Lens shade night photography

[jonathans9]

I was shooting at a night HS football game with my 300mm 2.8 Canon. I had the lens shade on. A pro photog from the local paper (shooting with NIkon) told me that a lens shade at night will interfere with the autofocus. As I am a newbie here, advice is welcome.
Jonathan

[bolantej]

well, did it? if not, then he's fullabolloney. ;)

[Croasdail]

Stadium lights are very unlikely to cause flare issues with that lens... so you really don't need it. But, it doesn't hurt to have a little protection on the front either.

[Trackday.Net]

The hood will not interfere with the autofocus. Personally, I keep it on for the protection and a place to support the lens.

[Steve Parr]

I shot some outdoor stuff with my 70-200mm f/2.8 last night, and I used the lens hood. Aside from offering a level of protection, people also tend to stay out of your way when you've wielding such a lens.

Regardless, the autofocus worked fine...

Steve

[ringkingpin]

Maybe the local pro is shooting with a Nikon? :rolleyes: ;)

[MJP]

check out the MNF and check out the sidelines and you will notice all the white lens have the hood on.....

[Kevin]

Tell the guy to trade in his Nikon for a Canon and he won't have the problem.

[grego]

Only if you are using an improper fitting hood or it's not on correctly would it get in the way of any functions of your lens. If there's an autofocus problem, its the lens, not the hood causing it.

Hoods are always good to have, especially at sporting events when anything is possible. Football games, for instance can go from you standing to you being run over and your camera equipment run over. The more protection for your camera, the better.

And depending on the place(the lighting), you can get some lens flare, albeit not that much.

[jjonsalt]

If you come by this "pro photog from the local paper" again please ask just how that could be. Then let us know what coo-kie rational he used.

[scr7b]

Sounds to me like he's getting lens hood and lens cap mixed up!

[zacker]

i guess its like filters, some say keep a UV on at all times, others say if you do it will degrade pic quality... its all about what YOU think!
-zacker-

[rklepper]

Only if you are using an improper fitting hood or it's not on correctly would it get in the way of any functions of your lens. If there's an autofocus problem, its the lens, not the hood causing it.

Hoods are always good to have, especially at sporting events when anything is possible. Football games, for instance can go from you standing to you being run over and your camera equipment run over. The more protection for your camera, the better.

And depending on the place(the lighting), you can get some lens flare, albeit not that much.

Exactly. Hoods are designed so that they do not interfere with the lens in any way.

[ssim]

Given what the 300 2.8 cost me, there is no way that I would risk the front element of the lens to damage. If nothing else, it offers peace of mind with respect to potential damage and I know for a fact that it will not interefere in AF functions in low lighting.

[ddelallata]

That is the biggest pile of poop I've heard all day.

[bolantej]

Sounds to me like he's getting lens hood and lens cap mixed up!:lol::lol::rolleyes:

[thomasrhee]

Ya shoulda told him... "and didn't you know that using Nikon's inferior auto focus system is even worse?" :lol: