Customer Reviews

Canon EW-60C Lens Hood

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Pretty much everybody looking at this hood is thinking about tossing it onto a 18-55mm kit lens. Given how wide this lens goes, this shallow little thing is the best they could do. This hood clips onto the focus ring which spins when the lens is focusing. Given this, a tulip design would be maddening to use.

Honestly, probably doesn't make much of a difference in image quality. I have yet to shoot a picture without a lens hood so I'm no judge of this. That said, there are some good reasons to get it anyway...

1. The hood is what I grab onto whenever I manually focus. This is something other people forget about, but the 18-55 kit lens has a very small ring to try to grip when you manually focus. I mean, it's tiny. Since the hood rotates along with the focus ring, you can just grab the hood instead. When you're behind the viewfinder you're going to be feeling around for the focus ring anyway so having something bigger to lurch for is really handy.

2. When you put the lens down, you can just rest it front down. Because the hood makes a nice little base, you don't have to worry about it rolling away. Don't try this with the camera body attached.

3. It protects the lens from bumping into stuff and scratching. Sure you can get a UV filter, but I don't like leaving a filter on there if I don't have to. I've bumped the hood against things, while if I had done the same thing with the UV filter, then I would have had to either clean the filter or buy a new filter. Theoretically a UV filter can slightly degrade image quality, especially if you're buying one commensurate to the kit lens. Theoretically this hood raises image quality.

4. It makes the camera look cooler.


That said, it's seriously overpriced for what it is. Just call it cheap insurance and get over it. If you're looking at this, you'll probably going to buy it anyway.

The kit lens with XSi is pretty wide angle, so no one should really expect to get a large hood on the lens, but the lens also has a very small manual focus ring, and this can help out by adding a little grip. It doesn't offer a whole lot of protection from accidental dings and stray fingers, but it is better than nothing. As the title of this review sounds, the hood does a better job making the lens looks better than it does reducing lens flare. If you have the 20 dollars, its worth it, I suppose. I never use lenses without a hood.

Yes, I have to agree with the previous review. It doesn't seem to make any difference in reducing lens flare from light sources. It doesn't seem to extend far enough to actually do anything. If it was less expensive I wouldn't mind as much, and just chalk it up to extra protection. But that seems to be all it's good for.

The build quality of the Canon EW-60C Lens Hood is simply top-notch. You are paying a premium not only for the Canon name, but for a high quality and impeccably constructed component.

Form
----
The inner side of the hood is specially coated to reduce glare. This coating, called "flock," gives the inner surface a non-reflective matte texture.

The EW-60C is designed specifically for the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 (AKA the "kit" lens), the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM, the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, the EF 28-90mm f/4-5.6 USM, the f/4-5.6 III/II USM, the EF 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6, the EF 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 III/II, and the EF 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 IV USM/ V USM lenses. The optical properties of these lenses is taken into account in the design (such as the depth and shape) of the lens hood.

Do not try to fit your lens with hoods designed for lenses with different focal lengths or you might run into a problem with vignetting (a phenomenon where the edges of a picture are darkened). Although there are "cooler" looking lens hoods, such as one with a "petal" design, they will not work properly unless they are designed for your lens.

There are also "generic" (or "knock off") versions of this hood made by other manufacturers, such as Fotodiox, Opteka, HDE, Janco, and Adorama. These should work just fine.

Function
--------
So how well does the lens hood fare in reducing glare or flare? To be honest, I find the pictures taken with the hood and those taken without the hood look virtually indistinguishable. On the plus side, the lens hood does offer some protection for your lens from accidental knocks because it protrudes slightly above your lens. If nothing else, the Canon EW-60C definitely helps to give your lens an added appearance of sophistication that will impress your friends ;)

An Aside
--------
Seriously, a polarized filter does much more to reduce glare and improve the quality of your picture. I use the B+W 58mm Circular Polarizer MRC Filter and the difference it makes is simply phenomenal! Blue skies are bluer. Foliage in direct sunlight are greener because the filter eliminates any harsh reflection. It also "cuts through" the haze on a smoggy day.

---
When all is said and done, the EW-60C definitely has some functional and aesthetic value. I personally have no regrets about getting it. Recommended.

This lens hood can be useful for some special situations as mentioned before. It does help protect certain objects from getting too close to the lens, but doesn't quite protect against flare unless the sun "cooperates".

It's a bit shallow, but 18mm is pretty darn wide, so there's not much they could do. I've had a single time where the sun was in just the right spot annoying the heck out of me and this worked, but otherwise it's more for looks and protection than being a real hood. This takes being banged around a lot better than tiffen filters do lol.

I had to replace a sigma 18-50mm when the auto focus broke - Annoying, but the lens had seen several years of hard use.I purchased a Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS SLR Lens to replace it. Since Canon does not ship a hood with their lenses I had to order this separately - If you can find another hood to fit this lens for less than $25USD, do it. Also I had a hard time fitting this hood to the lens. The hood has to be placed just so, and then you need use considerable force to seat the hood. In Canon's defence I do have mild arthritis in my hands, but this was ridiculous.

The only reason I did not give this product 5 stars is the price. A little expensive for what it is but I have yet to see a knock-off with comparable fit and quality of the canon. The knock-offs I have seen never fit the lens correctly.

A hood is not a very complicated product. It's a plastic chunk that screws on to the end of your lens. Yet, some of the third party hoods I tried before the official Canon hood were horrible. Bad fit, letting light in all over the back, inner surface was too shiny... each one had its own unique design flaw. This may be more than you want to pay for a disk of plastic, but then again your lens was probably more than you wanted to pay for an overgrown looking glass.

This lens hood does provide some relief from stray light hitting the lens. Because of the wide angle aspect of the lens it is meant for it is pretty shollow in depth. It also does afford some protection from bumps for the lens as well. The manual focus ring on the 18-55mm lens this hood is meant for is very narrow and difficult to use, grasping the lens hood and using it to focus is a better alternative. Construction of this hood is just a rigid piece of plastic. While a worthwhile product to have it is way overpriced.

I have not seen an aftermarket manufacturers hood in person for this lens but it is probably just as good and probably cheaper. I suggest you take a look at one of those before buying if you have a chance.