Camera Accessories

Lens Hoods – Why, When, and How to Use Them

Saurabh Vats
228 2 minutes read
All about Camera Lens Hood!

Today I am going to talk all about lens hoods and try to solve all your queries about lens hoods like what are lens hoods?what are their uses? why are their different types of lens hoods? Which one to buy? And Are they really necessary?So lets get started.

 

 

 

What are Lens Hoods?So lens hoods are basically cylindrical hollow tube extension ,that can me attached to your lens. You may have seen photographers attaching a tube in front of lens while shooting. It is black in colour and mainly of two different shapes/types , of which we would be talking about later in this post. Some of the photos of lens hood are shown in the above photo.

 

What are their uses?Lens hood mainly performs two functions

1) Restricting light –

Lens hood performs the main function of restricting light directly falling on the front element of lens. Direct falling of light on the front element of lens can cause lens flare effect n sometimes can result in foggy effect in the photo (light source may be natural or background lighting.)

 

( Above photo was taken without lens hood , causing lens flare effect on the left bottom area of the image)

 

When inn some cases you purposely want that flare effect, not using a hood is applicable. While in many photos you don't want that unnecessary effect, this is where lens hood comes in use.

 

 

2)Protecting lens -As you all know that photography equipment is expensive to buy and you have to be careful while using the same. Lens hood helps in protecting front glass of your lens from scratches and damages as it restrict direct contact of any object to the front element of lens. So lens hood proves to be a necessary equipment for your dear camera.

 

Why are their different types of Lens hoods?

 

 

Actually their are two types of lens hoods

  1. Flower/Petal type lens hood –

 

 

This is called flower or petal type mainly because of its shape. It has few cuts from the sides. Flower/petal type of lens hoods are used for wide angle or prime lenses.

2. Round shaped lens hood –

 

These type of lens hoods are cylindrical in shape and are used for zoom lenses.

 

 

Which one should I buy ?Buying a petal or a round shaped lens hood depends on what lens you use.There are original lens hoods provided by the camera manufacturers while you can find ‘Kamron' company lens hood in the market which are also good quality wise.

There are also reversible type of lens hoods.Reversible lens hoods can be fitted in reverse on the lens so keep it on the lens only while you are not using it. This also saves spaces in your camera bag. They come in different sizes for different lenses

 

 

 

Are they necessary to buy?Uptill now you may have known the importance of lens hood and also how much are they necessary.

So I would suggest to buy a lens hood if you dont have one.

Thats all for today..

I would be writing tutorial blog about using manual mode in camera. So its going to be interesting as well as important for the learners.

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Saurabh Vats
228 2 minutes read
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