Every DSLR Lens I have ever purchased has come with a Lens Hood. The Lens Hood serves a couple of different purposes. First and foremost it helps prevent lens flare when you're shooting towards a light source and secondly it provides a little extra protection from the occasional bumps that your lens may encounter as you walk around. These are reasons alone enough for me to always shoot with mine attached.
If your lens comes with a Lens Hood then why would you buy one?
Although the Lens Hoods I've gotten with my various Nikon lens have all been decent, there are a couple of 3rd party lens that I'm not as happy with the supplied Lens Hood. Even with that being the case I was never in the market to actually "buy" a different lens hood. The ones that come with the lenses good or bad, do what they are supposed to do. However, at the last Photoshop World Conference I saw a couple of my buddies using the Mamiya Lens Hood and at first glance I even questioned whether or not they if they were shooting with a "NEW" lens. I asked because for some reason the Mamiya Lens Hood looked more (and I don't know how else to put this) "professional". It looked as if they were using some new high-end lens that I hadn't seen yet. When I found out that it was the same 70-200mm f/2.8 VR lens that I already owned, my next question was "hey where did you get the cool lens hood?" NAPP had featured this lens hood on D-Town before and they told me that every time they do, it sells out! I had always intended on ordering one, but like many things in my life I got busy with my day to day work and completely forgot about it. That was until I ordered my NEW Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII lens. I figured that was the perfect time not only to get a new Lens, but also a New Lens Hood.
What makes this Lens Hood so cool?
Continue reading “Mamiya Lens Hood – Because it looks cool!”