Originally posted by WMBP I do find what you say about the hood helping to increase the contrast believable, and if a couple quick tests bear it out, well, I'll say so here.
I reckon there has to be a reason, as I don't think many photographers want to carry more junk around just because it looks cool.
Hi, Will!
I second everything Jonas said (as usual
), and would like to add that even (and sometimes especially!) in low light and night situations hoods are important to significantly reduce glare produced from stray lights. My experience in night photography has led me to 1) put on hoods if I have one, and 2) remove every filters if I have any an the lens (I usually don't) to get the best possible image with best contrast.
And since the hard hoods can protect your expensive lenses in lots of situations I'd have to have a good reason to take a hood of my lenses ever ...
In photography it's all about light and glass; and those two together mean "reflections". So it's a good idea to have as few glass surfaces as possible and as few unwanted light as possible to get the best image quality. And that's BTW the reason why primes in challenging condition have the edge - fewer lens elements means fewer glass surfaces where in spite of all advanced coatings reflections and stray light can occur - and that leads to better contrast and in the end to better images.
Phil