Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

LWW Loc: Banana Republic of America

Why do they do it?

Because they can.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Steve Perry Loc: Sylvania, Ohio

Just thought of another reason why I may not use a hood - heavy wind. In a heavy wind, the greater sail area provided by the hood makes the lens more subject to vibration and shake (the larger the lens, the larger the hood, and the worse the problem of course). So, as long as I don't need it for flare prevention, I often take the hood off on really windy days.

smf85 Loc: Freeport, IL

U-Tube isn't even an opinion based system - its just there for people to put videos on indiscriminately. Caveat emptor (viewer) was never more applicable.

grandpaw

All I want to know is if there is a benefit sometimes to have the sun shade on backwards. I have seen several times that professional photographers have done this with telephoto and wide angle lenses and my curiosity wants to know why. It is simple as that. I might add that this has been on both landscapes and shooting wildlife. I know all about catching the wind on a windy day and when you are ready to put it in your case for storage but this is while they are actively shooting.

chasgroh Loc: Buena Park, CA

...to be able to use it if necessity crops up. Why else? Looks? So you won't lose it? <shrug>

smf85 Loc: Freeport, IL

The only time I've ever used left the lens hood on backwards was when I needed to grab the camera pop the lens cap off and grab the shot. Most of the time the lens cap went on the ground and I had to look for it afterwards. Didn't always find it either. After a while I realized for most of what I do I didn't need a lens hood. I stopped using them. When I've needed one its for a planned shooting environment and usually I have to root around in the storage cabinet to find it. Even then I don't always needed it.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

btbg

They leave it on backward because they don't want in on correctly and they don't want to have to take it off and put it in the bag. It's safe there. Won't get lost, and as long as you can still reach all of the controls on the lens its not a problem.

My lens hoods are virtually always on the camera. Since I don't always want or need to use them then the logical place to put them is in the storage position.

smf85 Loc: Freeport, IL

When I started shooting multicoating didn’t generally exist - most of my glass was either un-coated or single coated lenses (mostly). As a rule these lenses were prone to a variety issues when used in the general direction of the sun - and some were very bad offenders that way. Using lens hoods significantly reduced the problem; so I used them. And stored them reversed on the lenses.

As single coating got better and multi-coating became common lenses in general had less problems shooting close to the sun. So I found I needed the hood less and less. I did a good amount of sports photography - often in the rain. So the camera would be sitting protected from the rain - usually in a bag too small to allow the lens hood from being left on. Of course when the game got hot it was grab the camera pop the cap off (usually dropping it in the mud) and shooting; usually with the lens hood left in reverse. After a while I noticed that for my uses the lens hood wasn’t really doing anything so I gradually stopped using them and eventually stopped carrying them.

Recently I started shooting in infrared and found that I now had the same familiar artifact problems (ghosting, starts, blur, etc.) that I had earlier. Apparently the coatings don’t work so well in infrared. So I’m back to using lens hoods - once again stored in reverse on the lens when not in use. After I found them which took a while.

A lens hood is a tool like any other - it either works for it doesn’t for the intended purpose. It should be stored in the most convenient manner. All this being said the reversed lens hood is simply there for very fast access storage; it neither adds nor detracts from the shooting.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Unless stowed it covers the focus or zoom ring.

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Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

ecobin Loc: Paoli, PA

This thread is too long for me to read all the comments, so I may be repeating what some have said.
I always use a lens hood - I don’t see any reason not to. There are at least three purposes that it serves:
1) It helps avoid unintended (stray) light and glare.
2) It reduces dust, sand, pollen, and other lens/ filter contamination, especially when windy.
3) It protects the lens from knocks, etc.

Some may take the lens hood off when using a cpl filter especially long hoods that come with telephoto lenses, but I just switch to a screw on rubber hood which helps with adjusting the filter.
That’s my 2 cents.