Quick and Easy Lens Hood for DSLR

Im gonna show you how I made a Lens Hood really quick, easy, and in my case free.

Im just entering the world of semi-pro photography, and I have found out that a lens hood can make a real diference in a photo, but I wasent feeling like buying one, so I decided to make my own and so experiment with this simple camera atachment..

It have been a while since my last instructable, so Im kind of rusty, and so my english. Hope you enjoy it ;)

Researching a little in the web I notice that for my camera, most if not all, lens hoods screws in the filter thread, but I wasent thinking in making something so advance a thread. So I notice a groove in the focus ring, perfect to fit the hood. So I was ready to get my hands working.

In a later search, I have seen that not all lens have this groove, so this would be a thing to check before you make your own.

Like I said, this Instructable is quick and easy, so you dont need much to do it.

In the materials list are:
- A plastic container. I used a tuna container that have the size of the hood I wanted to make
- Spray paint
-Sand paper

In the tools list are:
- A file. If you are patient enought it could be even be a nail file.
- A knife
And opctional a Dremel. It makes the work a lot faster.

The firts thing you wanna do is shape the hood. As simple as making marks were you are gonna cut and going for it. Just be careful not to cut yourself, and to cut a little away from the final marks, just in case you dont have a steady hand with the knife.

I first measure the inner diameter of the groove using an Vernier. Then using a pen I mark that diameter in the bottom of the container, making extra sure that I was centered. When I finish making a lot of marks all around I double check the diameter size and the center of it. Then I cut it and file it off until I have a even circle of the diameter I wanted.

After this I clean it out and try it on the camera (you dont want plastic dust near your lens), it just snaps in (you could make small cuts in bottom following the radial direction to make it easier to enter).

I notice that part of the container was in the view field of the lens, so I had to cut it down. How much to cut was a trial and fail process. At first I made rough cuts until it was out of view, then I made the clean cut.

Making a even cut in a cilinder can be tricky, specially if the material deforms under presure. So I do the following: I first make almost even marks all around the cilinder surface. Then using a maskin tape I follow the marks with the tape border, this will give me a solid guide all around.

Using the sand paper I remove all the sharp edges, and smooth everything.
I also used the sand paper to remove the enamel that the plastic container had. This step is really important cause the paint need a porous surface to attach as it should.
After all the sanding, I wash and dry it and we are ready to paint.
I used a flat black spray paint cause it matches the looks of my camera, and we are done.