If you’re shooting toward the sun, a lens hood is kind of like a sun visor or a baseball cap for your camera lens; it can dramatically reduce the glare and lens flare that could otherwise ruin a perfectly good photograph.
Lens hoods can be purchased at Amazon.com
All you need to do to use one of these free lens hoods is locate the PDF file for your camera lens on the website, save it, print it out (the site recommends printing on cardstock or thin plastic, if possible), cut it out, and glue it together to form a cone. Then place the supplied tabs over the lens and, if it’s a petal-shaped hood, be sure to orient it so that the longest petals are located at the top and bottom of your lens. Then simply secure it with a rubber band and you’re ready to start shooting!
Can’t locate the right lens hood for your camera lens? Never fear, the website also has a paid feature which allows subscribers to create their own custom lens hoods and save them as PDF files.
So are they as good as the real thing? Well, they won’t be as durable or strong, but they’re free so if something should happen to one, it’s easy enough to replace by printing it out again and making a new one.
If you tried making a free lens hood, how did it work for you? Please let us know in the comments.
