Why do you – or don’t you – use a lens hood?

[tbirke]

I own a sinar bellows hood mask 2 - with an 4x5 standard bellows, this covers any lens. But I do not have any space left in my backpack, thatswhy I never used it, cause all my shooting is outdoors. One day I will get an assistent to carry it around for me

[Doremus Scudder]

I've got an old Kalt (I think) filter holder that attaches to the lens with springs and has two adjustable barn doors. It collapses to fit easily in a vest pocket. This is what I carry in the field.

However, I often use a darkslide or some arrangement of darkslide and darkcloth to shade the lens instead of fiddling with getting the barndoors on the lens. When I really need to cut it close with the position of the shade, then out comes the barndoors, but when it's less critical, the slide or hand or hat comes into play.

I'm mostly outdoors, shooting by natural light, and I've tuned my system for the way I shoot (i.e., without a compendium to reduce all stray light). Development schemes to adjust contrast and personal EIs are based on the way I work, so contrast and speed are fine.

I did once get rid of an older Schneider 135mm lens that had flare problems. Surprisingly (pleasantly so), my battery of Ektars are quite good in backlit and flarey situations.

Best,

Doremus Scudder

[Rick Moore]

I use a compendium for every shot to minimize bellows flare, which is much more prevalent than many LF photographers realize. It takes only a few seconds to position the compendium optimally viewing through the cut corners of the ground glass.

[Kevin Thomas]

I agree most serious cinematographers use a matte box that offers some shading but mainly to facilitate the use of filters, quite often flags will be attached to shade the lens against flare. That said in most situations the cinematographer will have a camera crew to help carry the camera and equipment.

I also fall in the camp of using protective filters and lens hoods on all my gear except LF.

Probably if the lens manufacturers of LF lenses offered a custom hood for each lens I would buy one as a matter of course as I have done with all my other gear.

As with other posters with LF I shade/flag with hand/hat/body if necessary but being a landscape photographer with only one light source not that often.

[philipmorg]

I always use a compendium lens shade with every exposure. The technical quality of my photographs has improved since taking care to reduce in-camera and enlarging flare, so the small additional effort seems worth it. I occasionally do +4 film development expansions, and at such extreme contrast levels even a small amount of flare can ruin a picture. But even with more normal contrast ranges, I believe low flare helps produce a better print.

I adapted a Linhof compendium to my Sinar Norma, and described the procedure here: http://www.philipmorgan.net/323/a-ne...y-sinar-norma/

[gsinico]

I spent many years using the hat or whatever I had, but today I've choosen a Lee compendium also because I needed some good graduated filters, so I'm happy with the normal compendium and the recessed ring for my wideangles.

[Matus Kalisky]

Recenty I actually got a hood for my Osaka 400/8 lens to keep the sun away from the front element (and sometimes my fingers) - and - found out that it vignettes. Now I am considering whether I should only shorten it, or throw it away completely. I never feel good using a dark slide as it is rather easy to get it on the picture (especially with wider lenses).

[David Hedley]

I have a Lee hood / filter holder, and an orange filter, which I carry in my case or backpack. I never seem to use it, however, either because I forget and just use a screw-in filter, or because I'm worried about vignetting with 75mm & 90mm lenses, or because I want to save the weight when walking with the backpack. I'd like to start to use it properly but I always seem to have a reason not to.

[Heroique]

I have a Lee hood / filter holder … I never seem to use it … because [for one reason] I'm worried about vignetting with 75mm & 90mm lenses ...

When I add a combination of modest movements to my widest lens (a 110 XL), a Lee WA ring + holder w/ one filter + WA hood will, indeed, often get in the way. For example, it might happen when I use front rise/fall in addition to front swing – w/ either movement limiting the amount I can apply to the other. Front shifts would of course add to the problem.

If mandatory movements also vignette, correcting the situation usually involves a choice for me: either remove the compendium hood (if modeling it no longer helps), or remove the holder/filter and keep the hood. Depends on my aims & shooting conditions. Sometimes I have to remove both! (BTW, I’m not sure if Lee’s slotted hood provides more room for movements than their non-slot hood + filter holder; I remember choosing the non-slot version, because the slotted one requires you to rotate grads w/ the hood.)

These situations arise much less often w/ my 150 and 240 – I can only imagine the headaches w/ a 90 or 75 and wider. I think Lee’s WA aluminum rings add enough additional movements to wide lenses to justify their extra cost over their plastic counter-parts. But the plastic rings are still high-quality, and may be a better option for longer lenses. If cost were no option, I’d get only the metal ones.

[D. Bryant]

I fall into the “always use a hood” category. Maybe that’s a majority position, I’m not sure. Certainly, plenty of good reasons exist for not using one. Depends on your aims and objectives – and plenty else besides – right?

In any case, I’d enjoy hearing more about why you use a lens hood – or why there’s little significance of using one in your work.

Vote for as many as you like, and please share more with us if you can.

With view cameras we call them lens shades not hoods.