What is a lens hood for?

[GRafyx]

Well, I was surfing the web the other day, on photography equipment websites, such as purnimadigital.com (my favorite ), and found out lens hoods are waaaay too expensive for what they are. Then I realized I did never use a lens hood before :blushing:, and was wondering what was the aim of a lens hood :scratch:. Any answer?

 

[Tinderbox (UK)]

I reduces glare/flair from the sun, also find the manufactures part number for the hood you want and buy and find a cheap copy on ebay.

John.

 

[Trever1t]

it prevents light from hitting the front element at an angle, causing flare, low contrast and other abominations. A lens hood is much more important than most give credit to and way more necessary and protective than a UV filter

 

[Newtricks]

It seems to me, when out shooting the hood also catches a lot of "Dirt" that would have otherwise landed on the front element.

 

[480sparky43 42]

It seems to me, when out shooting the hood also catches a lot of "Dirt" that would have otherwise landed on the front element.

Stop shooting up into the sky.....

 

[Tailgunner]

and found out lens hoods are waaaay too expensive for what they are. Then I realized I did never use a lens hood before :blushing:,

How did you come to the conclusion that a lens hood is too expensive for what they are considering you've never personally used one? Have you ever had sun flares or glair on photographs before?

A lens hood is must have for any photographer in my opinion. I remember renting a third party lens once an it didn't come with a hood and my Nikon hoods wouldn't fit either. My shots looked decent on my LCD screen but on closer inspection, I noticed small glaring and sun spot on about 70% of my shots...all of which could not be cropped out or salvaged. I'll never walk out the door without a lens hood again.

As for cost, we're talking what, $20-30 for brand names? That's cheap insurance in my opinion. If you look around, you can fine knock offs for half the cost. I lost the hood for my Nikon 17-55mm which runs $30 new and found a $10 knock off on ebay that works great.

 

[GRafyx]

and found out lens hoods are waaaay too expensive for what they are. Then I realized I did never use a lens hood before :blushing:,

How did you come to the conclusion that a lens hood is too expensive for what they are considering you've never personally used one? Have you ever had sun flares or glair on photographs before?

A lens hood is must have for any photographer in my opinion. I remember renting a third party lens once an it didn't come with a hood and my Nikon hoods wouldn't fit either. My shots looked decent on my LCD screen but on closer inspection, I noticed small glaring and sun spot on about 70% of my shots...all of which could not be cropped out or salvaged. I'll never walk out the door without a lens hood again.

As for cost, we're talking what, $20-30 for brand names? That's cheap insurance in my opinion. If you look around, you can fine knock offs for half the cost. I lost the hood for my Nikon 17-55mm which runs $30 new and found a $10 knock off on ebay that works great.

I thought it was materially too expensive, I mean, it' s only some piece of plastic. That doesn' t mean I think they' re useless...

 

[Newtricks]

Stop shooting up into the sky.....

But that's where the birds are!

 

[DarkShadow]

My lens hood is always on unless I need flash.I have bumped my lens on a few occasions right near the front element and was really glad to have the lens hood there.Replacing the front element is costly and perhaps more then just replacing the whole lens.My tamron 70 300 VC is no pancake when extended to 300mm and it's really easy to bang it on something and especially when tracking BIF in some rough terrain.If your siting on your lazy boy you probably don't need one,but if your out in the sun or on trails and climbing over terrain like I do, get one or be sorry you didn't.

 

[Tailgunner]

and found out lens hoods are waaaay too expensive for what they are. Then I realized I did never use a lens hood before :blushing:,

How did you come to the conclusion that a lens hood is too expensive for what they are considering you've never personally used one? Have you ever had sun flares or glair on photographs before?

A lens hood is must have for any photographer in my opinion. I remember renting a third party lens once an it didn't come with a hood and my Nikon hoods wouldn't fit either. My shots looked decent on my LCD screen but on closer inspection, I noticed small glaring and sun spot on about 70% of my shots...all of which could not be cropped out or salvaged. I'll never walk out the door without a lens hood again.

As for cost, we're talking what, $20-30 for brand names? That's cheap insurance in my opinion. If you look around, you can fine knock offs for half the cost. I lost the hood for my Nikon 17-55mm which runs $30 new and found a $10 knock off on ebay that works great.

I thought it was materially too expensive, I mean, it' s only some piece of plastic. That doesn' t mean I think they' re useless...

Oh sure, I used to do injection molding, we're talking about .50 worth of plastic used to make a typical hood but it's the cost of building the molds and the R&D that drives the prices. I could easily tie up a $2,000 building a mold (even more if I have to develop a plug/part) just to make a 77mm lens hood for example and I would have to sell 4,000 units in order to break even just selling them for the cost of materials.

Anyhow, expensive or not, it sure beats using your hands to shade the element...tried it and it sucked.

 

[Tinderbox (UK)]

You can buy an 3D printer now for £500, in a couple of years they should be quite common, you might be able to make your own lens hood, design a better one.

John

 

[Designer]

lens hoods are waaaay too expensive for what they are.

Oddly, most of my lenses came with one included.

 

[o hey tyler]

Not glaire, it's glare.

Not flair, it's flare.

 

[Gavjenks]

It seems to me, when out shooting the hood also catches a lot of "Dirt" that would have otherwise landed on the front element.

What?

Where are you that large amounts of dirt are continuously falling down from above? Blast mining site photography?

 

[Bulb]

Buy your lens hoods on eBay.

They're just as good for 1/4 the price