using a hood

this may seem a silly question to most of you but please remember I am new to all this and I want to learn , when do you use a hood? and is there only one postion for it?

rick

My hoods never leave my lenses, the reasons are threefold:

1) You may not notice the occasional light source which will produce flare in your images and reduce the contrast.
2) It should protect the lens element from small bumps and scratches (much more so than a filter, reductio ad absurdum)
3) Makes the lens look cooler

You really should try to use a hood full time. It not only helps control the light striking and entering your lens, it also provides a measure of protection from bumps and bangs, as well as accidental touches. There are two basic positions for the hood....forward facing for when the camera is being used...and rear facing for storage purposes...when it is desirable to take up less space.

Welcome to POTN....I'm sure you will learn lots and enjoy it too! I use hoods all the time on all lenses for all the above noted reasons.

Yes, hood for every lens and on at all times. Most will easily store mounted on the front of your lens mounted backwards, taking up little room in the camera bag.

For a pedal style lens hood there are two correct positions they look the same, shorter pedal on sides, round is all the same. I don't think there are any square ones for a Canon lens.

The only time I don't use a hood is because it interferes with a macro shot.

illy wrote in post #2266346
My hoods never leave my lenses, the reasons are threefold:

1) You may not notice the occasional light source which will produce flare in your images and reduce the contrast.
2) It should protect the lens element from small bumps and scratches (much more so than a filter, reductio ad absurdum)
3) Makes the lens look cooler

That's the real reason most people use em'

thanks for the replys ,just put them back on,


rick

I figured that when shooting in a very low light situation, by storing it, I would allow more light in since I am extremely underexposed.

slyone wrote in post #2267435
I figured that when shooting in a very low light situation, by storing it, I would allow more light in since I am extremely underexposed.

Nope. What's important is the light on your subject,and how much of that's reflected back to your lens. A hood won't keep light from your subject from reaching the lens, and thus the sensor. What it does is keep stray light that's off to the side and out of the picture from hitting the lens and reflecting about 35 different times around the lens until it finally reaches the sensor all spread out, fuzzy, and out of focus, causing flare, glare, and loss of contrast.

Thanks Jon, that's good to know..