My lenses either have a fixed sliding hood or I bought cheap Hoya rubber jobs so I never really thought about it or what other folk did. Spend the money on the lens then I want the absolute best I can get from it. Showing the age of some of my kit there as hoods were always a seperate item in the old days.
Last year however Ros, new into photography, bought a Sigma 70-300 zoom to complement her kit lens. She was really quite dissapointed with the pics from that lens, and thought she had been sold a pup. A quick look at the pics established that flare was a problem. The lens hood was dug out and as if by magic image quality dramatically improved, and what was considered a duff lens was now a good one.
Just proves some lenses are more prone to flare than others, especially in this age of zooms with complex optical designs.
Don