UV filter questions

[TwoTwoLeft]

Will all UV filters produce lens flare? Or are there better quality that are more resistant? Can anyone recommend a good quality 72mm? I've been looking at Hoya and B+W. Am I on the right track?

The reason I ask about the lens flare is that I just got a Canon EFs 15-85mm. With out the filter it does a great job of controlling lense flare. I bought a cheap UV filter at Best Buy just for now to protect it but noticed significant flare even with the hood on (sun & inside lights) Will a better quality filter prevent this?

 

[JG_Coleman]

The simple, no-BS answer is: yes, a better filter will produce less lens flare... but using even the most expensive UV filter will always produce more flare than not using one at all.

 

[Aye-non Oh-non Imus]

Use your lens hood and common sense to protect the front element while in use. Otherwise, slap on the lens cap for protection. An Ultra Violet filter is useful to control / minimize UV haze. If you are constantly in bush and bramble, then a clear filter is more useful for "protection", but at the end of the day, the front element of most quality lenses are quite durable. I'm not an advocate of using filters for protection, it only adds another layer of inferior glass (or god forbid plastic) to a well engineered piece of equipment.

 

[Big Mike]

Most digital cameras have built-in UV filters, so the 'only' reason to use them nowadays, is for physical protection for the front of the lens. But as mentioned, lenses are actually pretty durable. So to me, its not worth it to use filters simple for protection.

That being said, I did drop a lens once, and destroyed the CPL filter on the front, leaving the actual lens undamaged.

 

[KmH]

Will all UV filters produce lens flare?

Yes!

Or are there better quality that are more resistant?

Yes.

Adding any glass to the front of your lens adds an air gap, and an additional partially reflective surface. It is that air gap that causes the lens flare. Good filters have coatings that promote the transmission of light and minimize reflections, but the coatings only help, they don't make it all disappear.

That additional air gap also reduces image contrast. Again how much contrast is reduced is dependent on the quality of the filter that is mounted.

The lens hood decreases the incidence of lens flare, improves contrast when there is and isn't lens flare, and gives a measure of impact protection in the bargain.

 

[KmH]

That being said, I did drop a lens once, and destroyed the CPL filter on the front, leaving the actual lens undamaged.

But, that does not necessarily mean the CPL filter 'protected' the front element of the lens.
The only certainty is that the CPL filter broke when you dropped the lens.

As mentioned, front lens elements are pretty durable. They aren't as thin as UV, clear, CPL, or any other filters and front lens elements are not made from the same kind of glass that filters are made of.

Front lens elements are often backed by other lens elements the lens designers add to correct for the various optical aberrations inherent in front lens elements, making it even more difficult to cause impact damage to a front lens element.