Camera Labs

im considering about buying a lens hood for my 400D kit lens 18-55mm lens. this is the hood that i found:

http://www.lelong.com.my/Auc/List/2007- ... _300mm.htm

should i? is it worth it?

And, can someone explain to me what is the purpose of a lens hood?

=bArRi

Hi abuza8nuqina,

A warm welcome to the CameraLabs forums.

I can't offer an opinion about that particular lens hood. Are Canon manufactured lens hoods difficult to obtain or expensive where you are?

Lens hoods are useful for keep stray light out of the lens, with consequent ghosting, if you are shooting with a bright object, such as the Sun, just out of frame. They also provide a small degree of mechanical protection for the front of the lens.

Bob.

_________________
OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

It seems that the lens hood is made of a soft material and can retract to be flush with the surface of the lens' front element. So it looks like it wouldn't offer much protection.

_________________
Graham
Flickr

Yeah but it still adds protection and should be used fore indoors and outside photography.

Some professionals do not think that a lens hood is necessary as they have an excellent lens. It does not work like this though.


Quoted from the site below.

"The purpose of a lens hood is to prevent flare, which can seriously degrade the image quality of photographic lenses. A longer hood offers better flare protection than a short hood, but when the hood exceeds a critical length vignetting sets in. Therefore, a lens hood needs to be carefully chosen. The optimum hood depends on the philosophy behind the hood, with the shape and size as the key parameters, and on the lens aperture and subject matter."

See link: http://www.vanwalree.com/optics/lenshood.html

So you need the hood designed for the lens only.

Question: Was this the stock lens for the 400D? If so, was no lens hood supplied.


You need this lens hood:

Canon EW-60C Lens Hood for EF 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6, II, III, IV, V, 18-55mm & 28-90mm Lenses
Mfr# 2639A002

Unfortunately, Canon only include lens hoods for their "L" lenses. On the plus side at least they include their Digital Photo Professional software with the camera.

Bob.

_________________
OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

Oh, I see Bob. No lens hood unless an L-series. I think I remember reading that now.

However, the Canon lens hood I mentioned is the recommended one.