— the main practical advantage of metal is its high strength, and it is quite deserved: such lens hoods are much more reliable than plastic ones, they are able to endure various troubles, including quite strong blows, with virtually no consequences. At the same time, such products are much more expensive. And given that any blows are undesirable to a lens with a lens hood installed on it, it is unlikely that the mentioned advantage can be considered key: if the lens hood normally withstands a blow that damages the optics, this is unlikely to greatly comfort the photographer. Therefore, although there is a certain range of metal hoods on the market (designed mainly for users who value reliability), however, this range is noticeably poorer than that of plastic models.
