Lens hoods - really needed?

tummelv

tummelv

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No
Do they make so much of a difference to make them worth the hassle? They're kind of awkward to carry around.

Thanks,
 
It depends if you're shooting towards a light source, or at an angle to a light soure that is causing lens flare or it's raining/snowing/drizzle, if no is the answer to all of those then No
 
After a lot of reading on this forum i always have mine on, its a good way of protecting the end of your lens.
 
Heh, I never thought about it's uses for wet weather photography. :p
 
Also depends on the type of lens. On my old nifty fifty and kit lens I never bothered.

But when I got my 10-22 I suffered really badly from lens flare and had to invest in a lens hood for that one. And for my zoom lenses it is additional protection as stated above.
 
You can always fit them backwards to make carrying them easier, its just a thought! :)
 
Some lens are really effected by lens flare. My sigma 24-70 is a good example of this and the lens hood that comes with it is terrible. The front element is pretty large and at the wider end of the range can suffer badly. I've actually just purchased a spare sigma 70-200 hood which im going to modify to fit on the 24-70. (Tested it with my own 70-200 hood before and it worked fine at all focal lengths and will hopefully stop the really bad flare)
 
You really shouldn't under-estimate the value of a lens hood. It isn't just shooting into the light where they're beneficial - they also eliminate scattered light which is being bounced around all around us regardless of the direction of the light source. A lens hood will give deeper saturation and richer colours by eliminating this scattered light hitting the front lens element.

Some lenses have the front element recessed further into the lens barrel than others and that does provide some degree of protection from scattered light, but nothing like that afforded by a lens hood. I use one always regardless of what lens I'm using.
 
I posed the same question at some point last year. And now, if I'm not using filters, I always use a lens hood. If nothing else, it acts like a crumple zone when I drop the camera!
 
I generally leave the hoods on all of my lenses, for lens protection purposes more than anything.
 
Yep I leave mine on all the time
 
I have only just started using my flower hood cap on my 18-55mm and I can see the colour differences already and I am not as paranoid about scratching my lens with it protecting it.
 
rtjdesign said:
I have only just started using my flower hood cap on my 18-55mm and I can see the colour differences already and I am not as paranoid about scratching my lens with it protecting it.
Click to expand...

Just think about how you cup your hands over your eyes when looking into the distance on bright days - exactly the same principle, you're eliminating scattered light to see things more clearly.
 
CT said:
Just think about how you cup your hands over your eyes when looking into the distance on bright days - exactly the same principle, you're eliminating scattered light to see things more clearly.
Click to expand...

Yeah I am messing around with it right now. Can see the difference even with this crappy weather hah.
 
About the only time I don't use a lens hood is if I am using a C-Pol, then the sun is behind me so no flare problems and its easier to rotate without a hood.

Other than that - always use a hood.
 
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