Why You Need a Hood

No, not a place to hang out … the little lens hoods that come with many zoom lenses (and some primes) should always be on.

I will admit to laughing a bit whenever I see someone walking around with their’s on backwards, because it doesn’t help with what it’s supposed to do or what it can do:

In addition, many photographers will keep the lens hood attached to their digital cameras as a way to protect their lenses from bumps, accidental scratches, water, sand, and fingerprints etc. This is because it’s a lot less expensive to replace a lens hood than it is a lens.