Camlane Loc: North Carolina

None.

Steamboat

If you own a lens shade use it ....its simply a good habit to get into.
Do you need it all the time ...... nope

wapiti Loc: round rock, texas

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

I always use a hood. better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. (an old Chinese proverb-that I just made up)

stuparr935 Loc: Dallas, Texas area

Yes it will block some direct sun ray, but more often it will keep my finger prints off my lens. And yes some protection from other physical things in our world. I use mine all the time except when using pop-up flash and a wider lens to eliminate that lens shade shadow at bottom of photos taken...

ebbote Loc: Hockley, Texas

Welcome to the Hog Mark, enjoy.

RolandDieter

All pros I've watched or worked with use the hood. Keep in mind that the hoods for those big lenses are the same color as the lens, they are round, and barely larger in diameter than the main lens body. You may have incorrectly assumed they are not using hoods. I used to shoot professionally with Canon 300 f2.8, 400 f/2.8 and 600 f/4 lenses. I always used the hoods, but once in a while peolpe asked why I wasn't using a hood. I told them to stand in front of the lens and look deeply into it; then they would notice the hood.

ronf78155 Loc: Seguin Texas

Plus it gives the lens just a tad more protection against scratches. dings, and dirt

Silverman Loc: Michigan

I have heard or understood from others here at UHH that they are good protection in certain conditions and also they help prevent "Sun Flares" effecting your images, but I personally have no real experience with them to say whether they are good or bad, required or unnecessary.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

None at all... In fact, when flare is at it's worse, ANY filter that's not properly shaded with a lens hood will INCREASE flare and a multi-layer filter like a CPL is the worst of all. In situations where there's a strong light source striking the front of the lens, no filter should be used and a hood might help to some extent. Multi-coatings on filters help, but don't fully prevent various types of flare effects.

I almost always use lens hoods... and most pros I know try not to shoot without them.

A hood not only protects the lens from oblique light and potentially increases image quality with better contrast and color saturation, the hood also protects the lens from physical bumps far better than any "protection" filter ever could. Hoods also protect any filter being used. Filters are far more fragile than the lenses they're used upon.



Agree 100%

But I'd add... If you don't have a hood for a particular lens, get it and use it.



Disagree 99.9%

There are extremely rare occasions when a hood might get in the way of taking a shot (shooting very close to a fence or glass, comes to mind)... but 99.9% of the time there's no good reasons for not using one.

Perhaps the silliest things I see some folks do is shoot with the hood on their lens, but still in the reversed, storage position. I recall an amateur "mom with a camera" at some events who always used her 70-200mm that way and IMO it's one of the dumbest things possible... to actually have the hood right there on the lens, but not use it as intended! I could understand someone shooting really fast not having time to properly set up the hood... but not shoot for some hours at a time the way she always does.

shelty Loc: Medford, OR

It depends on the lens. For fixed focus lenses I use the shade. But for my 18 - 200 it doesn't make much sense because the shade that comes with the lens would prove ineffective at 200 mm, and using a shade for 200 mm lens would cut off a lot of the picture when zoomed to a shorter focal length. Besides, I don't find any difference with the shade on or off.

imagesintime Loc: small town, mid-America

Keep in mind that the lens shades on most of the big whites are the same color as the lens. They are there. They just make the lens look longer.

Mr Bill 2011 Loc: southern Indiana

if you have a lens shade, use it; it's already paid for and costing you nothing.

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

Off-hand the only situation where a lens hood doesn’t work for me is when shooting macro with supplemental lighting that might cast a shadow.

ExposuresandArt

Use the shades, won't be in your way & will protect from light some protection for the lens. Can always remove it if need be.