Congrats on a great lens purchase! (And a great price, too!)


A few weeks ago, I'd have said you'd be fine with a 3rd party hood. The only 'optical' difference between them is the Canon lens hoods have flocking on the inside (a velvety coating to reduce reflections) that most 3rd party hoods lack. But recently Jordan mentioned getting a 3rd party hood for his 17-55mm, and it frequently rotated or fell off - enough that he stopped using it entirely. Given that, I'd recommend shelling out the price of the Canon hood, or if you do get a 3rd party version, make sure you can return it easily (and not end up paying more than you would just buying the OEM hood from the outset).