flyboy61 Loc: The Great American Desert

Not trying to start a huge, mostly repetetive discussion: BUT...I just received a new filter in the mail. It was from an "offshore" location, and warnings about counterfeit items of brand name items are a concern.

I USE UV "protection" filters. Why? It seems to me a lot of current lenses' front elements are very close to the physical front ends of my lenses, and lens hoods alone may not provide the protection needed. Also, a hood and filter saved a lens from certain damage in my dim past.

I've read pro and con, and it seems to me using them makes sense. YMMV
There is some concern regarding "loss of sharpness", and I was quick to test that. I have a good quality pair of binoculars, and focused one side of them on the roof of a house across the street. I interposed the filter between the binocular lens...quickly, so my eye wouldn't begin to compensate for any unsharpness. No observable difference between the binocular image with or without the filter! The first time I tried this, I had to trash about 1/3 of my filters for definite image degradation.

This isn't original with me. Ken Rockwell mentioned it on his website. It seems to work just fine!

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Filters are not all the same. Your declaration would be of more interest if you had the full confidence of your decision to state what specific model and brand is involved.

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

You really need to watch this, UV filters are NOT necessary to protect your front element.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0CLPTd6Bds

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The author of that video has establiished a fund to replace the lens for you when it gets damaged for lack of a filter. Registration is required for coverage, so be sure to register. There is a "modest" annual fee involved, but its NOT A SCAM ! Watch the video.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

In my more than 60 years photographing I have never used a UV filter for "protection." Salesmen at photo stores have sold hundreds if not thousands of these filters for "protection." It has worked very well because many photographers still insist, without actual proof, that a UV filter protects the lens.
It was clearly demonstrated in the video, we do not need UV filters for digital. If there is haze many editors have a dehaze filter that does an excellent job, I have those adjustments in OM Workspace and Affinity Photo and I use them often even if no haze is present, the filter seems to darken the sky and act as a polarizer.

I am glad that someone like Steve Perry has finally proved that the UV filter is not necessary with digital photography. With film the filter can help with haze and to slightly warm a scene in the shadow and for that I used the Tiffen 81B, the 812 does a similar job.
Even when in several occasions I have done this same explanation people have continued to believe that the UV filter "protects."

stan0301 Loc: Colorado

take two pictures - tripod, lens shade, remote release - enlarge a small piece preach and check it out

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Hes a believer, isnt he ... like hes actually serious about caring about his pathetic BS. Proof ! Bozo demands to prove a negative.

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CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Knowledge is retelling the past. Wisdom is predicting the future risks to your lens. Ignoring the risks is no protection nor wisdom.

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Never read or watched Steve Perry and given all the things Ive read from his groupies there can be no good reason to ever check him out. What a bizzaro little tribe of lemmings :-(

srt101fan

Steve Perry is a good guy; he knows and shares.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Which is most effective at protection of valuable equipment?

a) a pound of luck?
b) a lens hood?
c) a lens filter?
d) options b and c?
e) a liter of Hope?

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

Straight answer- no sarcasm or silliness!

Any filter, placed in the light path has the potential to degrade the image per sharpness and can cause additional flare (loss of contrast or obliteration of part of the image) in certain lighting conditions where extraneous light might strike the lens. These undesirable effects, however, may be so infinitesimal that they are undetectable even with a greater degress of image enlargement. The important caveat is that the filter should be well crafted, optically parallel, and coated. There are some filters, in the marketplace, that do not make the grade.

I use filters made by Zeiss, B+W, and Sing-Ray. Some other brands have good reputations, but these are the brands I have first-hand experience with and can vouch for.

I do not use protective filters at all times. My lenses are not subject to damage in the studio. I don't do much work in rough terrain but I often work in heavy industrial settings with abrasive airborne particles, welding or smelting operation, sawdust, and in manufacurig kitchens with the potential for splatter, steam, etc.- on, go the filters.

Years ago, in the film era, the skylight filters sufficed as protective filters. These filters may have a slight so there are clear protectives that have no coloration.

It is a good practice to use a lens shade, with, and without a filter to avoid flare.

Remember that a filter will offer protection against smudging, scratches, and some airborne hazards. They will not withsat severe impact and may shatter and exacerbate lens damage. A les shad may add a ltt additin protection but that is not what it is intended for.

If a camera or lens is dropped or seriously impacted, the filter frame may deform and cause additional damage to the filter mount and threads. A poorly crafted filter may have a soft rim that can jam or cross-thread even if they are not impacted.

Unfortunately, there are too many "NEVER" camps in photograhy- folks who do not believe in compromise.
If I am shooting a job for a photomural or where super extreme sharpness may be a requirement, I might not use a filter just to be on the safe side although I know the difference may only be detectable on a special optical analyzation instrument. In a factory, with every manner of airborne hazards, the filters go on. I have been doing this work for going on 6-decades- had to replace the front element on one Hasselblad lens NOT GOOD!$$$$ One learns one's lessons!

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Would that there was one single action in all of photography that would make me 0.3% better.

Hip Coyote

And yet you did. Maybe fire up a convo on raw vs jpeg; Subscription based software vs free vs buy once; Nikon vs Canon, SOOC vs processing and Trump v Biden!

Who among us are good enough for any of this to matter? Few.