Lens hood?

Question

Hi guys,
I've bought the Nikkor 18-55mm ED II AF-S DX Zoom Lens and the Nikkor 55-200mm AF-S DX Zoom Lens (to work with the D40x) but I don't have lens hoods along with them. So I dug around a bit on Amazon and found the Nikon HB-34 Lens Hood for 55-200mm DX Nikkor Lens - now my question is, would this hood work fine on both lenses or would I have to buy a separate one for the 18-55mm lens? I'm new to DSLR's so I apologize in advance if this is a retarded question..!

Thanks!

Answer 1

A lens hood is specific to the lens it is used on. If you used the hood for your 55-200 lens on the 18-55 lens you would cause vignetting at all focal lengths below 55mm. Vignetting means the corners of your image would be dark because at focal lengths below 55mm the lens hood will be in the angle of view of the lens.

Keep a UV filter on both lenses and a hood designed for the lens. Remove the UV filter only when you are using your polarizer. Trust me, you'll be better off cleaning a filter or replacing it than cleaning the front element of your lens or replacing your lens because it got scratched or smudged. Buy top quality filters - Hoya, B+W, Tiffen are all excellent.

Answer 2

The 18-55mm does not have a bayonet fitting to accept a lens hood. The only way you could mount a lens hood to it would be to purchase an after market lens hood that screws on to the 52mm filter mount. To the best of my understanding HB-34 will not fit nor will it be able to be adapted to fit. Sorry.

Regards, teef_au