Lens petal hood

[flatpopely]

Just got a 55-200mm of Cliffpatte, very nice it is to. I have taken a photo at the smallest and largest zoom and don't notice any problems in the corners of the photo. Its on a Nikon D40, so does the fact it has a smaller sensor make the petal hood redundant.

Apart from a basic knowledge of camera theory I am totally new to this so could someone give me an answer in plain english.

Thanks.

 

[cliffpatte]

Glad you're putting it to good use, better than being in my unused bag for the last 6 months!

The hood is there a) to stop stray light getting into the lens from out of frame (eg from the sun or something reflective) and b) to protect the lens front element from accidental damage.

Just remember to take it off before using the flash as it will create a shadow in the bottom of the frame

Are you planning to post an example?

 

[flatpopely]

Cliff.

How do you get the petal off the lens?

I'll post an example when I have taken something interesting, not just the front of my car out of the office window.

 

[cliffpatte]

Rotate anticlockwise? I think I put it on back to front when I packed it. The petals should point away from you. Line the dot on the hood up with the dot on the end of the lens when re-fitting!

 

[flatpopely]

Thanks Cliff, sorted!

 

[Cesare]

Indeed, the petal shape is designed to all the lens to hang nearer to the lens than a circular hood would without causing dark corners. On a zoom it's also designed to not cause dark corners at the widest angle, so on the long end it could be quite a bit longer without causing problems.

Some lenses have a fixed hood with the lens zooming inside it to give best shading effect across their zoom range. Canon's 24-70 and older 28-70 use this technique, and they end up with a confusing reverse zoom where the lens gets longer for wide angle rather than for telephoto.

Cesare