Do you use UV filters?

usayit · Dec 9, 2008

Lyncca... I'm surprised you haven't seen the flame wars that arise with this topic. :lol:

Yes.. I do..

I am a prime shooter and I do like to switch lenses. I carry all my lenses without front nor rear caps. Each lens has a dedicated compartment or belt pouch to keep them safe from each other. I don't like to worry about them when I have to clean them.. I use my t-shirt, sleave, or whatever I have available (even a paper napkin .. oh gasp). My lenses are very expensive and a stretch on my budget and it would be difficult for me to replace them BUT I also manhandle them... I do not baby my stuff. Having a filter frees my mind of any worry of damage to the front elements. On more than one occasion, the front filter has done its job.... and replacing it with a new one is no problem.

I also have a few older lenses that have very soft front elements and easily scratched.

I only buy high quality filters and it takes two seconds to remove them in the few situations that might cause lens flare. The way I see it, shooting without a filter is like leaving my car unlocked. My camera stuff is worth more than my car.

sabbath999 · Dec 9, 2008

Last year, I bought a new 70-200 2.8 VR. Dropped $1700 on the puppy with shipping and taxes.

First thing I did was put a UV filter on it (a very good, expensive B&W UV filter I might add).

Went to a zoo to shoot some shots, slapped the lens hood on and started walking around. When I got to the zebras, one bit another one on the ass, and the one that got bit jumped and stomped, right in a big puddle of mud.

Pfwap! Mud came flying and I got splattered.

Sure enough, one big semi-solid glob of mud slammed into my lens right exactly dead center (lens hood and all). The splotch of rock filled muck was about two inches around, nearly filling up the filter, and it hit DEAD center.

I tell you what... I would have absolutely puked on the spot had that gritty, grimy, zebra peed-in rocky mud been slobbered all over the front of my brand new $1700 lens instead of some $100 filter.

I come from a sports news background, where I have had my camera covered in all kinds of stuff including spit, blood, rain and an ocean of sweat from some athlete running into me.

I always, always, always shoot with a filter. Always.

I use the best one I can find (B&W).

craig · Dec 9, 2008

I find that I often take it off. Mostly because of lens flare and all that fun stuff. I think it slightly affects colour and contrast. Can not be sure. I was under the impression that the image forms on the rear elements of the lens. Is this true? If it is why not just keep one on whenever possible?

Love & Bass

Garbz · Dec 10, 2008

I'd rather use a lens without one if the filter is cheap.

My lenses at home have nice multicoated filters on them and there has been pretty much zero issue unless shooting into the sun, and sometimes even when shooting into the sun.

The 18-200 I've borrowed at the moment though has one of the cheap ones on it. Yuk. It stays at home. Images definitely suffer as a result of it.

patrickt · Dec 10, 2008

No UV filter. I do use a lens cap, though.

Iron Flatline · Dec 10, 2008

LOL, usayit, tell the truth... as an M8 user you have to put glass in front of the glass...

I put IR filters in front of my M-mount lenses because I have.

I never used to put anything in front of my Canon lenses, until recently. I went to Burning Man in the desert, and brought two filters to protect against the sand.

Other than that I am of the group that thinks UV filters don't make sense. I know for sure that night shooting with filters leads to bad flare.

rubbertree · Dec 10, 2008

I use high quality B&W filters on all of my lenses, except my 50mm f/1.8. The filter costs as much as the lens so I figure if I damage it, it would cost the same or less to replace the lens itself. Everything else gets a B&W filter.
I would love to see examples of quality degradation with filters. I've never experienced it myself, but maybe that's because I don't use a cheap filter? Why cheap out?
I also wonder if people just say that adding more glass will degrade the image without actually trying it out for themselves?

kundalini · Dec 10, 2008

I'm in the camp of non-users. I started out with them on the small lenses (and an old habit from film days), but my big glass is nekked. :lol:

If I were to get one for any reason, it would be a clear glass filter.

usayit · Dec 10, 2008

Iron Flatline said:
LOL, usayit, tell the truth... as an M8 user you have to put glass in front of the glass...

You caught me.. heheh LOL

BUT.. I've been shooting with filters in the same manner for YEARS... Pentax, Canon, and now Leica. Even the two lenses I use on my M3 have UV filters.

The only lenses I have with lens caps are the ones collecting dust in my display cabinet. Anything I actually use has filters (UV on canon and cut-IR on M8). I will remove them when necessary.

Lyncca · Dec 10, 2008

I am VERY protective of my lenses. I have front and rear caps on at all times and have only recently stopped putting them in their own protective case in addtion to a padded backpack with seperate partitions. It just got to be rediculous trying to actually access the lenses.

I will probably put the filters back on and remove them only when needed. I know when I was in Abu Dhabi in the desert getting blasted with sand that I was very thankful for having one on then

sabbath999 · Dec 10, 2008

Lyncca said:
I am VERY protective of my lenses. I have front and rear caps on at all times and have only recently stopped putting them in their own protective case in addtion to a padded backpack with seperate partitions. It just got to be rediculous trying to actually access the lenses.

I will probably put the filters back on and remove them only when needed. I know when I was in Abu Dhabi in the desert getting blasted with sand that I was very thankful for having one on then

They also make multi-coated clear filters which are pristine in optical quality... they are kind of expensive though...

Simply some grist for your mill.

bhop · Dec 10, 2008

I don't.. although, after reading Sabbath999's story about mud and grit, I might start in certain situations, but probably not all the time. I do know that when I was shooting a drifting (motorsports) event recently, I got a lot of tire rubber bits and dust all over my camera stuff and me.

Fox Paw · Dec 10, 2008

I use them, but I don't know anything. The guy at the camera store said to use one, so I do. The lenses have had encounters with dog noses and blowing crud that might have concerned me a lot more if I hadn't had a UV filter. Every now and then I get a really sharp image, so I assume the failures to do so aren't the filters' fault.

plentygood · Dec 11, 2008

I use them on all 3 of my lenses. I've never seen a suffer in image quality (or atleast one large enough to persuade me), so I'd rather spend the money on protection than replacement. I've already cracked one staff filter when a lens dropped, but it was on a $700 lens, so I'm just thankful it was the filter and not the lens.

ksmattfish · Dec 11, 2008

I haven't used protective filters in 15 years. I've used dozens of cameras and hundreds of lenses in that time (way too many to buy extra filters for), and I've yet to damage the front element of any of them. I use lens hoods religiously though, and that's probably helped in the few cases where I bashed the front of the lens.

I saw enough examples of image degradation to convince me when I shot film. The examples I've seen with digital are even worse. There's a good article about it with examples in the archives over at Shootsmarter.com.