A question that I often see being asked in photography forums is

What’s a good walkabout lens for my xxxD?

Rather than it being a reference to lenses with legs, a walkabout lens is one with which you might take out on a day of walking whether it be to a park, to the shops or to your friends barbeque. The requirement being that because you don’t know what type of subject you’re going to come across you take a lens that can cover most general situations rather than lugging about a heavy bag filled with lenses.

Prime lenses don’t fall into this category very well unless you’re deliberately wanting to restrict yourself to a single focal length. As such, zoom lenses - particularly those around the ’standard’ lengths - are favoured for this role. In particular, zoom lenses that start at a wider (<= 35mm) focal length and reach up to short telephoto (=> 50mm). These ranges often provide a good balance between focal length range, image quality, cost and weight.

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Lens hoods serve a very useful function in that they shade lenses from unwanted light that can cause flaring and a drop in contrast. They’re usually made from high-impact plastic which as well as being light also provides some level of protection for the front element of your lens.

Lens hoods can be awkward to carry around, if they’re not in active use. Some allow you store them still attached to your lenses, but reversed. Whilst it saves some space, it can mean you have to remove the hood before you can get full access to the lens controls.

Many photographers consider lens hoods to be an essential piece of kit and yet they aren’t always supplied with new lenses. They can be bought as accessories, but form some reason that’s beyond me they can cost anything from tens to hundreds of pounds.

Thankfully, there is an alternative to shelling out £20+ for some shade (more…)