[68wSteve]

So...

Finally got my K200D today after waiting cuz of shipping to APO. Anyways my first shots that ive done so far have been with the Lens hood. Alot of the shots were probably in a little bit of a "low light" situation. So i guess having the lense hood on, didnt help? Also i still need to get use to all the settings of the camera. my question is that when do you typicallly use the lense hood? Also would the lense hood with using the flash put a shadow in the picture?? any info would be great. I will try to post some pics, when i get some better ones.

Thanks

Steve

[flyer]

The lens hood could indeed cause shadows in the bottom of pictures taken with the on board flash. Some lenses will even cause shadows without the lens hood, it all depends upon the size of the lens and the focal length.

[rburgoss]

Do the following experiment with your car (yes, your car or any vehicle with a windshield))

1) Drive car under sunlight. Notice watermarks, dust, debris, bird droppings, dashboard reflections, etc. on windshield. Even if recently cleaned, you can still notice some amount of "unclear" patches.

2) Now, drive your car under a shade, but facing a sunlit scene, like car inside garage, facing out, garage door open and its sunny outside. Notice that your windshield looks pretty clean, even if dirty?

Lens hoods act the same way. They are to prevent direct light hitting the front glass, so they are "in the shadow". That means lens hoods are useful ONLY when direct light (sunlight, beam, stadium lights, etc) is hitting the front element (glass) directly. They also work fine under overcast days keeping overall brightness from hitting the front element. At night, they are useless.

As for flash use, any lens hood will cast a shadow with the built in flash, because the axis of the flash is very close to the lens axis. The effect is more pronounced when shooting at closer distances and or wider angles (shorter focal lengths).

You did not specify which lens you are using, but I presume its a kit lens (DA18-55). You can do a little experiment with lens hood, to find out at which focal length the hood casts shadows.

Point your camera to a white wall, Pop up flash and do a series of pictures of wall at several distances and several focal lengths. From results, you can figure out when not to use lens hood. But OTOH, when indoors, lens hoods are almost useless, so just don´t put it on.

Hope this helps

Robert

[little laker]

With the kit lens I almost always use it, except while shooting with a flash.
Just to keep it out of my way.

However with other lenses where they aren't in the way I only use it when required.
With a SLR camera you can usually see some flare in the view finder. That's when you need the lens hood.
Although it doesn't stop all flare situations.

[alohadave]

At night, they are useless.

Robert

I wouldn't say they are useless at night. There is just as many light sources at night to cause flare as there are during the day, especially in any urban/city environment.

I have my hood on every time, unless the onboard flash is used.

[Gooshin]

a lens hood stops light not in the scene from contaminating the image, that is all.

this works regardless if its night or day, except that usualy the effects are better noticed during the day.

[Dark_Mist]

Lens hoods act as insurance against breaking the front element too.

I've been bumped when reaching for my bag and the camera swung down, the hood on my DA* 16-50 hit the concrete floor, I winced and that was it. No shattered front element, no scratches, no probs.

The easy way to ensure the hood doesn't get in the way when using the on-board flash is to just reverse it when ever you use the pop up.

[rfortson]

So...

Finally got my K200D today after waiting cuz of shipping to APO. Anyways my first shots that ive done so far have been with the Lens hood. Alot of the shots were probably in a little bit of a "low light" situation. So i guess having the lense hood on, didnt help? Also i still need to get use to all the settings of the camera. my question is that when do you typicallly use the lense hood? Also would the lense hood with using the flash put a shadow in the picture?? any info would be great. I will try to post some pics, when i get some better ones.

Thanks

Steve

I almost always leave the lens hood on. Even indoors, you can sometimes get flare, plus it's another form of protection for the front element of the lens. In my mind, the lens hood can never hurt you (assuming it's properly designed for the lens - no vignetting), and can usually help you.

[Kerrowdown]

Hi all, I use hoods all the time, permanently mounted on all lenses, protects dust, sun, rain, fingers and just about anything else getting on front glass elements or filters.

(I've also only just managed to get the dedicated Pentax hood off Ebay for Pentax A * series lens 85mm F1.4, after some 20 years of using cheapo rubber job).

The use of hoods also creates a more professional appearance to the layman, model or the general public, which often allows me to work unhindered in some difficult situations. It should not make a difference, but trust me it does.

Anything that gives you an edge is worthwhile.

[alohadave]

Lens hoods act as insurance against breaking the front element too.

I've been bumped when reaching for my bag and the camera swung down, the hood on my DA* 16-50 hit the concrete floor, I winced and that was it. No shattered front element, no scratches, no probs.

The easy way to ensure the hood doesn't get in the way when using the on-board flash is to just reverse it when ever you use the pop up.

Just last weekend I was out taking pictures down by the river and I slipped on a patch of mud (twice ) and the lens hood stopped me from getting mud on the front element. I didn't drop or bang the lens, but it did drop out of my hand onto some grass.

It was bad enough slipping once, but then I reached over to grab the tripod bag on the other side of the mud patch and slipped again. Luckily the only people around was a guy fishing and his young daughter.

[NaClH2O]

Hi Steve, welcome to the forum. Like several other posters I leave my hood on all the time. I use it for the same reasons; stray light and protection. I don't use filters for protection, I've found the lens hood works well enough for me. I generally leave them on all the time even when in their cases because I find it tiresome to screw on the hood every time I mount the lens.
edit: Forgot to mention that for some lenses (and at some focal lengths) the hood does get in the way of the popup flash. But I usually only use the popup when I'm doing close up work, and the lenses I use for that generally don't interfere with the flash.

NaCl( I guess you could call me a 'hoodie' rather than a 'filterian' )H2O

[NaClH2O]

*snip*

Luckily the only people around was a guy fishing and his young daughter.

Dave, what you didn't hear was this conversation

"Hey dad did you see that! Stupid clumsy camera dude just slipped TWICE on the SAME patch of mud!"
"Sure did pumpkin! What a clumsy clown!"

NaCl(but it's OK, I promise I won't tell anyone! )H2O