Are flocked lens hoods better than textured 'sawtooth' hoods at reducing reflections?
Asked 11/23/2019
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Some lens hoods have a flocked or felt-like matte black lining, while others use a molded textured or 'sawtooth' plastic interior. The flocked material seems like it should absorb more stray light, but it also tends to collect dust. Does the textured plastic design reduce internal reflections well enough in practice, or is the flocked lining meaningfully better for image quality?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
6y ago
2 Answers
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While this may not be full proof of the acceptability of the textured sawtooth surface, but today I swapped my EF 24-105mm lens for an RF 24-105mm lens.
The RF 24-105mm lens hood has the textured sawtooth surface and not the felt-like material I'm used to seeing in Canon lens hoods.
If someone complains that "professionals use 24-70 and not 24-105 and thus this doesn't demonstrate anything", similarly, the EW-88E lens hood for RF 24-70mm f/2.8 lens has the sawtooth surface. Also, the ET-83F hood for the RF 70-200 f/2.8 uses the sawtooth surface.
It appears Canon is switching to the textured sawtooth surface in its top-of-the-line lenses. I assume this is mainly due to collecting less dust and being easier to blow the dust away rather than some image quality improvements.
Originally by user81735. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user81735
6y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Both designs are used to suppress stray light inside the hood. In general, a flocked/felt-like lining is likely better at absorbing light than plain textured plastic. However, the textured 'sawtooth' interior is widely used and appears to work well in practice.
Based on the community answers, even higher-end modern Canon RF lens hoods now use the textured interior rather than the older felt-like lining, which strongly suggests Canon considers it sufficiently effective. A practical advantage is that textured plastic is less prone to holding dust and is easier to clean.
So the best summary is: flocking may be slightly better in theory for light absorption, but textured hoods are acceptable and generally not known to cause image-quality problems in normal use. The difference is likely minor compared with simply using a properly designed hood in the first place.
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AI6y ago
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