The Lens Hood - A Short Introduction
It is impossible to ignore the invention similar to a flower that comes in front of various photo lenses and sometimes even on the lenses. But have you ever stopped to wonder why it is present there?
Online, December 30, 2013 (Newswire.com) - It is impossible to ignore the invention similar to a flower that comes in front of various photo lenses and sometimes even on the lenses. But have you ever stopped to wonder why it is present there? Those of you that had the opportunity to watch a specialized movie camera doing its thing have also noticed a device similar to an elephant ear that is put right in front of the camera. This is also known under the name of matte box.
Lens Hoods
The hoods are supposed to prevent the lens flare or glare. But when it comes to lens hoods, the range of choices is quite large. Firstly, there is the basic version. This is similar in resemblance to a lamp shade and it is utilized on the lenses which work in the larger areas of the tele zoom. Since in this case the angle of vision is very narrow, the phenomenon of vignetting (obstructing the field of view used by the lens) will not appear. Today's market offers various types of lenses which can start from wide and continue to telephoto regions. In this case, the regular lens hoods cannot be used particularly since they can cause vignetting.
Design
The aspect of design is taken care of by using hoods which are specially created for this purpose. They are constructed by measuring the horizontal and vertical angle of vision in a separate manner. Normally, the horizontal angle is larger than the vertical one and the sunlight brought by it. This requires a design shaped as a flower or even a petal.
In what concerns the hood for every lens, this needs to be created according to the angle of the lens or else vignetting will appear. In addition to this, the lens hood also protects the lens from getting physically damaged. Some of the hoods for cameras (prosumer models) fix filters of teleconvertors directly on them. When it comes to macro photography, the short lens hoods have ring shaped LEDs placed over them. This way great lighting is assured from closer angles. The hoods mentioned are very flexible and offer great freedom to photographers. But when battery packs are included, the camera might lose its stability a bit.
Matte Box
The matte box is used especially in the video area rather than in the photo field because it can help the photographer adjust the length of the fins. Also known under the name of French Flags, the fins come with a great flexibility and freedom of movement. They are less used in the still photography and they are mainly dedicated to small environments such as studios (mostly due to the huge size of the matte box). Next to this, they also are a great place to fix plastic or glass filters.
Thus, when you decide to purchase an object of this type, you should also include a lens hood in the deal because it will provide a better quality when working with direct sunlight. This way a better contrast is created and pictures can look more powerful due to the hoods, since sunlight will not fall on the front elements of the lens.