
A few weeks back I blogged about a
Quick FX episode from
Knoptop that featured a very large, yet inexpensive,
rubber lens hood. I was so impressed by the potential of this hood, that I went ahead and bought one for myself. What I really liked was that, with a
cheap step-up ring, the hood would not only fit my stock Canon HFS100 lens, but also my wide angle Raynox 6600. Now I have one very affordable hood that suits all my needs.

The above photo shows the three lens hoods I've been using. The first is a plastic "flower petal" hood that fits my stock 58mm thread, the rubber hood is in the middle (flanked by the step-up ring) and the Canon XH-A1 hood that fits on the Raynox. The petal hood was a cheap buy on ebay and works fine, but the coverage from the sun (as you can guess) is limited. The XH-A1 hood (which I picked up at a photography store for $17) works well and looks good, but only fits on a 72mm diameter lens and only works with it's screw mount. I always had to wrap the Raynox with a thin piece of gaffer's tape and even this wouldn't guarantee the hood would stay on. If I bumped something, chances were good the hood would go askew or fall off.

The rubber hood / step-up ring (58mm to 72mm) combo is a great solution. Now I have one hood for all seasons that is compact (it collapses) and useful. It fits nicely into my camera bag along with the ring, ready for action. Not bad for $5.30. Anyone want to buy the Canon XH-A1 hood?
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