just because you can't break it with a claw hammer doesn't mean it won't get scratched. Maybe if a protection filter was $150 this would make sense. But since they are $20-$30 each it's cheap insurance. Lenses also have coatings that can wear off over time that a hammer wouldn't remove.
fun video though. I also noticed he's not doing it on a 70-200 f/2.8 :er:
Insurance, hardly. I have seen 'protective' filters
cause damage.
A $20 or $30 filter will undoubtedly adversly effect image quality (IQ). Of course if IQ is not a concern.....Add in loss of contrast, and additional problems with lens flare caused by the added air gap.
Scratches, nicks and dings on the front of a lens rarely show up in an image.
LensRentals.com - Front Element Scratches
Filters are much thinner than the front element of lenses and are actually very easily broken. usually the broken shargds of filter glass are thrust inwards towards the lens front objective.
Further, being thrust inwards when the thin glass shattered the part of the filter that holds the edge of the filter gets bent so when you turn the filter body to remove it from the lens, all those nice sharp shards cut nice circular grooves in the front element.
But, a lens at that point is not a total loss, only the front element needs to be replaced.
Another thing to note is that front lens elements are usually just one of a group of lens elements that are right up against each other making the group quite thick.
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