28mm/2.8 ASPH with M8, lens hood a must?

[trs]

I have the above lens with my M8.

I notice that most pictures I see of M cameras, including M8, they don't have lens hood on. But, every M camera I see in demo, always has lens hood on.

One of the reason I ventured into M8 is for its compactness. I really like the compactness of M8 with 28/2.8ASPH with regular lens cap. In sunny environment, is the hood a must for 28mm? In D/SLR world, I always used lens hood (needed or not). It worked as protection if for nothing else and it did not really make the gear any bigger.

But, on M8, the lens hood actualy makes camera bigger. Anyway, it may sound like weird and obvious question, but I just wanted to know how you expereced M folks deal with lens hood. My guess is use it.

Currently, I using the normal cap since sun is not around and not going to be around for few more months around here.

I guess I have wishful thinking that I get the answer don't need to use it

Thank you.

-Tanka

[sean_reid]

I almost always use a lens hood but the best way to answer this for yourself would be to do an experiment. Shoot with and without in various lighting conditions and see what you think.

Cheers,

Sean Reid

[baloo]

I never leave home without it, 1 for protection agains bad light 2 protection from chocks 3, look better, and the 3 is most important ; )

regards, Steve

[ho_co]

Tanka--
Another thing to consider is: There is a reason that Leica supplies a lens hood with (almost) every lens.

The hood is highly recommended in every case.

But if you don't want to use it, that's your choice.

--HC

[Olof]

Why buy a cameraequippment for thousands of $ to get high quality pictures, and dont use the easiest way to get these pictures. the lenshood ?

[wizard]

Well, this is a bit like the "Do I need a UV filter for protection and will it be detrimental to the results" discussion which comes up every now and then.

One thing is for sure, using a lens hood can't hurt. BUT, if you would rather shoot without a lens hood, my experience over many, many years shows that there are a great number of situations where using a lens hood or not will not make any difference to the result obtained. For example, if the sun (or any important light source) is in your back, the lens hood will not have any appreciable effect. Also, if the sun shines directly into your lens, such as when taking sunset shots or the like, again the lens hood will not have an effect as it can't shield off the sun anyway. Of course, if there is no sun or other strong light source at all, a lens hood isn't really needed as well.

The only situations where I found lens hoods to really improve the results are when (sun)light comes in obliquely from the front, such that the lens hood is able to shield off those oblique light rays which would otherwise enter the lens and cause internal reflections in the lens.

Most people always use a lens hood because then they don't have to think about whether it will be needed in a given situation or not, and as I said, using it sure doesn't hurt, but you can figure out yourself when you can do without the lens hood.

Cheers,

Andy

[trs]

Thank you folks. As I said, that was wishful thinking in my part to make the camera pretty compact. But, hey, it still fits in my pocket even with the hood. So, it seems that I have hood on. I just noticed my Fuji S2 with 100mm Macro and flash on it couple of nights ago and what a piece. I mean huge comparing to M8.

Fuji of course still staying for doing product shooting in studio.

And I agree that it does look much better in hood than without. I am still learning, but having a lot of fun.

Thank you again.

-Tanka

[lct]

This hood is very little actually and you will be happy to have when it rains or if you drop your lens eventually.
Did it myself and it saved my dear old 'cron 35/2 4th version.

BTW would you say it is the same hood?

[pvfb]

Hi

My experience is that you always realize you should have used a lens hood too late, normally because you got away with it in every shot but the best one, when you didn't notice the flare or whatever in the viewfinder.

Peter

[abrewer]

Originally Posted by trs

I notice that most pictures I see of M cameras, including M8, they don't have lens hood on. But, every M camera I see in demo, always has lens hood on.


-Tanka

The advertising pictures are not representative of practice as the camera body must have maximum visibility...thus the lens hood is removed. If you notice M's in use, you'll see the hoods on, for protection against flare/stray light etc. as well as protection to the glass.

These hoods are pretty small. I carry the hood for my 35f2ASPH in my pocket until I get ready to start shooting, then remove the small flat cap and replace it with the hood. If you've got the strap around your neck (or hand-strap in use) then the minimal size of the hood should not be an issue.

Thanks.

Allan

[grober]

Two good rules: always use a lens hood AND also use a tripod if conditions and the environment allows.

-g

[wbesz]

I don't consider it a must to use the lens hood, but it's a good way to reduce flare and prevent loss of contrast, but this is not always the case.

At times I left my lens hood off to keep the camera/lens package compact, and still managed to grab very good quality images.

[Olof]

Originally Posted by trs

I have the above lens with my M8.

I notice that most pictures I see of M cameras, including M8, they don't have lens hood on. But, every M camera I see in demo, always has lens hood on.

One of the reason I ventured into M8 is for its compactness. I really like the compactness of M8 with 28/2.8ASPH with regular lens cap. In sunny environment, is the hood a must for 28mm? In D/SLR world, I always used lens hood (needed or not). It worked as protection if for nothing else and it did not really make the gear any bigger.

But, on M8, the lens hood actualy makes camera bigger. Anyway, it may sound like weird and obvious question, but I just wanted to know how you expereced M folks deal with lens hood. My guess is use it.

Currently, I using the normal cap since sun is not around and not going to be around for few more months around here.

I guess I have wishful thinking that I get the answer don't need to use it

Thank you.

-Tanka

The Lenshood is a part of the optical system. Its very important for sharp, high quality pictures and it provides your Lens form damage.