purpose of a lens hood

[reemas]

whats the purpose of a lens hood besides protection from bumping into objects by accident?

[Jon]

Protection from stray light hitting the lens surfaces and causing lens flare. In fact that's the primary purpose of a lens hood. Protection against bumps is a secondary, incidental, purpose that's not furnished by all designs.

[reemas]

im still new to lenses and slr cameras in general...

so with the hood, should i expect my pictures to look brighter or more contrasty then - if it keeps stray light out?

[Jon]

It won't help if you're shooting directly into the light source, or if the overall lighting is poor, or the atmosphere is hazy. But yes, it will improve pictures where stray uncontrolled light sources are shining on the lens.

[Simon Spiers]

And keeps the rain off the lens when it's wet too:lol:

[robertwgross]

Also, in a crowd of people, they tend to get out of your way a little faster if they see a big lens hood on a big lens.

---Bob Gross---

[reemas]

robert,
thats an odd statement. is that just your luck or does that happen often for you?

[CyberDyneSystems]

I get the same reaction... but I think it's more to do with the fact that i' 6'8" tall and look like the unibomber... :lol:

[blue_max]

Surely it's for the same reason that women have silicone implants. :D

Graham

[tim]

Yep, the bigger the camera/lens, the more people will get out of your way. It should be an interesting experiment when my 70-200 IS turns up :)

[Dante King]

Yep, the bigger the camera/lens, the more people will get out of your way. It should be an interesting experiment when my 70-200 IS turns up :)

This works sometimes. Others, people flock to you to have their kids photographed or on the good side when vain women want their pictures taken.

More often than not I find the purpose was to piss you off when you had to buy them seperately unless buying a L lens only to find canon does not have them shipping for the 900$$ non L lens you just got!!!

[JSolie]

The lens hood is useful for keeping stray light out of your lens, but has other uses as well.

It can also protect your lens (sometimes) from the the greasy fingers of a french fry (chips for those in the UK) eating kid. :evil:

It's also useful for making people think you're a better photographer than you really are (oooooo...he must be a pro...look at how big that lens is). Kinda Freudian, if you ask me. :rolleyes:

They are also useful for leaving a shadow in your wide-angle pictures when you're using a built-in flash that isn't at a sufficient height. :o

-- John

[reemas]

They are also useful for leaving a shadow in your wide-angle pictures when you're using a built-in flash that isn't at a sufficient height.

i just expereienced that. couldnt figure it out for a few minutes, then i took the hood off.

[symes]

Yep, the bigger the camera/lens, the more people will get out of your way. It should be an interesting experiment when my 70-200 IS turns up :)

Well it both repels and attracts people...Tried mine out yesterday for the first time and people got out of the way quicker but there were also others that needed a closer look...and you get all the "he must be compensating for something" comments...

It works for me though

[rdenney]

The purpose of a lens hood is to let image light in and block all other light. No hood accomplishes this perfectly, of course.

I do wish Canon would offer lens hoods for their wider lenses for when they are used on a smaller sensor. The 20-35, in particular, could use a much tighter hood.

If you want to see the effect, point the camera south on a sunny day, with the sun just outside the image frame but shining on the glass. Put the camera on a tripod. Now, while looking through the finder, move your hand such that its shadow shades the lens. You'll see a difference even on the ground glass.

Rick "who shades a lens with his hand when using a tripod, and who, yes, does have a few pictures of his hand" Denney

[norcal99]

In light of all that's been said, why does it seem like Canon makes more "bayonette/pedal" style hoods than the straight/cylindrical hoods (i.e. ET-74 on 70-200 f/4L)? Wouldn't the cylindrical one block more stray light from all angles in theory?

[reemas]

i think it has to do with the wide angle lenses

[rdenney]

In light of all that's been said, why does it seem like Canon makes more "bayonette/pedal" style hoods than the straight/cylindrical hoods (i.e. ET-74 on 70-200 f/4L)? Wouldn't the cylindrical one block more stray light from all angles in theory?

Actually, a rectangular hood is best. But with wide-angle lenses (or the wide end of zooms), the edge of the field of view right in front of the lens might require a huge rectangle. For example, I have the factory square hood for the 50mm f/4 Flektogon used in medium format, and the hood is about 4 inches square and 2 deep. Huge sucker. To make them a bit more compact, they cut away the corners so that the rectangle morphs into a circle. That's where you get the petal shape.

I use a compendium shade in larger formats that allows adjust to precisely clip the edge of the frame.

Rick "who likes bayonet hoods because they allow filter and lens cap use without removing the hood" Denney

[JulianL]

Well it both repels and attracts people...Tried mine out yesterday for the first time and people got out of the way quicker but there were also others that needed a closer look...and you get all the "he must be compensating for something" comments...

It works for me though

That's just something stupid people say between stuffing donuts into their gaping hole.

[JulianL]

In light of all that's been said, why does it seem like Canon makes more "bayonette/pedal" style hoods than the straight/cylindrical hoods (i.e. ET-74 on 70-200 f/4L)? Wouldn't the cylindrical one block more stray light from all angles in theory?

The petal style hoods are to eliminate vignetting on wider angle lenses. This is not necessary on telephoto lenses though.

[I Simonius]

whats the purpose of a lens hood besides protection from bumping into objects by accident?


Don't underestimate the value of that!

[Jon]

Oh, and it also helps keep Pekingese, but not Afghan Hound, noses off the front of your lens ;{)#