Lens cap over UV filter issues

[Gnifrus]

Not sure where I should have put this question, but here goes. I use a UV filter on all my lens. I typically leave them on after using them. This creates a situation where the lens cap is continually popping off, sometimes in awkward situations. When this happens the lens is still protected, but not at the same safety level as when cap is on. Of course the solution to this is to simply unscrew the filter when I am finished with the lens. But on some shoots, like at the bird rookery today, I was changing three different lens back and forth continuously. Should I just resign myself to screwing and unscrewing the UV filters and exercise my inner patience (at the chance of missing quickly developing opportunity) or is there another solution?

 

[weepete]

Depends, you shooting film or digital?

 

[Derrel]

Some filters do not have much thread depth between the glass front of the filter, and the edges of the filter frame. On filters like this some lens caps do not stay on well . For about my first 15 years of serious photography I was a big believer in every lens being fitted with its own ultraviolet filter, to protect it.

I suppose it is possible that you have purchased so called Slim Filters,which are in my experience the worst offenders at Lens caps popping off of

 

[Derrel]

Beginning around 2000 I stopped using any protective filters, and miraculously I have never had a problem so in about 20 years time I have stopped using filters for protection and I am perfectly happy not using a filter to "protect "my lens Fronts. This issue has been discussed here on the forum perhaps 10 times in 10 years, and it is a form of OCD, in my opinion, and this is a fear that many beginners have and are susceptible to from good store salesman who are out to sell you a two dollar filter at wholesale for $20-$40 at retail. I used to be a Camera sales guy, And I can tell you that spiffs on filters are extremely high so it's just getting the sales guy $10 for every filter sold, sometimes $15 per filter sold. Filters are one of the highest profit items in the camera store, along with gadget bags made in China, both of which are purchased at the extremely low. low prices but which are sold at moderately high prices for huge profit margins.

I know exactly what you mean that your lens caps tend to pop off. My advice would be to start using the lens hood for protection and learn more about the degradation the filters tend to cause in extreme light. There has been a video available on YouTube of a guy striking the front of a Canon 50 mm lens with a claw hammer and there is another video showing that filters are really not that effective in protecting against impact damage

 

[ac12]

Options:

• Slip OVER lens caps.
  
  • The cap slides over the outside of the filter, so it is independent of the filter threads.
    
    • Just like on a plastic food container like a Tupperware.
  • I find this type of cap faster to put on and take off than the ones where you have to press something to make it release.
  • I used to get slip over lens caps that fit my lens hoods. But those were the old round metal hoods, not the current plastic petal hoods.
• Lens hood
  • As @Derrel said. It helps to keep the fingers away from the front element/filter.
    • As much fingerprints as I've seen and cleaned off the school cameras, I'm convinced that anything to keep the fingers away from the front element/filter is worth it.

 

[Derrel]

As far as fingers on front elements. There is kind of a stereotype that beginners carelessly touch lens front elements, and I have found it to be true. People who have very little experience with the camera tend to accidentally smear lens fromt elements with great regularity, whereas experienced shooters do not allow their feet to be flashed by the muzzle of a gun Or their fingers to touch the front of a lens. I have noticed in person that when handing my camera to a novice fairly often he or she will accidentally touch and Smear the front element, But an experienced photographer will not allow this to happen. I expect that as with so many things this is a matter of experience and training.

If one wishes to keep the front element of a lens clean and protected one of the best ways to do so is to fit a well fitting lens hood or lens shade onto the front of the lens

 

[SquarePeg]

I can't even imagine the inconvenience of taking a uv filter on and off every time I used a lens. I've been a dslr camera user since about 2004 and an active hobbyist since 2012 and have never used a uv filter nor had a lens get scratched. I did once watch in horror as a fellow photographer dropped his camera and lens onto some rocks on a jetty. It was a heavy lens and took the brunt of the fall. The hood got scuffed a bit but it protected the lens.

 

[TreeofLifeStairs]

I never use my hoods. They seem to get in the way so they just stay in the box. After hearing your story though, maybe I should dust them off. Just hearing what happened makes me cringe.

 

[480sparky]

If you're insistent on using filters, check out Xume. Put an adapter on each lens, an adapter on each filter & cap, and never bother twisting filters on ever again.

 

[ac12]

I never use my hoods. They seem to get in the way so they just stay in the box. After hearing your story though, maybe I should dust them off. Just hearing what happened makes me cringe.

A hood has many functions.
One of which is a "bumper." It takes the initial impact, rather than the front of the lens. The impact can be as simple as turning as you pan or follow a subject, and hit the lens into the wall. I don't know how MANY times I've done that.

• The plastic hoods absorbs the impact and may break; bad for a $70 hood but good for the $2000 lens
  
• The metal hoods "might" bend, but pretty much passes the shock of impact down to the lens
  
• If it is a side impact, a snap on metal hood may pop off, absorbing some of the impact.
  • Except for us old Nikon guys who secured the snap on hood, turning it into a screw on hood, so it did not snap on/off
  • Hard enough and even the standard metal hoods can get ripped off the filter, stripping/damaging the threads, and good chance of lens/camera damage
• Collapsible rubber hood will just collapse, so no protection

 

[ac12]

BTW, if you shoot around little kids, USE a hood and filter.
They like to grab and touch, and sometimes they have greasy hands.
You can guess how I know that.

 

[JBPhotog]

Filters could be treated like seat belts. When on a public roads or a freeway I wear a seatbelt, backing my car out of the garage to wash it in the driveway, I don’t buckle up. Unless I am shooting in an environment that may contain airborne hazards I go sans filter. Hoods are always mounted properly to not only protect the lens for bumps but also from flare, they will produce the best contrast too.

 

[SquarePeg]

I never use my hoods. They seem to get in the way so they just stay in the box. After hearing your story though, maybe I should dust them off. Just hearing what happened makes me cringe.

A hood has many functions.
One of which is a "bumper." It takes the initial impact, rather than the front of the lens. The impact can be as simple as turning as you pan or follow a subject, and hit the lens into the wall. I don't know how MANY times I've done that.

• The plastic hoods absorbs the impact and may break; bad for a $70 hood but good for the $2000 lens
  
• The metal hoods "might" bend, but pretty much passes the shock of impact down to the lens
  
• If it is a side impact, a snap on metal hood may pop off, absorbing some of the impact.
  • Except for us old Nikon guys who secured the snap on hood, turning it into a screw on hood, so it did not snap on/off
  • Hard enough and even the standard metal hoods can get ripped off the filter, stripping/damaging the threads, and good chance of lens/camera damage
• Collapsible rubber hood will just collapse, so no protection

@TreeofLifeStairs Protecting the lens is the secondary use of the hood. The primary use is to prevent light from hitting the front lens element from the sides - reducing contrast and creating flare.

 

[adamhiram]

Some filters do not have much thread depth between the glass front of the filter, and the edges of the filter frame. On filters like this some lens caps do not stay on well

I keep UV or clear filters on all of my lenses, and avoided using "slim" filters for this specific reason. I use B+W MRC 007M (clear) and 010M (UV), I have never had any issues with the lens cap staying on, and have never experienced any vignetting or other issues that would call for a slimmer option.

BTW, if you shoot around little kids, USE a hood and filter. They like to grab and touch, and sometimes they have greasy hands. You can guess how I know that.

This is exactly why I keep filters on all of my lenses, and am glad to see someone with more experience saying the same! I've only had one lens that I skipped using a filter on, and during its first time out, my kid poked the front element with a stick. For the record, I have never noticed any significant image degradation with higher quality filters on, and typically only remove them when shooting at night or long exposures where strong point sources of light might lead to excessive flaring.

 

[Derrel]

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