You should Never use Any filters, except...

Jon_Are · Jul 11, 2009

...a polarizer.

This is the opinion of the author of a book I'm reading. He says that filters negatively affect the way light reaches the sensor, which negatively impacts the image.

A polarizer is OK to use because achieving the effects of a polarizer in Lightroom or Photoshop is nearly impossible.

As for protecting your lens? Use a lens cap.

Thoughts?

Jon

Josh66 · Jul 11, 2009

Jon_Are said:
As for protecting your lens? Use a lens cap.

Yes.

There are filters other than CPL that are both useful and cannot be done in PP though... IR & ND are two more, right off the top of my head.

Also, if you're shooting film - colored filters still come in handy.

benhasajeep · Jul 11, 2009

CPL and ND filters get used often on my lenses. I do not keep UV's on them for protection though. Knock on wood, over 10 years I have been able to keep from scratching my elements. I don't even have any UV's anymore I don't think. I might have some colored filters for black and white film. But ohter than that. CPL's and ND's are all I have.

Moglex · Jul 11, 2009

You cannot do nearly such an effective job of haze reduction in post processing as you can with a UV filter.

Overread · Jul 11, 2009

A lens hood is a must for protection of a lens - as for filters on digital I agree Circular polarizers, ND, ND grad and infra red are all ones which create an effect not possible in editing a shot (with the slight exception of tonemapping several exposures for ND grad) but even still most effects are only for in camera.

UV filters for protection I would use if I were in a windy, dusty, muddel, dirt flying environment - I can then rapidly wipe the glass clean with a cloth and keep shooting without having to fear for my front element taking scratches as a result. For general use though I agre with the others that its not a prime requirement.

Also any filters used should always be the best you can afford

KmH · Jul 11, 2009

Moglex said:
You cannot do nearly such an effective job of haze reduction in post processing as you can with a UV filter.

So true.

A small collection of quality Skylight (UV) filters to use when conditions are hazy is definately warranted.

Using them at all times to 'protect' a lens is neither necessary, nor desireable from a technical point of view.

Moglex · Jul 11, 2009

KmH said:
Using them at all times to 'protect' a lens is neither necessary, nor desireable from a technical point of view.

So how do you protect your lens from 'whatever' might suddenly happen to cause it grief?

I'm quite prepared to move to something other than UV but I'm certainly not going to wander arond with an £1800 lens (much morw for some wildlife/sports photographers) with it's front glass exposed to whatever the world has to offer.

Strangely I have never seen plain, optical glass, flat 'filters'.

Josh66 · Jul 11, 2009

Moglex said:
So how do you protect your lens from 'whatever' might suddenly happen to cause it grief?

Caution.

Put the cap on when you're not shooting, use caution when you are shooting.

benhasajeep · Jul 11, 2009

Except for maybe blowing items, a lens hood is a good protector for bangs and bumps. As someone else mentioned, lens caps are very good protection for when moving around not taking any pics. Filter glass is not that thick, yes it will provide some protection, but for tall falls or flying rocks or something like that. The lens is going to get damaged filter or not.

kundalini · Jul 11, 2009

Moglex said:
Strangely I have never seen plain, optical glass, flat 'filters'.

b+w clear filter | B&H Photo Video

epp_b · Jul 11, 2009

A CPL, some ND filters and a graduated ND filters are all you really need. I use clear (skylight or UV) filters over my lenses to protect the front element. The D40 can't resolve high enough to see any degradation in resolution that a clear filter may or may not cause.

Josh66 · Jul 11, 2009

Skylight is not really clear though, is it?

Doesn't it have a pinkish color to it?

Garbz · Jul 11, 2009

A lens cap won't protect you from a kids finger, from a tree branch, or one I put my camera and lenses in quite frequently, strong bursts of sand and salt water. Or what about when you can't use your hood because it interferes with the flash, or the focus assist light? 2 of my hoods are big enough to cause AF to fail in the dark because they block the light.

A lot of people shout from the roves, "It's another piece of glass on your lens, FEAR IT, FEAR IT."

To which I reply, Consider how many elements your lenses have. Glass elements which have been curved, bent, sanded, in all sorts of shapes and by all sorts of machines. Now do you really have so much to fear from a single piece of flat (i.e. far more easy to produce defect free) glass, that is much thinner than most lens elements?

People base their hate often on very cheap filters which do affect image quality quite a lot. But you get what you pay for.

As an engineer I would say do a test and make up your own opinion if the image quality is worth you potentially having a big scratch on your lens. Fortunately I have done such a test for you: http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...100830-more-hoya-filter-comparison-tests.html