"Craig" said:I rarely see where a hood helps.
If the sun is *just* out of your image but in the LOS for the front of the camera, the hood may help by blocking the sun from streaming at an angle into your shot, bouncing around your lens and causing nasty flare on your image. ; Without being in the shot. ; The hood helps reduce the need for using the old-timers lens hood[nb]Your hand[/nb], since lens hoods for anything other than professional lenses didn't exist before digital.[nb]Just kidding, although Canon seems to have a knack for not including hoods with their non-L lenses. ; I think I had to buy one for the 17-55/2.8 IS.[/nb]