Following on from my previous thread here's the Chubby strapped to my camera, just to give you an idea of the size of this thing. No sample photos through the lens worth posting up yet, weather is prohibiting an outing right now, but I'll get some up soon.
The hood is practically half the lens - when I go hoodless, it's about the same as having a 70-200 mounted, fits in a small bag, just weighs a lot more, and doesn't attract nearly as much attention when you pull it out.
workerdrone wrote:
The hood is practically half the lens - when I go hoodless, it's about the same as having a 70-200 mounted, fits in a small bag, just weighs a lot more, and doesn't attract nearly as much attention when you pull it out.
Yeah, I'm thinking I'll be using this lens largely without the hood.
I guess, is it more of a mistake to leave this gorgeous glass at home because you don't want to deal with the fully deployed size of it, or to shoot without the hood period.
I always use the hood when I'm setting up to shoot with this, but once in a while when I want to walk around with it, the hood just doesn't work for me so I leave it at home. I can whip it out of my messenger bag, grab a shot or two, and stow it away without attracting too much attention.
OTOH, if you want to make a public statement, start conversations, and hand out business cards, don't leave home without it! (the hood, that is)
90% of the reasoning for using the hood is to protect that huge front element. It's not nearly as big and horrible as some people make it out. You get really comfortable with it in a hurry.
ct8282 wrote:
Following on from my previous thread here's the Chubby strapped to my camera, just to give you an idea of the size of this thing. No sample photos through the lens worth posting up yet, weather is prohibiting an outing right now, but I'll get some up soon.
+10 ... the font element on this thing is large and likely to get hit ... the hood is there to protect the front element as much as it is there to prevent glare.
Dec 09, 2012 at 09:33 AM
Andre Labonte Offline • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
Sometimes I wish I could extend the already large hood of my 200/2 VR I:
I wondered about the funny shaped highlights until I remembered that I've used my left hand to block as much sunlight as possible ;-)
Yeah, Georg...I did use the 300 f2.8 VR hood for awhile...and it helped some. If the 200 has a weaknesss
it's handling backlit comps, but I had a couple of VR's and maybe the VR II w/Nano improves on this.
I'm definitely a put the hood on kind of person too. I would hate to replace that large chunk of glass in the front.
Ok, so I "only" have a D700 and Chubby v1 for full frame use, friends of mine playing in the cloister of a local art museum, shot after all the "paparazzi" were done
Hood on.. always. You don't buy a $6K glass only to see flare/ghosting on your images. There's a reason the hood costs $500: It protects a bigger investment. Use it.
Valid point, unless of course that's the intention ;-).
My guess is the lens will perform admirably without the hood, but as everyone has reminded me, the hood will also spare me a costly fix so for now I'm not going out without protection. As they say, put a hat on it!!
A d4 with a 200 f/2 is like a dream come true ... enjoy! 
