Quote:
Originally Posted by midnightsoiree
which is better the straight connical hoods or the petal ones?
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My understanding is that the type of hood is tied to the focal length range of the lens. The wider the lens goes, the more likely you'll have a petal hood (and the shorter it becomes), and the longer you go the more likely it will be a straight conical section - especially if it is a long prime (and of course it will become longer). Also, zooms are more likely to have a petal design to accommodate the wider end of their zoom range. With zooms it is a case of the 'lowest common denominator' - in that hoods are limited by their widest focal length. E.g. a hood for a 28-135mm lens may not be as effective at 135mm as a hood for a 135mm prime, because a compromise needs to be made to ensure that the hood is not in the frame and causing vignetting at 28mm. This may be partly why primes can deliver better contrast, as they have an ideal lens hood, where as zooms have to make compromises in their hood design to try to accommodate a range of focal lengths. Of course hood design is also inherently tied to the internal design of the lens as well.