leftj Loc: Texas

Better to use a lens hood.

kymarto Loc: Portland OR and Milan Italy

A lens hood does not stop the front element from getting dirty and having to be cleaned, which inevitably leads to scratches eventually unless one is super careful in the field.

leftj Loc: Texas

And the UV filter doesn't protect the lens when dropped plus negatively effects the image.

flashgordonbrown Loc: Silverdale, WA

Actually, modern coatings prevent scratches to the front elements of lenses. 30 years ago, when I was a salesman in a retail camera store, the Olympus sales rep would demonstrate the hardness of their multi-coating by dropping his keys on the front element of their fish eye lens. That was a bit extreme, but effective in getting the point across!

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Plastic's advantage is weight, so they are used a lot in point and shoots, but not all point and shoots. Phones are next in line for plastic lenses. I would never prefer my front glass on a lens to be plastic, too easy to scratch, but with today's coatings who knows, maybe the new coatings on plastic lenses will harden them up enough to take constant cleaning.

n3eg Loc: West coast USA

I only buy glasses with glass lenses - and somehow I still manage to scratch them. No plastic for me. I've also peeled off too many solder blobs from my glasses to ever want to try contact lenses.

Ron Dial Loc: Cuenca, Ecuador

If you have a question about plastic lenses or plastic bodies long term, get your hands on a "Holga" camera. A Russian made camera that was popular a few years ago because the pictures it took were so distorted and so filled with aberrations that they were almost pretty. Poly carbonate lenses are certainly possible, just not what I would want in a camera when I needed to depend on it.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

As I mentioned above, my glasses are plastic. I used to specify glass for my glasses because the plastic ones scratched. Eventually my optometrist pointed out that although the plastic lenses are less durable, they are safer since an impact is not as likely to leave pieces of lens with sharp edges flying about. And since my occupation involved physical activity including things that occasionally hit my glasses (e.g. branches when travelling through brush or small to medium sized stones when breaking larger stones) the hazard was there so I went with the plastic lenses. Since my myopia is mild I don't wear the glasses much of the time but I need them for driving so they would get taken off when I parked and thrown on the dashboard of the truck. I wore scratched lenses a lot. (I bought safety goggles in case lots and used them when I knew I was going to be doing something hazardous but sometimes you don't know what you're going to be doing until you do it).