billnikon wrote:
THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A FILTER MADE THAT IMPROVES IMAGE QUALITY. AND THERE IS ONLY ONE OTHER DIRECTION TO GO.
This is an oft repeated, specious comment ...
The obvious disproof of the statement is using a GREEN or ORANGE filter with a
panchromatic film (
that's a common B&W film type for all of you who never took pictures with anything other than a digital camera) ...
... My preference was to use a Green filter which BOTH darkens a pale blue sky AND balances the foliage relative to the 'other colors' which may be present ... I suspect that Orange filters were more popular because in addition to darkening a pale blue sky they presumably help with lightening variations and/or
blemishes in skin tones!?!
Regardless, I am in the camp which blissfully believes that a UV filter does NOT adversely affect image quality
UNLESS IT IS DIRTY OR DAMAGED (two factors which would adversely affect the image if those conditions were present on the surface of the lens's front element!
Using a replaceable, sacrificial filter is an option which probably depends on how
nice you want the front element of your lens to look in a few years.
BTW. The front element of my pre-War Leitz SUMMAR lens is still pristine thanks to the great care of the first two owners AND the fact that I put a filter on it as soon as I acquired the lens ...
On the other hand, a pre-War SUMMARIT which I had very briefly showed the signs of having been constantly cleaned (it was nonetheless a remarkable lens since I never used it in situations where there might be a conflict with 'side' light) ...
I have seen 50+ year old, coated lenses which were always protected and whose front element looks as good as the day when it left the factory ...
... And, I have seen similar lenses (specifically, 50mm f1.4 Nikkor in both cases) which clearly showed signs of having been wiped-off umpteen-times.
FYI. Some people who do use a filter-for-protection take them off the lens if they feel they are capturing a truly critical image ...
The test which YOU should consider is taking the same 'object' with-and-without a filter & comparing the quality of the images and then deciding if there is any-or-no-significant difference.