dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

For shooting, sometimes. For protection, always.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Judge for yourself... In addition to physically protecting the lens (better than a thin glass filter ever could), a lens hood helps keep oblique light off the lens, reducing flare effects in images that can cause ghosts, lower contrast, reduce color saturation.

When I got my Canon EF-S 10-22mm ultrawide, I immediately disliked the very large diameter lens hood it uses. I've seen smaller Frisbees!

Okay, that's a little bit of an exaggeration, but I hoped to be able to use the lens without the hood, which was difficult to fit into camera bags and didn't seem deep enough to do very much anyway. Even reversed on the lens that hood doesn't fit well into any of the pockets in shoulder bags and backpacks I use. I knew the 10-22mm is unusually flare resistant for an ultrawide, so thought maybe I could fore-go using the hood. I set up lens (no filter) on a camera, put everything on a tripod and took a couple test shots...

First with the lens hood:


Then without the hood (clouds moved a bit... camera & lens didn't):


As a result if this and a couple other tests that had similar results, I carry the hood for the 10-22mm... even if it's a bit of a pain in the arse! I use hoods on all my other lenses too... virtually all the time. Might remove one temporarily to adjust a circular polarizer, or if the hood is blocking a flash, or if shooting through a fence or window, or shooting a very close object with a macro lens. But 99% of the time, I use a hood on every lens.

When using a filter, it's even more important to use a lens hood... although it's not always "convenient". Even the best filters can amplify or contribute to flare under extreme lighting conditions. The hood also physically protects the filter while it's on the lens.

BlueMorel Loc: Southwest Michigan

Exactly - lens hoods reduce flare and have other uses, but to me their most important use is as a lens bump guard for the occasional missteps. They are far less expensive than replacing even a less expensive lens or camera, or even a filter.

szoots

I always use one and I think the vast majority of the responders think so as well. I carry two zooms, 100-400, 18-150, plus a TC, two bodies and some other accessories. I taken as many as 4 lenses and found I don’t use half of them so space has not been an issue.

bwana Loc: Bergen, Alberta, Canada

bwa

Jakebrake Loc: Broomfield, Colorado

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

I agree with you on all counts. I have that same lens, and the Canon EW-83E lens hood, and it is a pain to transport the hood, but it does make a noticeable difference in the situations similar to the ones you have documented.

TonyBot

I've ruined a couple of lens hoods when the bounced against something - such as an unplanned contact with a large rock while hiking. Even cracked one when I got a little pushy fitting the backpack under an airline seat. Cheap and easy protection, certainly better than a "protection filter", that you might not be able to remove in the field when it gets seriously dinged up (cracked filters *do* give interesting results). And, I do also use them to prevent lens flare, along with whatever else might be necessary such as my hand or a hat. Inside with no flash, almost always. Inside with flash for personal record shots (sometimes called "snaps"), usually. At a wedding, again almost always: too many unplanned flashes going off, be they from a smart phone or a "real" camera (think First Dance).

I read on here once that an instructor once told the class "you can tell an amateur because only amateurs use them". Unacceptable and perhaps uninformed blanket statement.

One Rude Dawg Loc: Athol, ID

Wait until you get a crap load of lens flare on a photo that you can't redo. Use a collapseable rubber one, they work great, don't weigh anything, compact.

Smudgey Loc: Ohio, Calif, Now Arizona

Absolutely, keep the hood in all situations. Like a klutz, I fell up the stairs at Disney World and the camera fell in front of me and hit the stairs first, even though it was on a good camera strap around my neck. Cracked the hood, but did nothing to the lens or camera. A lens hood is a must, indoors or outdoors.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

How do rubber lens hoods work with ultra wide lenses that need tulip hoods? If they exist, then how many are needed for different lens types?

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Yes, use a lens hood. Unless I’m in a hazardous environment, or need ND or CPL, I don’t use anything but a hood. Flare can happen any time there are bright reflections onto your front lens element.

pilot64 Loc: Atlanta, GA

When you drop your camera (and someday you will), the lens hood may save you the cost of a repair. Lens hoods are much cheaper then glass!!

Jwshelton Loc: Denver,CO

YES! Flare and protection. Having been saved by a lens hood that broke instead of the lens, I am a strong advocate.

barryb Loc: Kansas

Agree with using the lens hoods, and adding two more comments. With pop up flash on wide angle, there will be a shadow cast at the widest angle, but on my 24-70, at about 35-40 or greater it goes away. I have UV filters on my lenses, for "protection", but as future budget allows, will be replacing them with. ceramic filters, that WILL give protection to front elements much greater than any UV filter.