Lens Hood

robbykh wrote in post #9464585
Thanks Gents & Gals,

They are selling on Ebay an snap on lens hood and a UV lens filter that fits my lens.
What is a UV filter for?

A word of caution. I have bought some of the cheap hoods, and some of them have a tendency to pop off the lens with the least pressure. I did this on my 85m f1.8, and it is embarrassing to have a hood hit the floor right in the middle of a wedding or other occassion where silence is better.
I had to buy a more expensive hood for that lens, and happy trails after that.
If you get a cheap one, see how solidly it fits on the lens. Try brushing it from the side and see if it pops off easily. The one I had was a total nuisence. Even if I wasn't at an important event, it was just a lot of trouble having it pop off the lens all the time.

robbykh wrote in post #9465837
Thanks msowsun,

I should use one of these in both of my lenses.??

Yes, but you will need a copy of the ET-60 for your 55-250.

guntoter wrote in post #9465847
A word of caution. I have bought some of the cheap hoods, and some of them have a tendency to pop off the lens with the least pressure. I did this on my 85m f1.8, and it is embarrassing to have a hood hit the floor right in the middle of a wedding or other occassion where silence is better.
I had to buy a more expensive hood for that lens, and happy trails after that.
If you get a cheap one, see how solidly it fits on the lens. Try brushing it from the side and see if it pops off easily. The one I had was a total nuisence. Even if I wasn't at an important event, it was just a lot of trouble having it pop off the lens all the time.

The 85mm 1.8 uses a clip on style hood. Even the expensive original Canon ET-65 clip-on hood can pop off.

Most canon hoods now use a "Bayonet" style mount, that twist on and lock. I have had a few of these cheap ebay bayonet mount hoods, and if anything, they tend to fit more securely, and can sometimes be a little difficult to install. As a result they will never come off accidentally.

Here is a close-up of the bayonet mounting flanges on a 18-55 and 55-250 lens. As in the 18-55, the front of the 55-250 lens also rotates when focusing, so a petal style hood is pretty useless.

18-55 bayonet mount

A lens hood will provide real protection for you lenses, and will only improve the image quality. A filter will provide some protection from some things, and will only degrade image quality, sometimes not much, but UV filters do not ever improve image quality.

Ever shade your eyes with your hand to see better in bright light? That's what a hood does. Use a hood all the time, if you can, on all your lenses - it is the cheapest way to "improve" the quality of your pictures. The next cheapest way to improve your lenses is to use a tripod.

msowsun wrote in post #9466019
The 85mm 1.8 uses a clip on style hood. Even the expensive original Canon ET-65 clip-on hood can pop off.

Most canon hoods now use a "Bayonet" style mount, that twist on and lock. I have had a few of these cheap ebay bayonet mount hoods, and if anything, they tend to fit more securely, and can sometimes be a little difficult to install. As a result they will never come off accidentally.

Even in the clip-on styles there are different quality hoods. The newer and more expensive one I got for my 85 has never popped off on me yet. The other cheap model was constant trouble.

I agree that the boyonet style is better.

A polarize filter would improve your image quality on certain images though. Anyone seen an image comparing side by side the difference of a shot with a lens hood and without?

What do you recommend for my EF-S 55-250mm IS. ??

You can buy a Canon hood or go for a cheaper Chinese "clone" that are sold on ebay and elsewhere. The Canon hood for the 55-250 is the ET-60.

The lens hood also keeps bugs off the lens while your camera is slung on your back while riding a motorcycle!

Always have the proper hood for every lens, always keep it on.
Lens cap on the other hand just slows you down, don't bother putting it on.

robbykh wrote in post #9464301
I also have another question, for what I have been reading, I know that if I'm shooting indoors at night or in poor lighting I should increase my ISO to about 800. The question I have isn't that a little high even if I'm using a flash?, I have two flashes by the way.

ISO 800 buys you 3 stops of light from 100. So a night time photo at ISO 100 - 1/15th will turn into ISO 800 - 1/125th.
When shooting with flash, you dont need to keep the ISO so high. When talking flash, that is done in stops also. So if at ISO 100 you need full power then the same exposure would be ISO 800 at 1/8th power, which means a faster recycle time between shots.

Pmolan wrote in post #9485975
ISO 800 buys you 3 stops of light from 100. So a night time photo at ISO 100 - 1/15th will turn into ISO 800 - 1/125th.
When shooting with flash, you dont need to keep the ISO so high. When talking flash, that is done in stops also. So if at ISO 100 you need full power then the same exposure would be ISO 800 at 1/8th power, which means a faster recycle time between shots.

And less dead batteries.