To lens hood or not to lens hood, that is the question?

[Chris 3754]

I use a lens hood when shooting ice hockey mostly because I have found in the excitement of moving quickly I regularly make contact with the 70-200 against the glass. I also use them when shooting outdoor sports or wildlife from a somewhat stationary position. Otherwise when hiking or street photography, if I find glare I just use my hand as a block. They just seem to be more of a pain when handling lenses and packing them into my small backpack. Granted I don’t shoot video, so that may be different. What do you all think, to me they don’t seem to provide that much value? Am I wrong about this?

 

[iamdlewis]

I too basically use the hood as protection and not for blocking light.

 

[Unframed Dave]

I never go out without a hood on. I've had too many near misses. I swiped the corner of a building the other day when I underestimated the over hang of my my a1 plus 600.

I also dropped the pair of them when I hadn't properly attached the gimbrel. Luckily, it was only from a hide shelf.

 

[sswildlife]

I always use a lens hood for wildlife photography. It's nice to prop the camera on, provides protection, and in my opinion cuts glare + improves contrast.