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Homemade Lens Hood

Lens hoods are attachments that connect to the front of your camera's lens and prevent sunlight from entering the lens unexpectedly. When sun enters your lens from the side, it creates "lens flares" that look like bright spots on your picture. Lens hoods can be a little pricey, especially for larger telephoto lenses where an original equipment lens hood could run into the hundreds of dollars. You can make your own lens hood out of PVC plumbing piping. Lens hoods can also be made of thin card or printed paper. They tend to be flimsy and not very useful, especially if they get wet.

Things You'll Need

Tailor's measuring tape
Small saw
Tape: electrician's, black hockey tape, or duct tape

Instructions

- 1
  Measure the diameter of the lens on your camera. If you are using a 35mm single lens reflex camera, the lens you have attached will likely have the diameter printed on the front. This number is the for the threads, the PVC you will need will slightly wider. To get an accurate measurement, place a ruler over the front of your lens and measure the diameter of the outside of the lens.
- 2
  Go to your local hardware or plumbing supply store and look for a piece of tubing that is the same size as your lens. Make sure you measure the inside of the piping, not the outside. The inside of the piping has to be wide enough to easily slide over the front of the lens.
- 3
  Slide the PVC piping over the lens. Adjust the length of the piping so it is not cutting off the corners of your frame. Once you have found the correct length, mark the outside of the piping with a wax pencil.
- 4
  Cut the excess piping off of the tube. Use a sheet of fine sand paper to remove any small pieces of the tube from where you made the cut.
- 5
  Slide the PVC piping over the front of the lens and secure in place. You can secure the lens hood to your lens using strip of tape around the circumference of the lens hood where it fits against the lens.

Photography