Lens Hoods

[playinhockey]

When are lens hoods necessary? Should I use them all the time? My 70-200 f2.8 IS just arrived and the lens hood makes this thing look huge!

[Anders Östberg]

There's a couple of reasons for using the hood, like

- it shields the lens from direct light coming in from in front of the lens, causing flares and lower contrast in the picture. Obviously this is more important if you point the lens anywhere near a strong light source
- it's a physical protection for the front glass element, less likely you'll bump into something and scratch the lens

I always use a hood as it does make a difference in the picture quality

[robertwgross]

If you think of the camera, and there are 180 degrees of a circle behind the camera and 180 degrees of a circle in front...

... then anytime the sun is behind the camera, you don't need a lens hood much or at all.

... then anytime the sun is in front of the camera (even far to one side), then there is some possibility of some sunlight getting onto the lens, which can cause all sorts of strange and awkward reflections, including "sun dogs". The closer the sun is toward the direction of the subject, then the more likely these reflections will be a bother unless you use a lens hood (however, if the sun is hidden behind a subject, then sometimes that makes a good effect).

---Bob Gross---

[playinhockey]

Thanks guys, I knew they were used for something, I just didn't know what!

[where1]

If you are shooting in the rain or snow, a hood can be helpful in keeping drops and flakes off the lense glass.

[EoSD30fReAk]

i realy never used it but interesting options here!

thinking on using it now :D

[Nolz]

i can rememeber using my old olympus C2100uz holding it with one hand and trying to shield the lens from light with the other...must have looked like a damn fool :lol:

thank god it was an option to buy for my 75-300 :D

[slejhamer]

... then anytime the sun is in front of the camera (even far to one side), then there is some possibility of some sunlight getting onto the lens, which can cause all sorts of strange and awkward reflections, including "sun dogs".


I'm curious about the scalloped (or "tulip"-shaped) hoods. What are the advantages or disadvantages? Why do some lenses use these while others don't? My 17-35mm lens has one of these and the sides do not extend very far. Wouldn't these hoods be less effective if the sun is low on the horizon yet still at an angle slightly in front of the camera? Thanks,

[where1]

The tulip shaped hoods are designed to give you maximum shade without the hood appearing in the corners of your photo. These are used for wide angle lenses. The longer the lense, the less the angle of view. Telephoto lenses can get good shading from a hood that is to short to appear in the photo, so they don't need the corners cut away.

[arogop]

I always shoot with my lens hoods on. Even indoors. My opinion is that I can never tell when I might get reflected light hitting the lens.

I am not even close to being a pro, but anything I can do to improve my pictures is a good idea.

My only regret is that with it my lenses are difficlut to store with the hoods attached, and some lens caps become difficult to remove.

Andrew

[Belmondo]

You'll notice that the lens hoods are tulip shaped on all lense except for the longer telephotos. That's because the field of view is so narrow that the lens hood won't interfere with the image. The Canon lens hoods are indexed so it's impossible to install them in the wrong orientation.

I also recently discovered that a lens hood is good for cushioning the fall of a lens when the stupid owner lets it roll out of the car onto the ground.

[DaveG]

I would suggest that you ALWAYS use a lens hood. You've got one so use it.

Even when the sun is behind you the world has a nastly way to have it reflect off of a building or something and you are back in the flare business.

Heck, I did an indoor portrait last year and the subject was mainly lit from behind. There was a bit of cross light coming in from another window which didn't look like it would be a problem. Well I lost a whole bunch of contrast - and lack of contrast is another kind of flare - simply because I got lazy and didn't use a shade.

[kahfluie]

I just think of the hood as part of the lens. It's always on. Better to have on than to fidget with it when you need it. Doesn't hurt to keep on.

[CyberDyneSystems]

... then anytime the sun is in front of the camera (even far to one side), then there is some possibility of some sunlight getting onto the lens, which can cause all sorts of strange and awkward reflections, including "sun dogs".


I'm curious about the scalloped (or "tulip"-shaped) hoods. What are the advantages or disadvantages? Why do some lenses use these while others don't? My 17-35mm lens has one of these and the sides do not extend very far. Wouldn't these hoods be less effective if the sun is low on the horizon yet still at an angle slightly in front of the camera? Thanks,

The film plane (or CCD/CMOS) is a rectangel,.. the lens image is obviously circular... the "paetals" of the tulip hood created a nearly perfectly rectangular image opening,. blocking light from striking the parts of the lens that fall outside of the film panes rectangle.

Try this test,. mount the widest lens you have on your camera.

Remove it's lens hood,. now hold the lens hood from your narrowest/longest telephoto lens up to the fron of the mounted lens and look through the veiwfinder... Mak sure you have the hood orented as it would be if it were mounted properly to it's matcheing lens.

Obviously the hood is going to cause a lot of vignette... but look at the shape of the vignette...

Pretty close to a rectangle? Now those tulip petals were obviously made ofr a different lens,. but thats the basic Idea.

Allways use a lens hood,. the sun does not need to be in fron of you for stary light to enter into the lens,. reflected light can do harm to the clarity of the image as well.

[CyberDyneSystems]

More reading;

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=20722#119088

Pay particular attention to Rick Denny and PacAce's dialogue towrds the end,. a lot of clear though going on there :)

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=14986#117840

[slejhamer]

Very informative; thank you for the replies.

The whole polarizer OR hood thing is an entirely different issue, but a big one!

Funny you should mention that, CDS. I was going to ask about using a polarizer with a hood, but I think I can guess what some of the answers will be... :)