Hood yes or no

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Archive 2012 · Hood yes or no

carstenw
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p.2 #1 · Hood yes or no

I used to dislike hoods, but they can make a huge difference, so I now always use them. I get hoods for the lenses which do not have them.

Mar 13, 2012 at 08:01 PM

rscheffler
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p.2 #2 · Hood yes or no

edwardkaraa wrote:
ken.vs.ryu wrote:
hoods are sexy and affect the image in a positive way. they make the camera look more purposeful. leica square hoods with caps are awesome.

I used to dislike hoods for the size, but since I got into RF lenses, I use them all the time. First they are much smaller than their DSLR counterparts, and kind of look cool too, especially the vented ones.

I hated the huge Canon supplied hoods, especially when traveling with numerous lenses - they added so much bulk. Then I discovered the collapsible Mamiya 77mm rubber hood, and bought two to use with step rings with all my lenses 50mm and longer. Love them, especially because they take up relatively little space in the bag.

Now that a lot of my work is rangefinder based, some lenses come with quite nice, relatively compact hoods, which I like. For others I've bought cheap *bay vented hoods. I have a tendency to bump things, so like to use hoods as a protective measure. And when handling the small lenses in a satchel, it's easier to grab them by the hood. Keeps fingers off the glass!

Edward - thanks for the tidbit about the ZM85 (f/4 I assume?). I tried one and thought it was decent, if a bit slow, but didn't have a hood for it...

Romain wrote:
I use hoods all the time... except with my 17mm TS-E.
Hoods are great bumpers

That's what your left hand is for with the 17mm - temporary, positionable on-demand shading.

Mar 13, 2012 at 08:26 PM

martyn.
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p.2 #3 · Hood yes or no

I always use the hood, not only to prevent impact to the front element, and improve contrast, but to keep my grubby fingers off the glass

Mar 13, 2012 at 08:42 PM

edwardkaraa
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p.2 #4 · Hood yes or no

rscheffler wrote:

Edward - thanks for the tidbit about the ZM85 (f/4 I assume?). I tried one and thought it was decent, if a bit slow, but didn't have a hood for it...

Yep, the ZM 85/4 has excellent sharpness and resolution as one would except from such a slow lens, even though it only has 5 elements. At first I didn't get hoods for my ZM lenses as they are expensive and may block the VF a bit more, but it was after I noticed that the ZM 85 in certain conditions had somewhat low overall contrast that I ordered hoods for all 4 lenses. How nice that Zeiss offers the same hood for the 50 and 35

With the hood, the ZM 85 is as contrasty as one would expect from any other Zeiss lens. The ZA 135 had the same issue, and I suspect it is just a matter of the front element being too exposed to ambient light (and me using UV filters probably didn't help).

Mar 14, 2012 at 04:35 AM

rattymouse
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p.2 #5 · Hood yes or no

Never, ever, ever use hoods. They look stupid and do nothing to improve images. Long long ago I tested several lenses and could not in any way tell which images had the hood and which didnt.

No flare, no improved contrast, nothing.

Mar 14, 2012 at 05:21 AM

sebboh
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p.2 #6 · Hood yes or no

i always use the hoods on exactly two lenses: the leica 350/4.8 and nikkor 105/2.5 AIS. this is because those have built in hoods. for the rest of my lenses i almost never use a hood. they're just too big and too much of a pain to carry around. i like a small kit. the vast majority of my lenses don't show any noticeable improvement with a hood unless the sun is just outside of the frame (notable exceptions are poorly coated lens and longer telephoto lenses), in which case an improvised hood is pretty easy to make (using your hand).

Mar 14, 2012 at 05:38 AM

Bifurcator
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p.2 #7 · Hood yes or no

briantho wrote:I don't know if hoods have the same magical powers of shock absorbation as UV filters, as I usually don't drop any of my gear, but I'm sure you have stories to tell.

So what are your thoughts?

I don't drop mine either but everytime someone comments on my thick-ass rubber hoods I say: "Yeah, I'm a klutz" , and then I bang the hood on a table or nearby tree or something with a force that would destroy a filter, as a demonstration to eliminate the need for any further words.

The hoods absorb all the shock before the force affects any hard materials. Of course I wouldn't do this with a metal hood nor an expensive lens but...

The last time I did it was with the Zeiss 135/2.8 wearing thick Mamiya rubber, on a coffee table in a coffee shop.

Almost all my lenses show dramatic improvement with the use of a hood as well. About one in ten scenes get munched without one - for every lens that doesn't itself have deeply recessed front element - and those are usually limited to macro lenses.

Here's an example where I wasn't even trying to show the affects of a hood. I was trying to compare bokeh between the Zeiss MP100 to the Voigtlander 125/2.5. But it works well for this as well. And keep in mind that the Zeiss MP 100 is not known as a flare prone design - neither was the sun in a position that anyone would think could cause flares. I think this flaring is actually from bright clouds.

Left = No hood, Right = With hood, Top = F/16, Bottom = F/2.8

Edited on Mar 14, 2012 at 06:42 AM · View previous versions

Mar 14, 2012 at 05:54 AM

douglasf13
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p.2 #8 · Hood yes or no

I use step rings as mini-hoods, but mostly as a little extra protection that allows me to use push on caps. Their flare protection is likely minimal. Hoods help all lenses, but some more than others, and my ZMs are pretty good without them. My CV 15 has one built in.

Mar 14, 2012 at 06:36 AM

Bifurcator
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p.2 #9 · Hood yes or no

What kind of push-on caps are you using? Got a pic or a link maybe?

Mar 14, 2012 at 06:47 AM

douglasf13
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p.2 #10 · Hood yes or no

Sure thing. I use these: link

I use step up rings to 49mm with my lenses, so I can share filters, and they allow me to push on these, which makes the setup no longer than using a normal cap.

p.s. when not doing this, I tend to use metal, screw-in caps.

Mar 14, 2012 at 07:09 AM

Bifurcator
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p.2 #11 · Hood yes or no

Pretty cool! I thought you might have meant something like that. I have a bunch of Oly caps like that from my microscope refurbishing days. They also fit perfectly over the top of some Nikon and Rokkor metal hoods - yeah, handy!

Mar 14, 2012 at 07:42 AM

rico
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p.2 #12 · Hood yes or no

I love my hoods: I can stare at them on my shelf for hours!

This image is copyrighted by the owner

But seriously, I do prefer flare if it's going to happen... gives the image authenticity.

Mar 14, 2012 at 03:11 PM

Bifurcator
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p.2 #13 · Hood yes or no

I like it sometimes. I dig internal flare reflections with some older lenses. But usually as in the above case I don't want to seem them! Be gone you evil flares! Here's the kind I sometimes like:

This image is copyrighted by the owner

1/320s, ISO100, f/4, SMC_Takumar_28mm_F3.5, GH1

Mar 14, 2012 at 03:54 PM

Bifurcator
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p.2 #14 · Hood yes or no

Here's a couple more with the same lens shooting a street-light.

DMC-GH1 1/15 sec 1600 ISO 0.0 EV

DMC-GH1 1/13 sec 1600 ISO 0.0 EV

DMC-GH1 1/13 sec 1600 ISO 0.0 EV

Mar 14, 2012 at 05:28 PM

sebboh
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p.2 #15 · Hood yes or no

looks pretty sweet!

Mar 14, 2012 at 05:30 PM

contas
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p.2 #16 · Hood yes or no

For me no filter, only hood .Beside prevent unexpected light, it plays big role in protecting your front element and coatings without harmfull effect on your IQ.I usually go out with both : filter and hood , but when I take picture, I take the filter off from lens.I have many experiences pics as not good when filter is on.Just my 2 cents.

Mar 15, 2012 at 05:23 AM

Bijltje
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p.2 #17 · Hood yes or no

I always use the hood, only with the 35/2.8 C-biogon I sometimes leave it of. The point for me to buy that lens was it small size and the hood just makes it twice as big. And the C biogon is quite flare proof itself.

But, besides the C biogon, always

Mar 15, 2012 at 09:01 AM

Ulff
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p.2 #18 · Hood yes or no

Interesting that the hood-users are the overwhelming majority. In the last 10 years I used a hood only twice - during rainy weather to prevent rain drops on the front lens. I don't like the bulk of hoods...

Mar 15, 2012 at 11:17 AM

martines34
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p.2 #19 · Hood yes or no

I don't use UV filters.

I always use hoods on all my lenses.

Mar 15, 2012 at 11:39 AM

Michael Gordon
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p.2 #20 · Hood yes or no

Viv S1 90mm/2.5 is VERY sensitive to loss of contrast w/o hood at anything but higher mags. It is very easy to demonstrate.

Mar 15, 2012 at 01:06 PM

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