Hi Grandpaw
Always, if not for the shade, then lens protection. Plastic is cheaper than glass.
I noticed a few people take them off when having a filter on. What is the reason for this?
WHAT DO YOU DO?
I watch a lot of videos on photography almost every day to learn as much as I can. I have noticed that many of the people in the videos leave off the sunshade when shooting. Myself, I use my lens hoods 100% of the time to keep out extra light and to help protect the lens. The one exception to when I leave it off is the rare time when I use an on board flash that would give me a shadow in the lower section of my photo. I am curious as to how often others use their lens hoods.