Protection filter Yes or No

I'm with Stefan. I only use ND & polarising filters because of the effect. Lens hoods provide enough protection if you ask me.

Spend the money you'd spend on filters on photographic insurance instead. Then you'll have the best IQ & peace of mind.

As one who started with an ME Super and a 50mm F2 'kit' lens, I have generally put a skylight on my lenses. In those days, lenses came without a hood. If it did have one, it was a built in one (such as the smc 135mm F3.5) and was OK for shading the lens but no good at protecting it. The skylight has a slight warming effect, and its popularity may also be a reflection of the quality of film most of use used in the 80's.

I haven't added filters to new lenses as a rule as the hoods that come with them in most case will do a good job of preventing accidental bangs and scrapes to the front glass.

I doubt if there is a substantive case for skylight or a UV filter but old habits die hard, myths wane slowly and as a concequence Hoya et all are still knock them out in good quantities.


Steve

Genius...

Wise indeed.

Also worth bearing in mind that if you buy older glass a filter worthy of the rest of the lens will probably end up costing you at least 50% of the lens purchase price!

I've never scratched a filter or a front element yet, my favoured lenses for walkabout use are neither rare nor expensive so I'll take the risk.

Well I would suggest you keep a filter on your lens at ALL times, you can remove it to take photos, I have had a disaster on my M28 lens, I was sorting out my lenses last week for selling and for some reason my lens cap had come off, It must have happened while rummaging through my bag, anyway there is now a scratch on the front element and I don't know how it happened but I would say this is I good reason for using filters.

Jack.

Oh wait I forgot to show my standard video
Yeah a lens scratch easily link
If you would do the same with a filter on you would smash the filter into sharp little shards which would do a lot of damage.
I believe it was Mike or Daniel that was so unlucky

I can't tell any difference between shots with or without a skylight filter, in terms of iq. And mine originate from the bargain bin at my local camera shop - they aren't fancy.

However, i've seen enough to convince me that a broken filter can cause a lot of damage, whereas a hood will provide some protection and also potentially improve iq.

I might use a filter for protection by the sea, or in a situation where I was perpetually wiping the front element tho.

Not me, Gartmore I believe.

I was in Cameraworld in Chelmsford a couple of weeks ago, and a gentlemen came in to ask about a new lens as the one he had was so soft, and he thought a newer version with image stabilisation might be better.

I did a few test shots with it, camera on the desktop, pointing at some text on camera boxes 20 feet away, and it was barely readable wide open, but somewhat better stopped down to f/11.

After a bit of head-scratching and more test shots, we noticed there was a Jessops UV filter on the front. Took that off and the lens was far sharper wide open than it was stopped down with the filter on. Saved him the cost of a new lens.

Dan

Me indeed, the lens rolled off the top of my bag and fell about eight inches onto a carpeted floor and the filter smashed all over the front element causing quite a bit of scratching. If the filter hadn't been there there would have been no damage. Front element glass is much much thicker than a filter.

I do use UVs for protection in hostile environments from sea spray and sand for example. I once saw a very expensive lens (£5000) damaged by salt water spray).

All my filters are Pentax SMC ones or Hoya Pro-1 MC for the larger sizes that Pentax didn't do. I have never been aware of any IQ loss when using them.

If you use AWB then any 'colour' from a Skylight will be removed by the camera.

The point of using these filters is to cut aerial haze and this is most noticeable with long telephotos so I can see no point in using them with anything else

I have a policy with 'Key Connect' which is my home contents insurance but also all my camera gear is insured wherever I take it. Came in very handy when I dropped my GX-1S and DA*50-135 (OK, the last one was my wife's fault!).

It costs me about £12 a month, and they are great to deal with.