Choosing a Lens Hood

[bbulla]

Hi,

I'd like to get some lens hoods for my Canon lenses. Do I need to go with the Canon brand, or can I get a 'knock off' that is designed for the lens. Will I notice a huge difference in quality? The Canon hoods are about double or triple the price of the knock off's, and usually you get what you pay for, but I can't imagine a lens hood could be an overly complex item to make.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

[natek313]

I have never used third-party lens hoods, so I can't give you any advice there. I always just bought the Canon hoods to go with my Canon lenses.

I have heard, though, that some of the third-party hoods don't reverse mount on the lens and the occasional hoods don't have flocking on the inside surface. Not sure if the reverse mount feature is something you absolutely need, but make sure the hood has flocking at least. Also, I've heard that some of the third-party manufacturers use less-than-ideal materials for the hoods. That's another consideration.

I hope this helps somewhat.

EDIT: And do NOT get a hood that screws onto the lens (like a filter would). That's bad. If, for some reason, you end up dropping the lens and the hood takes the impact, the lens hood won't absorb the impact as well as it should, and it could damage your focus motor or something else.

[OsmosisStudios]

... Nikon lenses, for the vast majority, come with their hoods.

[ddr]

as natek313 said, reverse mounting is a very important aspect of a lens hood. maybe list the lens you need a hood for? I've had a few knock offs for my cheaper lens and they worked.... identically.