A digicam lens hood is likely 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 hardly ever depart the lenses’ entrance parts.
In case you are on the lookout for the reply to the query “What Does a Lens Hood Do?” this text is for you. By the top, you’ll clearly perceive how lens hoods profit my pictures and why you must also use them.
What’s a Digicam Lens Hood?
A lens hood is a small, round accent that goes over your lens to decrease stray gentle falling throughout the lens. And not using a lens hood, stray gentle will trigger undesirable lens flares and a washed-out low-contrast look.
What Does a Digicam Lens Hood Do?
There are 3 primary features of lens hoods.
1. Lowering Undesirable Stray Gentle
The primary good thing about utilizing a lens hood is to dam undesirable direct stray gentle.
To raised perceive this perform, think about being outdoors on a sunny day and searching on the solar’s course. To enhance visibility, you instinctively convey 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 gentle coming from the solar.
For the reason that human eye is a classy model of a digicam lens, the lens hood holds a perform just like your palm.
Once you need to seize a panorama, the aim is to seize a lightweight mirrored from the scene’s parts, reminiscent of mountains, bushes, and rocks. And when the reflective gentle mixes up with the direct gentle, most frequently coming from the solar, you expertise undesirable optical results. The consequences are lens flares, discount in distinction, and readability.
Use a lens hood when capturing open air. It’ll drastically scale back undesirable optical results.
And as an alternative of evaluating the scene and deciding if it has a possible for lens flares, it’s a lot easier to have a lens hood hooked up to your lens always. In distinction to lens filters, the lens hoods don’t scale back gentle transmission, and it’s protected to maintain them all the time on.
However I need to admit that the digicam lens hood doesn’t all the time assist to eradicate lens flares.
Let me clarify.
Through 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 resolution is double shielding. I exploit my hand’s palm to extend my lens’s shielding.
2. Bodily Lens Safety
Generally I feel that the bodily safety perform of lens hoods is extra important than optical safety.
If, for some motive, I don’t have a lens hood hooked up to my lens, I understand how to take care of lens flares or washed-out results. I can use the palm of my hand to defend undesirable gentle. Or I can place my digicam within the shade of a tree or rock. However the bodily lens safety is unreplaceable.
When I’m on a protracted hike or climbing the cliffs in Utah, I all the time have my digicam hanging on my aspect. And it usually will get banged, particularly when I attempt to get to the obstructed spot.
If I examine the lens hoods of my lenses, they’re all coated with scratches and dents. It’s troublesome to rely what number of instances lens hoods saved my lenses.
It’s priceless {that a} $20 accent saves $1000 lens time and again.
3. Environmental Lens Safety
Considered one of my favourite phrases that describe panorama pictures is “the worst climate produces the most effective photographs.” In sensible phrases, it implies that if you shoot within the rain or snow, you will need to wipe the entrance component of your lens each 15 seconds. Having a lens hood offers partial environmental safety. You must clear your lens much less usually.
The environmental safety perform of the lens hood is the least vital one, however it’s nonetheless precious. It allows you to focus on capturing quite than on cleansing actions.
When to Use a Digicam Lens Hood
The quick and easy reply is all the time.
Earlier than 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 one detrimental I see is it provides measurement to your lens and requires additional room in your bag.
However the advantages of utilizing a lens hood outweigh the negatives by a substantial margin.
When To not Use a Digicam Lens Hood
Photographers take away the lens hood after they need to obtain inventive results produced by the direct solar.
For instance, many portrait photographers in outside settings create stunning backlit portraits. Once you place the solar behind your topics and take away the lens hood, the backlit gentle produces delicate, dream-like photographs with lens flare serving inventive functions.
Don’t use a lens hood if you deliberately need to produce delicate, low-contrast captures with optionally available lens flares.
Forms of Digicam Lens Hoods
There are 2 primary forms of lens hoods.
1. Petal Lens Hoods
The petal lens hood has a variable depth. It’s shallowest on the corners and deepest on the high 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’s rectangular. Once you cowl an oblong sensor with a round hood, the gap from the sensor’s heart to the highest edge, aspect edge, and nook will range. To attain the deepest lens hood with out introducing vignetting, the depth of the hood should range.
Each petal lens hood has the deepest elements on the high and backside, the shallowest depth on the corners, and the left and proper sides in between.
It’s doable to create a lens hood for a wide-angle lens with out a 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 a protracted focal size. Due to the slender subject of view, it’s doable to make use of a really deep design with out worrying about creating pointless vignetting.
Have a look at the depth of the lens hoods of telephoto lenses used throughout sporting occasions. They’re monumental.
Learn how to Connect a Lens Hood
Each lens hood is designed for a particular lens. Don’t attempt to use a lens hood from one lens to connect to a different. It most probably is not going to match, and it could damage your photographs.
To connect the lens hood to the corresponding lens, align markings on the lens and the hood. Twist it till it appears to be like. That’s it.
Learn how to Retailer Digicam Lens Hood
Nearly each trendy lens hood will be mounted to the lens in reverse, going through 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 function of minimizing the area required to retailer it in your digicam bag.
You probably have restricted area in your again, swap the lens hood in reverse.
In my case, I be sure that I’ve sufficient area in my bag so I don’t have to trip with the lens hoods.
Learn how to Purchase a Lens Hood
Fortunately, nearly each trendy lens comes with the corresponding lens hood, even Canon lenses. We don’t have to spend time on the lookout for a lens hood after shopping for a brand new lens.
You would possibly solely need to purchase a brand new lens hood if you misplaced or broke an previous one.
Ensure you purchase the lens hood particularly designed on your lens. Steer clear of generic “one measurement suits all” fashions. They won’t present full safety or will produce undesirable vignetting.
The most secure wager is to purchase a lens hood from the unique lens producer. However they are often pricy.
Don’t be afraid to purchase lens hoods from third-party producers. Make sure the hood was designed on your lens solely and examine for the feedback.
3 Ranges of Lens Safety
Listed below are the three ranges of lens safety I exploit in my pictures:
Degree 1: Climate Sealed Lenses
Even just a few years in the past, weather-sealed lenses had been uncommon and prohibitively costly. As of late even mid-range weather-sealed lenses you’ll find at an inexpensive value.
Degree 2: UV Safety Filters
Over time, my place modified on utilizing UV Safety Filters. Now I’ve a protecting filter for all my lenses. Please examine my devoted article about protecting lens filters.
Degree 3: Lens Hoods
Invaluable optical and bodily lens safety.
Digicam Lens Hood: Remaining Ideas
The digicam lens hood is likely one of the least costly equipment in pictures. And it’s uncommon as a result of pictures isn’t an affordable interest. But when we analyze the cost-benefit of the nonessential pictures gear, the digicam lens hood should be on the high, offering the best advantages at minimal price and energy.
Take into account attaching it to each lens you personal.