Just wondering. I never do.

always have a hood on, not because of any particular reason just habit take lens cap off put hood on.

Never use.
I wonder if it makes any difference except when the sun light is pointing directly towards the lens.

I wonder if it makes any difference except when the sun light is pointing directly towards the lens.

That is the only time when lens hood does NOT help.

But every time any light gets in the lens from the sides it's bad for the contrast.

Decent lens hoods is one of the reasons why I shoot with primes (zooms doesn't have very effective lens hoods due to obvious reasons)


See the difference?

I use it on my macro lens, but not on my regular lens. I kept getting a bit to close without the hood on my macro 

Quote from: microstockphoto.co.uk on March 08, 2011, 16:30

I wonder if it makes any difference except when the sun light is pointing directly towards the lens.

That is the only time when lens hood does NOT help.

But every time any light gets in the lens from the sides it's bad for the contrast.

Decent lens hoods is one of the reasons why I shoot with primes (zooms doesn't have very effective lens hoods due to obvious reasons)


See the difference?

Ok, I see the difference. But that situation happens rarely, because the subject is bad lit anyway when the sun is in that position.

My macro has a built-in hood.     Wide angle all depends on the situation.  It casts a shadow when using a flash, and since I use flash quite a bit with the wide angle, I usually keep it off.  But, I'll put it back when there's too much glare.

Agree with Karimala, use it all the time except when it is a problem

^^ +1

Plus, if you drop a lens, your hood can save your optics!

Yep, I use it all the time and instead don't use a UV filter.  The lens hood has saved my lens a few times and as mentioned, gives better contrast in the process.

Quote from: elvinstar on March 08, 2011, 20:11

^^ +1

Plus, if you drop a lens, your hood can save your optics!

Yep, I use it all the time and instead don't use a UV filter.  The lens hood has saved my lens a few times and as mentioned, gives better contrast in the process.

Except I use a UV filter and a lens hood, all the time and this just explained to me something I hadn't thought of. If someone has a UV filter and no lens hood, they are going to get some ugly glare and reflections that I wont. Ah Ha... I never thought of that?

Even if I didn't have a UV filter, the lens hood serves a purpose. I was laughing at this thread because, like other things that have been devised and invented to solve a problem, some people insist that we are using them for unnecessary reasons? Makes me wonder why lenses have lens hoods and why they were invented, if they do nothing but protect the lens? That's down the list for me. I hate lens flare and glare.

By the way, keep in mind, I shoot about 98% outdoors, all weather, varied conditions, wind, dust, rain or snow, with natural light. Just like many of these discussions, what do you shoot and where can change the answers. I carry a clear plastic bag and rubber bands for weather proofing too.

Yeah, always - because normally I don't use filters.  Buying a $1000 lens just to put a piece of crummy $50 glass in front of it just doesn't make sense to me. It also increases contrast in a lot of situations.  Do tests with/without.  Sometimes it doesn't really matter, but if you're using it to protect the lens, it does.

That's a perfect example.  If I shot racing or off road sports, I wouldn't go anywhere without having a filter and hood on either.  It really depends on the type of stuff you're shooting.

My kid who knocked my camera off a bench, busted the hood that was attached on the front.  I was quite mad for a second, but then I thought about the fact that I paid $1399 or maybe $1499 for that lens and was lucky that only the hood was broken.  The replacement hood was around $37 - for such a wee piece of plastic. 

I very rarely use lens hoods although I know I should. It seems a bit pointless when shooting with studio lights which is most of the time for me. If I'm outdoors then in sunny conditions I'll probably be using a polarizer which I need to rotate according to the horiz/vert plane I'm working in and/or the effect I want. About the only time I always use the hoods is when there's rain about. When I'm driving around in a campervan I usually have two bodies with me, one with a 24-70mm and the other with a telephoto zoom permanently mounted for the trip. Hoods are useful then as I can just sling the cameras down by my side ready for action without having to remove lens caps.