Alternate Lens Hoods When Using A Crop Sensor

[Jesse Williamson]

So after much internal and external debate, I ponied up the dough for a used 17-35mm f/2.8L and I'm pretty excited. However, I've heard that the lens hood might not provide the necessary coverage on a cropped sensor body (I've got a 30D). Is this true? I know the lens is the equivilant of 28-55 (or so) on my camera, but I didn't realize the crop factor would impact usefulness of the lens hood. I hear that the 17-55mm hood works on this lens as well as the 16-35, and 17-40. So I'll get one if it will work better, but I'd just never heard of this before.

[Daniel Browning]

I ponied up the dough for a used 17-35mm f/2.8L and I'm pretty excited. However, I've heard that the lens hood might not provide the necessary coverage on a cropped sensor body (I've got a 30D). Is this true?

Yes, it's true. But keep in mind that everyone has a different definition of "necessary". Some people don't consider it necessary to use any lens hood at all (they live with flare, loss of contrast, protection, etc.). Others will use a different lens hood for each zoom setting. The optimal hood for 17mm is different from the optimal hood for 35mm. It's also different based on how you plan to crop the image (4x6 vs. 8x10).