Lens hoods and flash

[wintoid]

I understand that lens hoods are useful to give better contrast by eliminating lens flare. I'm wondering whether they help when using flash, considering that the light source is behind the lens.

[Jesper]

Don't use a lens hood when using flash, especially with wide angle lenses, otherwise you might get a shadow of the lens hood on your photo.

[slin100]

Larger lenses simply cannot be used with the built-in flash because they cast a shadow, with or without a hood. Even the 17-40 and 28-135 lenses are large enough to cast shadows.

OTOH, there are no issues when using a shoe-mounted flash, such as the 550EX or 420EX. IMO, using a hood is recommended because reflections caused by light from the flash can still cause flare.

[wintoid]

Thanks guys. Both my lenses are stubby (24-85mm and 50mm 1.4), partly because I don't like a big conspicuous setup. I always use a 550ex for flash, so perhaps I'll give the hood for the 24-85mm a go and see how I get on. The 50mm is already pretty contrasty but if the experiment works well I might get a hood for it too.