5D3 & 70-200F2.8L IS MkII Should you / do you use a lens hood in studio

I've never been too sure what lens hoods are for. i assumed say you were outside and there was strong sunlight from the side or front it was to sheild the lens and stop glint etc.

But should I use it in my home studio that has some natural light from the back, and maybe a little bleed through from the front ( black curtains so not much ).

The lights are 5 Bowens Flash heads in black backed 1.4 m soft-boxes or Bowen's 500mm aluminium Beauty dishes - all with double white diffusers.

If I do a home shoot elsewhere, there may be more ambient light, but I use a 4 meter backdrop stand with a black cotton backdop plus any coloured backdrop in front of that.

Only once did I think I needed the lens hood IMO , when shooting in a room by the sea, where there was a large uncurtained window on the side, and the strong seaside sunlight came through big style.

My only aversion to using it is it makes the combo pretty big, and maybe looks a tad pretentious.

My reason for asking was I was doing some shots with a pretty seasoned Model ( circa 700 paid shoots under her belt ) and sHe asked me why I didnt use it as "most of the Pros did",

So is it a good thing to use and why?
Eg with 5 studio flashes there may be bounced light flying around? Say off a white ceiling.

I cant say I have ever seen any flare, glint etc in my pictures but thought might as well learn something.

Heya,

Hoods do two things.

1) Help minimize glare so that you don't get flares from strong sources a just the right angle. This can happen indoors too, depends on your venue. It definitely depends on light placement in the studio setting. But mainly you'll see it's practical use outdoors.

2) Protection. Bumping into something or having something hit your lens, it's a lot nicer when it hits the hood rather than your front element. I don't use UV filters for physical protection because they're not benign and have zero optical benefit for a dSLR, a hood doesn't take away from image quality at all, but physically protects your front element from almost everything short of a bullet.

Very best,

I have a hood for each of my lenses. The only time I use them is when the front element is exposed to light. No, wait, that isn't right either. My lenses have hoods on them even when in the closet, at night. Trust me, they really are happier that way.

I always use mine - reversed for storage, or on for shooting.

Of course i woukd lose them if i took them off and put then somewhere else (i actualky did lose my 16-35 hood for a while - i took it off and left it in the car when i had to shoot througu a window one day - i found it a few weeks later)

I always use my hoods, even in the studio.

Whilst there is less chance of stray light being a problem in a studio, it can still happen if using hair lighting, rim lighting etc. and, as mentioned above, hoods still provide great protection for the lens in a studio environment.

The question, as I see it, isn't "should you use them?" but "why on earth wouldn't you?". They don't get in the way, they add negligible weight to the camera and they don't compromise the image quality in any way. There are absolutely NO downsides to having the hood on, but it may still improve IQ or save your front element from a scratch or other damage if fitted.

Thanks guys the only negative then is making the combo a bit unwieldly .
And I specifically see the point re hair high light snoots.
Appreciate the input.
I do use the Hoya pro digital protectors all the time As I personally have never seen a difference in image quality.

Hoods on mine at all times

I am a little reluctant to respond because I don't want to start yet another pointless iteration of the filter wars. However:

Hoods are most useful precisely when filters are less desirable. I have used filters for protection for decades, and I have done controlled tests. My conclusion: if the lighting is behind you, you are very unlikely to notice any effect of a good filter. That is exactly when a hood isn't likely to be useful. If there is lighting coming from the side, backlighting, or spot light sources in front of you, filters can sometimes cause more flare or ghosting. lighting from the side is of course exactly what hoods are designed to protect you from.

I use hoods often when doing macros in my studio because I often do have lighting from the side, and I don't want to risk flare.

paddler4 wrote in post #16758831
I am a little reluctant to respond because I don't want to start yet another pointless iteration of the filter wars. However:

Hoods are most useful precisely when filters are less desirable. I have used filters for protection for decades, and I have done controlled tests. My conclusion: if the lighting is behind you, you are very unlikely to notice any effect of a good filter. That is exactly when a hood isn't likely to be useful. If there is lighting coming from the side, backlighting, or spot light sources in front of you, filters can sometimes cause more flare or ghosting. lighting from the side is of course exactly what hoods are designed to protect you from.

I use hoods often when doing macros in my studio because I often do have lighting from the side, and I don't want to risk flare.

to keep life simple, just keep hoods on all the time

Nope.

Even the giant hood for my Tammy 70-300 VC and 100mm f2.8 Macro, I use them all the time.

When I'm walking around, it keeps the glass off of myself and those around me with things like zippers or just clothes in general.

I also love using them during the rain, keeps the water off the glass and helps to keep my images clean.

I have clear filters (B+W or Hoya HMC) AND hoods on all my lenses.

I will take the filter off in interior shooting where there are multiple sources of light which may produce flares.

I will refuse to take the filter off in situations where there are airborne particles of any sort (water, saltwater, sand, dirt)...

The last time the filter came handy was in January when I was shooting equestrian practice and portraits for a local club. I was trying to shoot a closeup portrait and after the shot, while I was chimping, the horse licked the front part of the EF70-200 through the hood!

I went straight to the restrooms, took off the filter and rinsed it with water. I wouldn't want to do this with the fron element of the lens...