Lens hood : Branded VS 3rd Party?

Question

Hey, I am planning to buy a lens hood for my 18-55 IS lens, but I came across two options : The REAL Canon branded hood, and a third party hood made to fit on 18-55 IS. Here is the pricing -

Canon branded : B990
3rd Party : B230

As you can see, the price difference is really big. I bought a third party lens hood for my 50mm F1.8 II for B230, as at that time I thought it was real. The quality of the hood is not bad, its plastic, feels solid and locks in perfectly with the 50mm.

Now, I want to know is it worth to spend more ( A LOT MORE) for the Canon branded hood? Is there any difference in the quality, or, is there anything special for the overpriced value? If it is really worth using the Canon branded one, I might as well spend another B990 for my 50mm.
Thanks!!!!!

Answer 1

Of course there's different feelings on these subjects like most other things.



I use UV filters on all my lenses and it doesn't change my photos at all. I have a Rebel 1000D and also the 18-55. I find the UV filter helps protect my front lens element and that's what I want. When

I've shot without it and then with it and compared the shots side by side there's no difference that makes any difference at all.



I have a 3rd party hood on my 28-200 Canon lens and for my 75-300 and my Tamron 18-200 and they all work fine - UV or no UV.

Answer 2

The price difference is staggering. I just bought two lens hoods for my kids' cameras. I went for third-party hoods. The seller assured me they were correct for the 18-55mm lenses I was going to attach them to. When the hoods arrived, they looked okay and was even a bit shorter than the original (which I had).



The third party lens hoods I bought were screwmount, not bayonet. You had to screw in the hood to its proper orientation then turn the lock to fix it in place.



I noticed that at the lowest focal length, obvious vignetting occurs at the corners of the picture. Maybe that's because I have attached UV filters over the lenses before attaching the hoods. I see no workaround as the hoods I bought do not allow filters to attach in front. I doubt attaching the UV filters in front would solve the problem either.



The hoods I bought were from China. I don't recall the brand or if they had a brand at all. I hope this helps.

Answer 3

Most of the time the off-brand hoods work just fine. In fact, at one time I had an off-brand hood which fit my l35mm lens better than the Canon version!



As far as the UV filter goes...just leave it off. ANY filter you put on your camera degrades your final image as least a little, and in some instances and situations will degrade your image significantly. A lens hood is all the protection you need.

Answer 4

For something like a lens hood, that only needs to fit to form and has no moving parts, a 3rd party vendor can be great - but google the vendor's specific brand for reviews or user opinions. Some cheap knock offs can be a waste of money and you don't want to have to fight somebody overseas about buying something that is flawed.