they immediately reminded me of those old Hassy lenses--in resolution, contrast and fabulous bokeh! eleanor
"I have had the same problem with two of the lens hoods. I was able to salvage mine, while I search for replacements, by unscrewing the plastic ring that engages the front of the lens, repairing it with "Plastic Surgery" (a super-glue-like adhesive designed for all types of plastics), then reassembling the hood. It sounds like this won't work for you. "