![[3] Reasons for Using a Lens Hood in 2022](https://phototraces.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/fi_Camera_Lens_Hood.jpg "[3] Reasons for Using a Lens Hood in 2022")
A digicam lens hood is without doubt one of the most underrated photograph equipment. Many photograph fans are sometimes fast to scoff at lens hoods, deeming them nothing greater than an pointless burden. I’m not of them.
I contemplate a digicam lens hood one of many important equipment in my digicam bag. I’ve lens hoods for each lens I personal, and so they not often go away the lenses’ entrance parts.
If you might be in search of the reply to the query “What Does a Lens Hood Do?” this text is for you. By the tip, you’ll clearly perceive how lens hoods profit my images and why you must also use them.
What is a Camera Lens Hood?
A lens hood is a small, round accent that goes over your lens to decrease stray mild falling throughout the lens. Without a lens hood, stray mild will trigger undesirable lens flares and a washed-out low-contrast look.
What Does a Camera Lens Hood Do?
There are 3 primary features of lens hoods.
1. Reducing Unwanted Stray Light
The primary good thing about utilizing a lens hood is to dam undesirable direct stray mild.
To higher perceive this operate, think about being exterior on a sunny day and looking out on the solar’s route. To enhance visibility, you instinctively deliver the palm of your arm to your brow. Your palm casts a shadow over your eyes, and the image of the scene improves instantly. It turns into extra contrasted, clear, and vivid since you block the direct mild coming from the solar.
Since the human eye is a classy model of a digicam lens, the lens hood holds a operate much like your palm.
When you wish to seize a panorama, the purpose is to seize a lightweight mirrored from the scene’s parts, comparable to mountains, timber, and rocks. And when the reflective mild mixes up with the direct mild, most frequently coming from the solar, you expertise undesirable optical results. The results are lens flares, discount in distinction, and readability.
Use a lens hood when capturing open air. It will drastically scale back undesirable optical results.
And as a substitute of evaluating the scene and deciding if it has a possible for lens flares, it’s a lot less complicated to have a lens hood connected to your lens always. In distinction to lens filters, the lens hoods don’t scale back mild transmission, and it’s protected to maintain them all the time on.
But I have to admit that the digicam lens hood doesn’t all the time assist to eradicate lens flares.
Let me clarify.
During the sunsets and sunrises, I usually shoot immediately into the solar to extend the visible impact of the setting or rising solar. In such instances, even the lens hoods don’t stop undesirable lens flare. My answer is double shielding. I exploit my hand’s palm to extend my lens’s shielding.
2. Physical Lens Protection
Sometimes I believe that the bodily safety operate of lens hoods is extra vital than optical safety.
If, for some cause, I would not have a lens hood connected to my lens, I understand how to cope with lens flares or washed-out results. I can use the palm of my hand to defend undesirable mild. Or I can place my digicam within the shade of a tree or rock. But the bodily lens safety is unreplaceable.
When I’m on an extended hike or climbing the cliffs in Utah, I all the time have my digicam hanging on my facet. And it usually will get banged, particularly when I attempt to get to the obstructed spot.
If I verify the lens hoods of my lenses, they’re all lined with scratches and dents. It is troublesome to depend what number of occasions lens hoods saved my lenses.
It is priceless {that a} $20 accent saves $1000 lens over and over.
3. Environmental Lens Protection
One of my favourite phrases that describe panorama images is “the worst weather produces the best photos.” In sensible phrases, it implies that whenever you shoot within the rain or snow, you could wipe the entrance factor of your lens each 15 seconds. Having a lens hood supplies partial environmental safety. You have to wash your lens much less usually.
The environmental safety operate of the lens hood is the least vital one, however it’s nonetheless beneficial. It permits you to focus on capturing reasonably than on cleansing actions.
When to Use a Camera Lens Hood
The quick and easy reply is all the time.
Before contemplating utilizing unessential photograph gear, I all the time analyze its advantages and shortcomings.
When utilizing a lens hood, I can see primarily advantages and nearly no shortcomings. The solely adverse I see is it provides measurement to your lens and requires additional room in your bag.
But the advantages of utilizing a lens hood outweigh the negatives by a substantial margin.
When Not to Use a Camera Lens Hood
Photographers take away the lens hood after they wish to obtain inventive results produced by the direct solar.
For instance, many portrait photographers in outside settings create lovely backlit portraits. When you place the solar behind your topics and take away the lens hood, the backlit mild produces delicate, dream-like photographs with lens flare serving creative functions.
Do not use a lens hood whenever you deliberately wish to produce delicate, low-contrast captures with non-obligatory lens flares.
Types of Camera Lens Hoods
There are 2 primary sorts of lens hoods.
1. Petal Lens Hoods
The petal lens hood has a variable depth. It is shallowest on the corners and deepest on the prime and backside.
Peta lens hoods are most frequently used with wide-angle lenses. Petal lens hoods have such a design due to the form of the digicam sensor. It is rectangular. When you cowl an oblong sensor with a round hood, the space from the sensor’s heart to the highest edge, facet edge, and nook will fluctuate. To obtain the deepest lens hood with out introducing vignetting, the depth of the hood should fluctuate.
Every petal lens hood has the deepest components on the prime and backside, the shallowest depth on the corners, and the left and proper sides in between.
It is feasible to create a lens hood for a wide-angle lens with no petal form, however in such a case, the hood’s depth would equal the shallowest a part of the petal design, offering minimal optical safety.
2. Cylindrical Lens Hoods
The cylindrical lens hoods have a cylindrical form with equal depth all through.
Cylindrical lens hoods are primarily used with lenses with an extended focal size. Because of the slender subject of view, it’s potential to make use of a really deep design with out worrying about creating pointless vignetting.
Look on the depth of the lens hoods of telephoto lenses used throughout sporting occasions. They are monumental.
How to Attach a Lens Hood
Every lens hood is designed for a particular lens. Do not attempt to use a lens hood from one lens to connect to a different. It almost definitely is not going to match, and it could break your photographs.
To connect the lens hood to the corresponding lens, align markings on the lens and the hood. Twist it till it appears. That is it.
How to Store Camera Lens Hood
Almost each fashionable lens hood could be mounted to the lens in reverse, dealing with deep half towards the digicam. It has no sensible use within the subject as a result of the hood in reverse place will block a number of the lens controls. It has the one goal of minimizing the house required to retailer it in your digicam bag.
If you’ve got restricted house in your again, change the lens hood in reverse.
In my case, I be sure that I’ve sufficient house in my bag so I would not have to travel with the lens hoods.
How to Buy a Lens Hood
Luckily, nearly each fashionable lens comes with the corresponding lens hood, even Canon lenses. We would not have to spend time in search of a lens hood after shopping for a brand new lens.
You would possibly solely wish to purchase a brand new lens hood whenever you misplaced or broke an outdated one.
Make positive you purchase the lens hood particularly designed to your lens. Stay away from generic “one size fits all” fashions. They is not going to present full safety or will produce undesirable vignetting.
The most secure guess is to purchase a lens hood from the unique lens producer. But they are often pricy.
Don’t be afraid to purchase lens hoods from third-party producers. Ensure the hood was designed to your lens solely and verify for the feedback.
3 Levels of Lens Protection
Here are the three ranges of lens safety I exploit in my images:
Level 1: Weather Sealed Lenses
Even a number of years in the past, weather-sealed lenses have been uncommon and prohibitively costly. These days even mid-range weather-sealed lenses yow will discover at an inexpensive value.
Level 2: UV Protection Filters
Over the years, my place modified on utilizing UV Protection Filters. Now I’ve a protecting filter for all my lenses. Please verify my devoted article about protecting lens filters.
Level 3: Lens Hoods
Invaluable optical and bodily lens safety.
Camera Lens Hood: Final Thoughts
The digicam lens hood is without doubt one of the least costly equipment in images. And it’s uncommon as a result of images shouldn’t be an inexpensive pastime. But if we analyze the cost-benefit of the nonessential images gear, the digicam lens hood should be on the prime, offering the best advantages at minimal value and energy.
Consider attaching it to each lens you personal.