Are Lens Hoods Wrecking Your Photos In Cold Weather?

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I spend quite a bit of my time annually shooting in fairly cool temps but because in those times I'm almost always on foot, I'm going to assume the temp of the lens has equalized and reduced the hood's tunnelling effect on the air in front when I actually get to shoot. However, I am now going to be far more aware of those situations arising where there may well be an imbalance of temps causing the visual mush. Extremely useful video. Thanks.
 
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Palmor said:
Wow, I can say this happened to me recently but I didn't make the connection. There is an Eastern Screech owl that is nesting in a tree right beside a road. On our normal weekend birding trips we drive by to see if it's visible and I'll take quick photo if it is. A couple of weeks ago I got out the car for quick shot when it was COLD and I saw the same thing, what I could swear was heat distortion and the only thing I could think of is if the tree trunk somehow absorbed some heat... but now that you mentioned this I bet 100% it was the lens hood coming from the warm car.

I wonder if material of the hood will make a difference. I have one of those soft hoods for my Sony 600 f4 and wonder if they would give off more or less heat then the OEM one... maybe I'll give it a try today since it's pretty cold out. If I do have a chance I'll report back.
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I don't think it's the hood material, it's that it's trapping the warm air.
 
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Doug A. said:
My fellow astrophotographers are probably chuckling to themselves and nodding their heads watching this video. We've been aware of and dealing with this phenomenon for a long time.
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That makes sense. I think I never really noticed it before simply because this was a different winter situation than my normal one. (And I seldom shoot in cold conditions)
 
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Steve this is fascinating. I can't recall anyone else theorizing or testing for this before. I'm sure I've had this happen and always assumed it was just ground/air heat differential. But a few times the normal ground/air differential didn't make a lot of sense. I recall one day back in the Yukon jumping out of my car and running through the snow on a -20C day to grab shots of a Northern Hawk Owl....every shot was a mess even though I was well away from the car and the owl was up high and not low to the ground. I bet this was the reason that day.

I currently run a 3D printed short hood on my 600GM. It is only 2-3" long so maybe that is less likely to occur with that short hood.

Not directly related to your video but something I experienced back in Decemeber I thought I'd ask here if anyone else has had this happen. I was out shooting at -14C with my short hood on the 600GM. After about 2 hrs I noticed cloudy image through my EVF/LCD. I looked at the front of the lens and the 2nd element was frosted/iced over with a fancy pattern. I took it back to the car, it quickly defrosted and then I tried again. Within 20-30mins it did the same thing and seemed to frost up a deeper element also. I took that back to the car, defrosted and switched my short hood to the regular 600GM stock hood. Went back out and it didn't occur again. I wonder if it was the short hood allowing more direct cold air to hit the lens and cause it to ice up inside?? It was the only time I've had that happen but in recent years living in a mild climate I haven't done much sub-freezing shooting. Just thought I'd throw that out there to see if anyone has experience that. Of course if my theory is correct and it was due to the short hood then most people won't have one of those and probably won't have experienced that icing.
 
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arbitrage said:
Steve this is fascinating. I can't recall anyone else theorizing or testing for this before. I'm sure I've had this happen and always assumed it was just ground/air heat differential. But a few times the normal ground/air differential didn't make a lot of sense. I recall one day back in the Yukon jumping out of my car and running through the snow on a -20C day to grab shots of a Northern Hawk Owl....every shot was a mess even though I was well away from the car and the owl was up high and not low to the ground. I bet this was the reason that day.

I currently run a 3D printed short hood on my 600GM. It is only 2-3" long so maybe that is less likely to occur with that short hood.

Not directly related to your video but something I experienced back in Decemeber I thought I'd ask here if anyone else has had this happen. I was out shooting at -14C with my short hood on the 600GM. After about 2 hrs I noticed cloudy image through my EVF/LCD. I looked at the front of the lens and the 2nd element was frosted/iced over with a fancy pattern. I took it back to the car, it quickly defrosted and then I tried again. Within 20-30mins it did the same thing and seemed to frost up a deeper element also. I took that back to the car, defrosted and switched my short hood to the regular 600GM stock hood. Went back out and it didn't occur again. I wonder if it was the short hood allowing more direct cold air to hit the lens and cause it to ice up inside?? It was the only time I've had that happen but in recent years living in a mild climate I haven't done much sub-freezing shooting. Just thought I'd throw that out there to see if anyone has experience that. Of course if my theory is correct and it was due to the short hood then most people won't have one of those and probably won't have experienced that icing.
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I doubt it was the hood. More likely going through several cycles dried out the lens. Each time it cools it draws in cold dry air. When it warms it expels humid air. The inside of the lens gets drier with each cycle. In those temperatures the air being pulled conntains very little moisture. Thermodynamics at work.
 
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I suppose the same might be true of lenses taken out of an A/C car on a warm day…or really just on a sunny day where the sun warms up the black hood.

I wonder if this means that rather than always leave the lens hood on unless I take it off for some reason as I’ve least done that I should switch to hood off unless needed for glare or ghosting.

How do most of us treat the use of hoods…mostly on or mostly off or does it depend on focal length? Leaving tjphem off makes the rig shorter and perhaps slightly easier to maneuver.
 
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Neil Laubenthal said:
I suppose the same might be true of lenses taken out of an A/C car on a warm day…or really just on a sunny day where the sun warms up the black hood.

I wonder if this means that rather than always leave the lens hood on unless I take it off for some reason as I’ve least done that I should switch to hood off unless needed for glare or ghosting.

How do most of us treat the use of hoods…mostly on or mostly off or does it depend on focal length? Leaving tjphem off makes the rig shorter and perhaps slightly easier to maneuver.
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I've never had it happen (that I know of) with AC + a warm day. Not saying it can't I just haven't spotted it. When I see softness, I always hunt it down and the AC + warm day is WAY more in my wheelhouse than a cold day and warm camera :)

As for the sun hitting the hood on a cool day, I've had several people mention this since posting the video and that does seem like something that happens.
 
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NorthernFocus said:
I doubt it was the hood. More likely going through several cycles dried out the lens. Each time it cools it draws in cold dry air. When it warms it expels humid air. The inside of the lens gets drier with each cycle. In those temperatures the air being pulled conntains very little moisture. Thermodynamics at work.
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Thanks. That makes sense. The one reason I was questioning my lens hood theory was that it wasn't the front element that frosted.
 
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arbitrage said:
Thanks. That makes sense. The one reason I was questioning my lens hood theory was that it wasn't the front element that frosted.
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I did a detailed analysis on this a few years ago after having internal fogging in my 500 f4. Was surprised by the numbers. After that even though I don't live in a humid location I started storing my lenses in a dry bag with desicant.
 
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NorthernFocus said:
I did a detailed analysis on this a few years ago after having internal fogging in my 500 f4. Was surprised by the numbers. After that even though I don't live in a humid location I started storing my lenses in a dry bag with desicant.
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I may look into a dry cabinet now that I'm living on Vancouver Island. Moisture wasn't a problem up in the Yukon which I think is the driest area in Canada.
 
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arbitrage said:
I may look into a dry cabinet now that I'm living on Vancouver Island. Moisture wasn't a problem up in the Yukon which I think is the driest area in Canada.
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I would second that thought ... I have a couple of dry cabinets and they also keep out the dust and the cat :) My dad lived on Vancouver, Island he had a compound in Courtney and then moved into a place on right on Comax bay when he started spending winters in Arizona.
 
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Neil Laubenthal said:
I suppose the same might be true of lenses taken out of an A/C car on a warm day…or really just on a sunny day where the sun warms up the black hood.
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Or where the sun heats one side of the lens. Physics tells me this happens. I just don't know if it happens to the degree where it effects the images.

I wish modern Nikon lenses came in a light color option.
 
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Steve said:
Are you a cold weather shooter? Did you know your lens hood could be working against you if the conditions are right, absolutely turning your photos to mush? Give me four minutes and I'll show you when to watch for the problem, what it looks like, and how to avoid it. A must-see for every cold weather, long lens shooter!

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Great video. Wonderful and helpful insight
 
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I've been shooting in high humidity and rain here in summer (Queensland, Australia) and i wonder if it may have a similar impact also... when i was out the other day i felt like none of my images were pin sharp... just a little off and for no reason, was with the Z9 too which obviously had me thinking about it and the sensor/filters/IBIS impact/D850 sensor awesomeness... I feel it was conditions but your mind does wander.
 
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Thanks for this Steve. I have been having trouble just shooting in my basement and on the front porch for birds in the yard (72 or so in the house, mid to low 20s outside). I took the hood off for a few shots this afternoon and it make a fantastic difference. I'll definitely keep this bit of advice in my tookbox.
 
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Steve said:
Mine either - but it was driving me NUTS as you might expect! There was jus too reason for the soft owls, and fortunately the idea occurred to me while shooting one so I had instant feedback. I tell ya, I was starting to think something had happened to my 600mm at first (although when my wife started showing me her pics, I knew it was something else). At least removing the hood seems to help :)
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I dunno, Steve, maybe it is your 600mm, and you should get rid of it ASAP! I know someone who'd take it off your hands! 🤪
 
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Steve said:
Are you a cold weather shooter? Did you know your lens hood could be working against you if the conditions are right, absolutely turning your photos to mush? Give me four minutes and I'll show you when to watch for the problem, what it looks like, and how to avoid it. A must-see for every cold weather, long lens shooter!

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Very helpful tip from someone from Buffalo, NY! 🥶
 
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