Lens hood

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cleslie

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Please excuse the Newbie-ness of this but what are the flower type lens hoods for? Am i right that it's to keep the sun out of the lens etc or when are they a good idea to use?
 
yep, basically. Reduce flare and also help protect the front element
 
Lens hood will protect your lens when you fall about drunk smashing your lens into a concrete pillar, they actually reduce flare, and don't protect the front element from anything. They make your lens seem longer attracting security guards from your local shopping centre, to throw you out by the ear! :lol
 
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Hi

Yes, help to reduce flare and also give some protection to the front element. There is a debate re genuine and aftermarket ones. From my experience, the aftermarket one I bought was good quality and a matt finish inside the hood (otherwise you'll get reflection), but when I had the chance to buy the genuine hood at a great price, you could see the difference (the hood is flock lined as well) - it felt like it fitted better and felt more rigid.

Personnaly, unless it's for a cheap lens, I buy a genuine hood now - unless you buy a Sigma lens and they supply one with it -> Canon take note again!

Hope this helps....
 
Pete B said:
Lens hood will protect your lens when you fall about drunk smashing your lens into a concrete pillar, they actually reduce flare, and don't protect the front element from anything. They make your lens seem longer attracting security guards from your local shopping centre, to throw you out by the ear! :lol
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Er, yes they do! A classic was when I was at Silverstone the other day and I was leaning forward trying to get the perfect angle, only to realise after I had taken the shot I was pressing tightly against the catch fencing (I was zoomed at 200mm in between the holes). Without the hood my front element may have been compromised!!

They also protect against drops, with a heavy lens it'll normally go down head first.

I've got hoods for all my lenses (except my 50mm) and I wouldn't be without them.

They also improve contrast due to the fact no stray light should be glancing across the front element.
 
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cleslie said:
Please excuse the Newbie-ness of this but what are the flower type lens hoods for? Am i right that it's to keep the sun out of the lens etc or when are they a good idea to use?
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The main reason is to increase the contrast be ensuring that the lens doesn't have excess light falling on it from the edges. Try a picture with and without and you will see better colour and contrast in conditions where the sun (or light source) is off to the side with the hood fitted.
 
cleslie said:
Please excuse the Newbie-ness of this but what are the flower type lens hoods for? Am i right that it's to keep the sun out of the lens etc or when are they a good idea to use?
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Called "petal" hoods. The aim of that design is to provide the benefit of a hood (as described in the other posts) whilst cutting the risk of vignetting in the corners of the image.
 
If you look through a petal hood, it appears square from the lens' view so should be a closer fit to the image frame. Except that on a zoom they are only ever at optimum effectiveness at shorter focal length (other than on the Canon 24-70L, before some nitpicker chimes in :D). Making them round is more robust, and cheaper (for the manufacturer!).

Aftermarket hoods are almost always unlined, and sometime quite shiny. I bought a cheapy the other day and lined it with self-adhesive black felt - 79p from Hobby Craft :thumbs:
 
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