Lens hood - Advice.

Prophet

Prophet

Prophet

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My kit 18-55 and 100-300 Canon USM don't have hoods. As a relative newbie I have a basic understanding of what a hood does but dont know which type I need. I've seen some that hardly seem to be a hood at all, some that have two pertruding 'flaps' (flower?) and some adjustable rubber jobbies!

Will they make much of a difference to the quality of shots I take and which kind should I get?
 
The purpose of the hood is to shade the lens from strong, off-axis light sources and hence prevent flare caused by internal reflections within the lens. Normally the sun is the biggest culprit but streetlights etc can also be a problem.

The type of hood depends very much on the lens, for something like the 18-55 a petal hood is best, the flower shape is designed to give the maximum shade at wide angles without causing vignetting of the final image. For telephoto lenses a plain tubular hood is the norm, the angle of view is small enough to mean that a petal hood isn't required.

In all cases it's best to get the specific hood for the lens if at all possible, too small and you won't get much benefit from it, too big and you'll end up with vignetting.
 
They are to reduce lens flare, mainly from light sources outside the view-angle of the lens. Keeping your lenses and filters clean is a must as well, as a dirty filter/lens will flare badly with a direct light-source in view.

A long zoom lens (70-200/300mm) will have a larger, longer hood than a wide angle lens, simmply because of the angle of view the lens gives. Make sure your hood is matched to your lens....

e;f;b!!!!
 
Orange Peel said:
My kit 18-55 and 100-300 Canon USM don't have hoods. As a relative newbie I have a basic understanding of what a hood does but dont know which type I need. I've seen some that hardly seem to be a hood at all, some that have two pertruding 'flaps' (flower?) and some adjustable rubber jobbies!

Will they make much of a difference to the quality of shots I take and which kind should I get?
Click to expand...

for the 18-55 you need lens hood EW60-C
for the 100-300 you need lens hood ET65-III (as long as it's the current version of the lens).

As already mentioned, they will shade the front element of the lens, cutting down / out flare, they also increase the contrast (again by cutting out stray unwanted light). They also protect the lens for any front end knocks ( I've knocked mine hard enough that I'm sure I would have damaged the lens without the hood attached).

I almost alway use the lens hood for my lenses, though it does make using a circular polariser a pain.
 
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