Filter for new lens...yes or no? Received a new Tamron 16-300 lens. Should I get a filter for protection? What kind, I.e polar, etc.?

jimjjc Loc: Wisconsin

Received a new Tamron 16-300 lens. Should I get a filter for protection? What kind, I.e polar, etc.?

par4fore Loc: Bay Shore N.Y.

UV / Clear / Haze filters, B+W brand with threads made of brass. Keep it attached for everyday shots and remove it for important shots. Protects the lens and keeps the dust down so you don't clean the lens glass as often.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Keep the lens hood on 24/7 and cap the hood with an elastic "hoodie" - save $$ and pass on the "filter" . !

Szalajj Loc: Salem, NH

For years, I was a yes to the filter person to protect the lens, until about 15 months ago, when I started to do moon rise shots, and kept getting green reflections in most of my shots.

I removed the filters from all of my lenses, and they're now stored in their original cases. I keep the lens caps on when I'm not shooting.

I agree with using lens hoods if you can get them for all of your lenses, which will help to prevent you from accidentally pushing your lens right up against any surface, and damaging the lens surface!

If you find yourself with a tendency of shooting in dusty situations such as Motocross, Motorcycle cross country shoots, horse shows, etc, then a filter might be necessary.

Shooting in bright daylight brings up the option to use a circular polarizing filter. They help to bring out the blue skies in your shots!

If you shoot things like waterfalls which are both in and out of the sun, then you might want to consider a GND or GRADUATED NEUTRAL DENSITY FILTER, but these will take practice to use correctly and efficiently!

jimjjc Loc: Wisconsin

I usually take landscape photos, generic family, and grandson sports, I.e football.

MtnMan Loc: ID

jimjjc wrote:

Received a new Tamron 16-300 lens. Should I get a filter for protection? What kind, I.e polar, etc.?

No. Use your lens cap and hood to protect lens.

Gramp70 Loc: Wylie Texas

Years ago one my friends hit the edge of his lens on something. He had a UV filter on the lens. The rim of the filter was bent and the glass was cracked. He was able to remove the filter, in pieces. Use some kind of protection. Back in those days we had hard cases with the lens mounted on its base using a screwed-in base cap. Worked great for changing lenses, but would be a problem if you left a hood on. Just use something.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

Gramp70 wrote:

Years ago one my friends hit the edge of his lens on something. He had a UV filter on the lens. The rim of the filter was bent and the glass was cracked. He was able to remove the filter, in pieces. Use some kind of protection. Back in those days we had hard cases with the lens mounted on its base using a screwed-in base cap. Worked great for changing lenses, but would be a problem if you left a hood on. Just use something.

I worked in a camera shop for a while. One customer has his <film> camera get caught between the power seat and the floor in his car. Took a while to get the broken and mangled filter off and replace it. The lens and threads were okay thankfully.

I keep a skylight on mine and remove to put on another if needed (star, graduated, polarizer, etc.).

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

jimjjc wrote:

Received a new Tamron 16-300 lens. Should I get a filter for protection? What kind, I.e polar, etc.?

I always have a filter on all my lenses, it is mostly a protection against the triple D (dust, dirt and debris) not so much against impact (that is taking care of by the hood). Besides that, they do improve on image quality as well!

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

speters wrote:

Besides that, they do improve on image quality as well!

......

Bill_de Loc: US

The Jeep was a day old when I took it to my happy hunting grounds, Bombay Hook. I usually go there once or twice a week when photo ops are plentiful. I keep clear (Nikon or B+W) filters on all my lenses.

Gifted One Loc: S. E. Idaho

I just got a Tamron 150-600 and it takes a 95mm. I have a B&W coming. I believe a hood is the first line of defense. I like to use a Hood Hat from OpTech USA. I had one experience where a filter saved a lens. I have had one bad filter that did not work with any lens.

Happy Shooting! J. R.

btbg

No. Look at any professional sports venue. None of the photographers have filters on their cameras. Bring a circular polarizer and a neutral density filter if you take long exposure photos in daylight. Otherwise stay away from filters. All they do is degrade your image quality.

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

Your lens hood and cap are your best protectors. I have a 24-70 f/2.8 lens in for repair now because I failed to reattach a hood (unusual for me). A $600 mistake.

Szalajj Loc: Salem, NH

btbg wrote:

No. Look at any professional sports venue. None of the photographers have filters on their cameras. Bring a circular polarizer and a neutral density filter if you take long exposure photos in daylight. Otherwise stay away from filters. All they do is degrade your image quality.

I have to agree with you!

My cousin is a professional photographer, and she advised the same thing.

No filter unless it was a special purpose filter and used only to obtain a shot or a series of shots.

Hoods or lens caps are used the rest of the time!