Use a hood all the time, except perhaps with an on-camera flash that it
might obstruct. The idea is to prevent light from hitting the lens at
obtuse angles. At worst, extraneous light can cause serious flare. At
least, it can cause some loss of contrast. You might not see the
difference in most situation, but when you do see it, it's too late to
go back and put the hood on. Use the hood. Many of us try to find hoods
that offer even more protection than the original equipment version.
For example, I use a hood originally meant for a Takumar 135 with my FA
50 when mounted on the *istD. It provides optimum protection, and with
the reduced FOV of the digital camera, it doesn't vignette. Hoods are a
good thing.
Paul
On Dec 24, 2005, at 3:15 PM, Sunny Use itChung wrote:
I have a lens hood, buy I hardly ever use it. Whenever I do use it, I
can never tell the difference in my pictures. What is the best
situation to use hoods in, and how do get the most out of this
accessory. So far, I know NOT to use it with flash and that it can
make my lens look bigger to non-camera people, but haven't really
figured out its use.
