Lens hoods cut down on lens flare, when sunlight or extraneous light is at an oblique angle to the surface of your glass... i tend to just use it whenever i'm shooting: if the lens hood is integral to your lens, it won't affect your shots. If you're using a 3rd-party lens hood, make sure it can't be seen in the corners of your frame, as the size of the hood may intrude into your shot.Jess said:
haha FD lens, that's what i figured. A or F series camera body? All the new EF lenses use the flower-pot hoods that can be separated from the lens body, and integral lens hoods are really a rarity. Here's a big hello from a fellow Canon FD user (i'm using an A1 and F1n), aren't that many of us around! Let me know if you have any queries on your system and I'll try to help out as much as possible, but just to get you started, here's a webbie you might want to check out: http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/htmls/knowledge_main.htm there's an excellent, almost authoritative, section on FD canons, you won't find a better online resource for this old system elsewhere.Jess said:Lets see, It's a 200 MM Canon FD 1:4 with largest aperature of 4. I'm a brand newbie so I don't know much more about it. Has a serial of 29984.
I got it on sale on E-bay. Appears to be in good condition. Guess I'll know for sure after I use it for a while, but for me as an absolute amateur, it's perfect.
Thank you for the information, guess I'll use the hood when I'm outside.
Very helpful. I wouldn't have had any clue what most of the switches and buttons do if it weren't for that site. 
