Coffee Cup Lens Hood.

Lens hoods are used to prevent light from hitting the lens from the side which reduces the contrast of your picture and creates flare.
Pictures taken with a lens hood will generally have richer colors and deeper saturation.
Furthermore, they often protect the camera when dropped or bumped.

Lens hoods are usually expensive (for dSLR cameras) and as far as I know, non-existing for compact cameras.

This I'ble will show you how to make one out of a coffee cup and it's my entry for the "Coffee Cup Challenge". If you like it, don't forget to vote for me.

Sounds great, but there are limitations. You should not use a lens hood when using a flash and when photographing with a wide lens angle ("zooming out") as part of the hood may become visible. In this case you can shorten the hood or cut it into a flower shape (as with dSLR hoods).

Step 1 What you need.

* a coffee cup.
* a paper clip.
* a rubber band.

Comments

[ericthegreat1228]

 I just wanted to know if you can post some of your pics 

[bertus52x11]

I could, but if you are looking for a comparative study of photographs with or without a hood, I have to disappoint you.
The one thing you should keep in mind is that at wide angles, the hood may become part of your composition (see discussion with Eren S. in this I'ble).

[Eren S.]

This is very interesting. Just one thing, though. I shoot pro SLRs and I also have an Olympus D-580 zoom. When I attempted to make a hood, I used a plastic cup and painted it black. But, I noticed that when I shot landscapes with wide angle modes, it ended up showing a black circle in the picture. Does this happen with your design?

[bertus52x11]

Yes it does, but you can shorten the hood (or crop the picture). 
Keep in mind that I wrote this Instructable as an "emergency" solution. If you want a more durable system, the design needs more thought!

[jamoskirk]

it would be more effective to keep flares out of your pictures by painting the inside BLACK

[bertus52x11]

You're right (or leave some really dark coffee stains?)

[localtalent]

 I like that the cup matches the camera!

You could always use a plastic clip to avoid scratching the screen.

[bertus52x11]

Finding a cup that matched the camera was the hardest part! ;-)

[JavaNut13]

Why clean it out? you could have a coffee's-eye-view with bits of foam dangling down...
JavaNut

[bertus52x11]

Or soup.

[MrSalvador]

I would try to think of a more creative and subtle attachment method, but goo nonetheless!

[lemonie]

This keeps the sun out or something?

L

[bertus52x11]

Yes.

[lemonie]

It's a bit too long for my camera, but easy enough to shorten.

L

[TechnoGeek95]

I would not want that paper clip scratching up my camera screen. Good pictures though.

[bertus52x11]

I agree, but this specific model has an edge around the screen, so at most the edge gets scratched.
Secondly, I have been taken nicer and bolder pictures since I consider my camera as a "utensil". 

[bruc33ef]

Great one!  Very resourceful and effective.