Tulip Lens Hood Generator for Canon EF/EF-S Lenses

Tulip Lens Hood Generator for Canon EF and EF-S Lenses

A parametric generator that produces correctly-sized lens hoods for 90+ Canon EF/EF-S lenses, computed from optical data

The aim for this generator is to create mathematically correct lens hoods (tulip) for all Canon EF/EF-S lenses (fisheye not included). For this we use data from PhotonsToPhotos.net, thank you Bill Claff!

Tulip VS Tubular Generator

This tool has a companion that generates tubular hoods.
When the lens has an internal focusing system (the hood does not rotate), use this generator. Use the tubular hood if the lens focusing rotates the hood.
The tulip shape generate here is much closer to the optimal geometry for a lens hood.

How to use

Unfortunately the canon lens hood mount itself is not standardised (if it is and you have information, please let me know). We therefore need to take four measurements per lens. This takes about 2 minutes and does not need to be super precise. Let's go through this step by step:

1. Check the list below if your lens is supported.
2. Check if your lens uses two or three lugs for hood attachment (For three lugs, use the tubular hood generator ).
3. Measure the lens barrel diameter of your lens. This way the lens can be put on in reverse for storage.
4. Measure from the EF-flange to the Hood mounting flange. When measuring a zoom lens, make sure to measure at the widest focal length (e.g. 18mm for an 18-55mm lens) and at infinity focus. Not the storage position.
5. Measure the hood mounting lugs two times as seen in the video/images.
   A short video of how/where to measure (3 minutes, two lenses)

How to print

• The hoods print without support.
• Do not reorient them.
• .2 or .1mm layer height
• For mine I used both ABS and PETG without issues. I think PLA is probably not a great option as the hood will be exposed to UV light but it is probably also fine to use (for the occasional photoshoot :))
• If you use a brim/skirt, make sure to use a "outer brim only" as the surface on the inside is used to interface with the lens mount.

Pro Tips

• Avoid shiny/reflective plastics. You can/should line the inside of the hoods with self adhesive velvet paper (I used this one (non affiliate link)). This way we avoid unwanted reflections on the inside of the hood.
• If you want to add velvet to the inside of the hood, make sure to add 2x the velvet thickness to the measured barrel diameter D_Lens_Barrel in the customiser.
• I tried acetone vapor smoothing for one of the ABS test prints and it came out great.

How this tool works (short version)

This tool is a more advanced version of the tubular hood generator. Instead of using the lenses image circle radius for the AOV computation, we have computed the chief ray and the off axis parallel rays for full frame and APSC sensors for both X- and Y-direction. This way the FOV cone can be the correct rectangular (pyramid) shape. This is much closer to the optimal shape and works much better with wider lenses.
Instead of computing a hood length, we draw the hood with the user's specified maximum length and then cut away the computed FOV cone for the given lens/sensor setup.
To avoid thin, unprintable edges when cutting the tubular hood at an angle, we also cut away the top of the tulip in both x and y direction. This way the walls stay a consistent width.
A detailed explanation of the calculation is now published on my blog.

Limitations

• Seeing as the geometry is computed, it should be mathematically correct but I can only test it for/with lenses I own. So, if you run into issues please let me know which lens/tool settings you used. The same thing is true for when the hood works for your lens and is tested.
• Right now only the two lug design is supported.
• As the hood itself uses a friction/interference fit, tolerances are important. However, as they are measurement, printer and model dependent a test print might be needed to fine tune for your specific setup.

Supported lenses (Canon EF/EF-S):

• Canon EF100-300mm f4.5-5.6 USM
• Canon EF100-300mm f5.6
• Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II USM
• Canon EF100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS USM
• Canon EF100mm f2.8 Macro
• Canon EF100mm f2.8L Macro IS USM
• Canon EF11-24mm f4L USM
• Canon EF135mm f2.8 Soft Focus
• Canon EF135mm f2L USM
• Canon EF14mm f2.8L USM
• Canon EF16-35mm f2.8L II USM
• Canon EF16-35mm f2.8L III USM
• Canon EF16-35mm f2.8L USM
• Canon EF16-35mm f4L IS USM
• Canon EF17-35mm f2.8L USM
• Canon EF17-40mm f4L USM
• Canon EF180mm f3.5L Macro USM
• Canon EF200-400mm f4L IS USM Extender 1.4x
• Canon EF200-400mm f4L IS USM Extender 1x
• Canon EF200mm f1.8L USM
• Canon EF200mm f2.8L II USM
• Canon EF200mm f2L IS USM
• Canon EF20-35mm f2.8L
• Canon EF20-35mm f3.5-4.5 USM
• Canon EF20mm f2.8 USM
• Canon EF24-105mm f4L IS II USM
• Canon EF24-105mm F4L IS USM
• Canon EF24-70mm f2.8L II USM
• Canon EF24-70mm f2.8L USM
• Canon EF24-85mm f3.5-4.5 USM
• Canon EF24mm f1.4L II USM
• Canon EF24mm f1.4L USM
• Canon EF24mm f2.8 IS USM
• Canon EF28-105mm f3.5-4.5 II USM
• Canon EF28-105mm f3.5-4.5 USM
• Canon EF28-105mm f4-5.6
• Canon EF28-135mm f3.5-5.6 IS USM
• Canon EF28-200mm f3.5-5.6 USM
• Canon EF28-70mm f3.5-4.5 II
• Canon EF28-80mm f3.5-5.6 II
• Canon EF28-90mm f4-5.6 II USM
• Canon EF28mm f2.8
• Canon EF28mm f2.8 IS USM
• Canon EF300mm f2.8L USM
• Canon EF300mm f2.8L IS USM
• Canon EF300mm f4L IS USM
• Canon EF35-135mm f3.5-4.5
• Canon EF35-135mm f4-5.6 USM
• Canon EF35-350mm f3.5-5.6L USM
• Canon EF35-70mm f3.5-4.5
• Canon EF35-80mm f4-5.6 III
• Canon EF35mm f1.4L USM
• Canon EF35mm f2
• Canon EF35mm f2 IS USM
• Canon EF400mm f2.8L IS II USM
• Canon EF400mm f2.8L IS USM
• Canon EF400mm f5.6L USM
• Canon EF40mm f2.8 STM
• Canon EF500mm f4L IS USM
• Canon EF50mm f/1.0L USM
• Canon EF50mm F1.4 USM
• Canon EF50mm f1.8
• Canon EF50mm f2.5 Compact Macro
• Canon EF55-200mm f4.5-5.6 USM
• Canon EF600mm f4L IS USM
• Canon EF70-200mm f2.8L IS II USM
• Canon EF70-200mm f2.8L USM
• Canon EF70-200mm f4L IS USM
• Canon EF70-200mm f4L USM
• Canon EF70-300mm f4-5.6 IS II USM
• Canon EF70-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM
• Canon EF70-300mm f4-5.6L IS USM
• Canon EF85mm f1.8 USM
• Canon EF-S10-18mm f4.5-5.6 IS STM
• Canon EF-S10-22mm f3.5-4.5 USM
• Canon EF-S15-85mm f3.5-5.6 IS USM
• Canon EF-S17-55mm f2.8 IS USM
• Canon EF-S17-85mm f4-5.6 IS USM
• Canon EF-S18-135mm f3.5-5.6 IS
• Canon EF-S18-135mm f3.5-5.6 IS STM
• Canon EF-S18-55mm f3.5-5.6
• Canon EF-S18-200mm f3.5-5.6 IS
• Canon EF-S24mm f2.8 STM
• Canon EF-S35mm f2.8 Macro IS STM
• Canon EF-S55-250mm f4-5.6 IS
• Canon EF-S55-250mm f4-5.6 IS STM
• Canon EF-S60mm f2.8 Macro USM