All good in da hood

[Pints]

With my birthday only a few days away, I thought asking for lens hoods for my new toy would be nice additions to the kit. Cheap examples can be had from eBay for only a few pounds each.

However, I'm curious as to how many of you use these, and how best to use them. I've watched and read a bit on the WWW, but PH remains my trusted source of knowledge.

So over to you lot. Aware me of lens hoods.

Thanks.

[Pints]

That'll certainly be a benefit - keeping the HalfPints' paws off my lenses and filters.

I just can't warrant spending £20 on a Canon hood, when I can get an almost identical piece of plastic from eBay for £3.

[Gemm]

Pints said:

That'll certainly be a benefit - keeping the HalfPints' paws off my lenses and filters.

I just can't warrant spending £20 on a Canon hood, when I can get an almost identical piece of plastic from eBay for £3.

Are these cheap ones felt-lined inside as well?

[Simpo Two]

I thought most lenses came with a hood?

I rarely use one as they take up space and make things bigger - if flare/glare is a problem I put my hand over the lens to take the shot. The one exception is light drizzle, when a hood is very handy for keeping rain off the front.

[Pints]

Gemm said:

Are these cheap ones felt-lined inside as well?

No, they're not. But they're not glossy, so no reflection (certainly not for the type of stuff I'm taking).

Is the difference noticeable?

[gingerpaul]

I've got a cheap one off ebay for my 50mm f/1.4 and it's much poorer quality. It's made of a generic slightly ductile plastic rather than the stiff, tough plastic used on Canon's version. It also doesn't lock in nicely as the Canon ones do. In fact the plastic is soft enough that you can rotate it off the lens the wrong way round. No flocked finish on the inside either.

Having said all of that it only cost 4 rather than 20 so was worth a punt and I only use it to protect the glass rather than as a hood so it doesn't really matter. I think if I was after a hood for its normal use then I'd pay the extra for the Canon one.

[Gemm]

Pints said:

Is the difference noticeable?

To be totally honest, I really don't know! It just looks nicer.

[Killwilly]

I recently bought one of the hoods in the link below for my 15-85. It is very well made and it has a proper felt lining to prevent glare. I would recommend this to anyone.


http://www.amazon.co.uk/EW-78E-Petal-Hood-15-85mm-...

[Pints]

Killwilly said:

I recently bought one of the hoods in the link below for my 15-85. It is very well made and it has a proper felt lining to prevent glare. I would recommend this to anyone.


http://www.amazon.co.uk/EW-78E-Petal-Hood-15-85mm-...

Great find. At that price it's a no-brainer.
Going to see if they do the hoods for my lenses.

[Mojocvh]

Gotta laugh though, I bought a very nice 35-105 FD zoom a while back.

For the "official" lens hood, well they started at £49, which interestingly enough was almost what the glass cost......however a quick trawl through some Amazon recommendations [important IMO] pointed to

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009VPQQNK/ref=...

which actually came from Hong Kong, it's probably the same height as the official one when folded for use at 35mm and when extended does for 105mm [but vignettes below that] does the job just fine IMHO.

[Next time-how a £39 FD fit 400mm Tokina telephoto lens produces images on EOS with the use of a £25 FD-EOS converter...]