Lens hoods

ccpickre

So, I have gotten so accustomed to low light or no light shooting, that apparently I suck at day light shooting (or more specifically no cloud daylight).

So could anyone give me a good explanation on using lens hoods? Or whatever those bell things are?

Thanks

DoctorIt

They keep a bit of glare and stray light off the front element when you're shooting in very directional light. Nothing much more to it. Personally, I don't find a huge amount of difference when using one in terms of the image. The end of my lenses however, love them for the added protection when hiking through the bush and climbing over rocks.

i_worship_the_King

yea... I think for me it's more a matter of a $5 piece of plastic between the concrete and the glass. If it breaks I'll buy 2 more and be happy it wasn't glass.

That being said, I have gotten weird flares (particularly stadium lights) when I was too lazy to put one on.

And to round out my 2c on the subject, I really like the rubber collapsable ones on shorter glass. They expand out to do they job then compress to almost nothing to save having to pop off, rotate, pop back on before storage.:D

pathfinder

i_worship_the_King wrote:

yea... I think for me it's more a matter of a $5 piece of plastic between the concrete and the glass. If it breaks I'll buy 2 more and be happy it wasn't glass.

That being said, I have gotten weird flares (particularly stadium lights) when I was too lazy to put one on.

And to round out my 2c on the subject, I really like the rubber collapsable ones on shorter glass. They expand out to do they job then compress to almost nothing to save having to pop off, rotate, pop back on before storage.:D

I carry a rubber lens hood in 58mm for my 50 f1.4 also, but it is worthwhile keeping in mind that one of the main reasons for using a lens hood, is to offer physical protection from banging the lens objective on walls, floors after falling, rocks, concrete etc, and a collapsable rubber hood really does not help much for this.

This is critically important for lenses with protuberant front elements, like the very wide angles and fish eyes.. My 12 -24 Sigma protrudes almost one inch beyone the lens filter ring mount. A good lens to keep a strong lens hood on. It comes with a metal hood

The truth is that I make mounting a lens hood a matter of course when mounting a lens, kind of like putting on a seat belt. it is true that shooting in the dark, you are not likely to see glare without a lens hood, but you might be surprised, and falling is a risk wandering around in the dark looking through a viewfinder, and not watching where you are walking. Just a thought.:D

I mean what could possibly go wrong??

hschlessphoto

I think it is mostly an idea of glass protection. while it does help random glares off, i love feeling safer with it on there for protective reasons.

Vycor

Like everybody else.. I keep it on for glass protection... and find I support the glass actually holding the end of my lense and part of the hood. When its not there, i find myself sometimes getting articles of clothing (if i have a jacket on) showing up in my frame...

So I always have my lense hood. Another reason I always shoot with a UV filter, protection. Id rather damage a $5 lense hood or a $20 filter, then hafta replace a $800+ lense

Slinky0390

What's a $20 piece of plastic compared to a $400 lens? Whenever I order new glass I make sure to get the lens hood for it, along with a UV filter which is relatively inexpensive and will keep the actual lens from getting scratched. I couldn't really tell you the difference between having it on or off. I always wear a hat when I shoot during the day; this way, if I notice lens flare, I can take the hat off, hold it, and position it to kill the flare.

pathfinder

Broad brimmed hats for lens flare have been a favorite for view camera shooters for generations.

ccpickre

I'm wanting to shoot some of the IU football games next year, so I should probably get in that habit then.

I've found holding the lens further out alo helps in stabiliixing it, and the hoods could offer a slightly longer reach to hold as well

lasulax

Slinky0390 wrote:

What's a $20 piece of plastic compared to a $400 lens? Whenever I order new glass I make sure to get the lens hood for it, along with a UV filter which is relatively inexpensive and will keep the actual lens from getting scratched. I couldn't really tell you the difference between having it on or off. I always wear a hat when I shoot during the day; this way, if I notice lens flare, I can take the hat off, hold it, and position it to kill the flare.

im not sure i completely follow, could you explain how wearing a hat helps with lens flare?

pathfinder

You remove the hat from your chapeau, hold the hat in your hand, out above and in front of the lens, to cast a shadow across the front of the lens. Voila!! No longer any lens flare

In the movies, they use a giant 2 foot long lens hood, or a giant scrim to cast a shadow across the camera. Same idea.

Or you could go and stand in the shade somewhere and use the hat to keep your head warm.:D

Zanotti

pathfinder wrote:

I

I mean what could possibly go wrong??

Avoid using hoods on wide angle lenses with onboard, or short flashes. I have a few really great family shots with a strange shadow on the bottom third...........


Z

lasulax

ok that makes sense.

i wasnt sure if it was something as simple as that or something much more technical where if "the angle you observed the light coming off the brim of your hat was similar to what degree of flare you could expect" or something super technical like that.


should have realized....always go with the simplest answer!

ccpickre

lasulax wrote:

ok that makes sense.

i wasnt sure if it was something as simple as that or something much more technical where if "the angle you observed the light coming off the brim of your hat was similar to what degree of flare you could expect" or something super technical like that.


should have realized....always go with the simplest answer!

Achoms Razor my dear Watson