How necessary is a Lens Hood?

How necessary is a lens hood? I know it supposedly keeps out stray

light rays (at least as far as I understand), but does it really make

that much of a difference? <p>I've been shooting with a Voigtlander

Bessa R2 rangefinder & a 50mm f/1.5 Nokton lens, which came with a

lens hood. Does the fact that it came packaged with a lens hood mean

that this lens is more prone to lens flare than other lenses? And

does this also mean that in most cases, the lens hood SHOULD be

used?<p>I guess I'm just trying to weigh the benefits of a lens hood.

Of course, one could say, "you have one, so why not use it?" To

which I'd reply, "Well, I have been using it"--in fact, I don't think

I've taken even 1 shot without it. I'm just wondering WHY I should be

using it.<p>Any help is appreciated! Thanks a ton!

Let's put it this way - using a lens hood will never do any harm, provided of course that it's the right size.<br>IMO the 2 accessories which contribute most to good photography are lenshoods and tripods, and neither of them are used as often as they should be!<br>A lenshood comes into its own when light is falling accross the lens or coming towards it, although it can't work miracles it really does help in most cases. It's job is to stop light from striking the lens itself, so provided that the light is not hitting the lens almost straight-on it will usually work. <br>Some lenses are quite deeply recessed and a lenshood is therefore less necessary, others have no recess and a lenshood is indispensable.<br>Unfortunately the hoods provided with zoom lenses are often useless, except at the wide end, because they are too short for use at longer lengths.<p>Hope this helps

Garry has hit it right on! I would like to add that a hood also adds mecanical protection for the lens if dropped, or the camera is knocked against a non-giving object. Even if the sunlight is not directly hitting the lens, considerable unwanted light can come from bright skies or street lights. I personally keep a hood on every lens all the time.

It will definitely improve the contrast of your photos and will halp with flare in pictures where the sun is directly overhead.

99% of the time a hood makes no difference. In the 1% case, the difference can be corrected in the darkroom, unless you are shooting transparencies in which case one's hand or a piece of cardboard can serve. When I acquired my Leica system, I was peaved because I had to buy after-market lens caps to fit various of the lenses when their hoods had been removed.

 

Ok, I'm overstating the case. If you shoot into or towards the sun a lot then it's probably more convenient to use lens hoods. I rarely shoot into the sun and therefore leave my hoods at home.

Try this next time you're outside in the sun. Cup your hands around your eyes, sort of a lens shade for your eyes. What you see in reduced glare is exactly what happens when adding a lens hood to your lens. Yes you do need to use one, even when it's just cloudy it helps.

It's only necessary if there's any stray light that may strike the lens from other than the scene, or if there's a chance of physical damage (bumping or dropping).

 

I do a lot of shooting of candids in the afternoons with the sun behind the subject. Without a lens hood, the images are very low in contrast due to flare--it's incredible how visible the problem is in the viewfinder alone, let alone the resulting image. With the shade, things are much better, though even there, I sometimes hold my hand over it to increase contrast. (It's a zoom lens, and the shade is far less effective at the long end of the range.)

 

If you always shoot with the light behind you, without anything to reflect stray light back into the lens (mirrors, chrome, water, etc.), that aspect is minimal. Otherwise...

I even use one on my pentax spotmeter. I figure if its good for the lens, it got to be good for the meter.

A lenshood saved my a few hundred dollars once, by helping to protect the front element from debris. I'd rather have a badly dinged-up plastic lens hood than a cracked piece of glass. In a crowded situation, people will bump into the hood, and not into your glass.

 

There are so many reasons to use a lens hood...

 

I even go so far as to look for lens caps that I can fit into the hood, so I don't have to fiddle with the hood ever (except for cleaning the lens). Hama makes good lens caps for this purpose.

I was wondering if keeping the lens hood in low light situations can have any effect on a meter reading?

Yes.

Jae: Hello, Goniff Camera of Brooklyn? Im interested in the new Sigma Zoom for my Canon,you got that one in stock?

GC of BKLN: Yeah, we have the Sigma IS Zoom in stock,best price for you ace... Do you want the lens hood and lenswipes too,that's extra!.

Jae: Well, I have heard lens hoods help a lot,but I am not sure if its all that important. GC of BKLN: That lens has 11 elements, do you want stray light bouncing around and lowering your contrast, and by the way you know you want the USA version with triple purple color multicoating, I recommend the non gray market version,that's a little extra. Jae: Well, I just wondered about hoods,they are a pain..I see in the movies they have these bellows contraptions in front of the lens ona on a frame to keep out stray light,so maybe it has real value for fussy work. GC:You bet,ace,take my word, now which card will ya be using..?

A lens hood is often vital. You may not even notice the light that is going to flare the hell out of your photo - and it is going to take a long time to fix it in the darkroom - or even with Photoshop!

 

Indoors is not that much of an issue but it is (IMO) a good idea to use them outdoors - all the time. You have the added bonus of maybe saving your lens if it drops on the hood?

 

Make sure that you use the right hood - the wrong hood is worse than no hood at all - the wrong hood always gives you a messed up shot - no hood often messes up :-)

Besides blocking stray light to improve contrast, a lens hood could save your lens in case you drop it and it lands front side down. Since the front end of most longer lenses is heavier, they often land that way.