Comments on: Lens hoods: Are naked lenses ruining your images?

By: Spencer Fox

Spencer Fox — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 22:58:32 +0000

I once believed that a lens that had a hood supplied with it because the manufacturer did a poor job of managing reflected unfocused light inside the lens.

Then I bought a 500mm mirror lens and was VERY dissapointed with it. The images were lousy – colors were flat and the image looked like it was taken in a fog. I already had a old 400mm lens that takes much better images, but still a little foggy and flat.

Then I read about “unfocused light” inside the lens and had an idea. I took an 8″ piece of black PVC pipe and a dryer vent hose clamp and used the pipe as a lens hood with the clamp to hold it on the lens. I then used a wire brush on a drill to score the inside of the pipe because it was shinny. I used a hacksaw to cut slots in the lens end of the PVC pipe so the clamp would be able to compress the pipe enough to clamp on the end of the lens. Both lenses take 72mm lens caps so they were almost the same size in outside diameter. (I know, more than you ever wanted to know)

Then I took some pictures with and without this arrangement. WOW!!!! What a difference it made with the “hood” on. The image quality using the 500mm mirror lens was leaps and bounds better than without it. The image quality using the 400mm lens was also very significantly improved.

The end result of this is that now I have to find the lens hoods that came with my new lenses. It’s not really that many lenses though. Being a tinkerer and cheapskate I have purchased most of my lenses used.

THANK YOU very much for the tip about making my own lens hoods. I already purchased some black construction paper to use so having actual designs to use is fantastic.

By: Lens Hoods: Why to Use Them and When to Use Them « ChromaticSoul :: The Blog

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 03:59:31 +0000

[...] Comment! Alphatracks writes on this very topic. I found it interesting that according to the article all Sony Alpha lens are shipped to include a lens hood. I wish Canon did the same. There are certain situations where a lens shade is unnecessary, or even detrimental to making good images. I’ll discuss the specific conditions when you shouldn’t use a lens shade in a moment. First, however, I want to look at why you should attach a hood almost every time you take a lens out of your bag. [via Alphatracks] [...]

By: Tom Bonner

Tom Bonner — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 17:29:48 +0000

Pete thanks for your comment and link. I knew about lenshoods.co.uk, but I didn’t mention it directly because I couldn’t find a single Sony or Minolta lens mentioned on the site. I’m sure you could modify some of the templates to work on a Sony lens, but the point of having one of these paper hoods is that it should match the OEM hood.

Maybe we need to start a write-in campaign to get them to add Sony/Minolta lens hood templates. Or, if anyone wants to make up some Sony/Minolta hood templates using existing OEM hoods as a master, I would be glad to host them here for downloading. Anyone game?

Have a great thanksgiving!

By: Pete C

Pete C — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:23:10 +0000

I enjoyed your easy to understand explanation of why hoods are important.
Here’s a link I’ve found useful before, in case you or a friend has lost or broken a hood.
You can go there, download a pdf for the lens hood you require and use it as a stencil to cut some plastic sheet or cardboard for a DIY hood.
http://www.lenshoods.co.uk/

By: Driving School

Driving School — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:33:06 +0000

very useful

By: Link Roundup 11-15-2008

Link Roundup 11-15-2008 — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 18:19:54 +0000

[...] Lens hoods: Are naked lenses ruining your images? Alphatracks A good reminder article about using lens hoods on your lenses and the effects of not doing so. [...]

By: Brian Corrigan

Brian Corrigan — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:15:20 +0000

Great articles Tom. Keep ‘em coming!

I use my lens hoods nearly 100% of the time. Occasionally I’ll leave it off in a low light situation believing, probably erroneously, that more light will get through to the sensor. Do you know if in such a low light situation that leaving the hood off, particularly on a long zoom lens with a big hood, makes a difference?

I was reminded of one other reason to use the hood this past weekend while shooting a swim meet. The hood can serve to protect the front of the lens. If you’ve ever been on deck at a swim meet you know how treacherous that wet deck can be. I slipped a little bit, and while trying to regain my balance my camera swung away from me and right into the wall. Thanks to the hood, I probably saved the lens. Amazingly the metal hood survived as well.