Filters for protection

Deleted

Senior Member
I hope to get some filters to protect my lenses. Aiming for the best quality I can, which would be preferable;

Hoya Pro1 Digital Protector
Hoya HD Filter Protector
Nikon NC Filter
No filter
 

Blacktop

Senior Member
I have a few filters that I use for long exposure photography, but never thought of them as a lens protector. I think that a lens hood protects more from banging into things. I could be wrong though.
 

Ruidoso Bill

Senior Member
I used UV filters in the past but more or less gave it up. I now only use filters for specific purposes ie variable nd etc. It began to make more sense when I was putting a $100 piece of glass in front of a $2500 piece of glass. I am careful and/but also well insured.
 

Rick M

Senior Member
I used UV filters in the past but more or less gave it up. I now only use filters for specific purposes ie variable nd etc. It began to make more sense when I was putting a $100 piece of glass in front of a $2500 piece of glass. I am careful and/but also well insured.

X2, plus my lenses came with caps to protect them. Cap on, cap off; I've enjoyed 40 years of free protection :).
 

Dave_W

The Dude
I use a clear glass filter 100% of the time when shooting near the ocean or in places with a lot of blowing dust. Not so much to protect the lens element from impact (which it might) but rather to keep it clean and away from the salty air. Seems to me that the less you have to touch that main element the better off you are. Be aware, however, that UV filters possess no advantage over clear glass filters since digital sensors do not suffer the same issues with UV that film does.
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
I'll buck the trend. I've got a filter on anything that will take it as I do a lot of walking through the woods and sticks can defeat lens hoods as they snap back and into the lens front. While I understand the reasons why not, I've purchased quality and honestly can't tell the difference with or without. That said, there are conditions where I will remove them (shooting into direct light, night shooting, studio settings). I've got a mix of Hoya, Marumi and Nikon UV/Clear.
 

Blacktop

Senior Member
I use a clear glass filter 100% of the time when shooting near the ocean or in places with a lot of blowing dust. Not so much to protect the lens element from impact (which it might) but rather to keep it clean and away from the salty air. Seems to me that the less you have to touch that main element the better off you are. Be aware, however, that UV filters possess no advantage over clear glass filters since digital sensors do not suffer the same issues with UV that film does.

Not living near an ocean I never thought about salt air causing problems for your lens.
 

Dave_W

The Dude
Not living near an ocean I never thought about salt air causing problems for your lens.

Surprisingly, just being near the ocean will leave a salty film on your gear and more so if you're down near to where the waves are breaking where the fine ocean spray covers you without even noticing it. At first I didn't think much about it until I saw the Allen nuts starting to rust on my tripod, after which I started wiping everything down with a damp cloth after each shoot. And while I don't think the salt would really hurt the glass, it is slightly easier to clean the filter than the lens element itself.
 

cwgrizz

Senior Member
Challenge Team
When shooting film I had UV filters on all of my lenses for the UV factor and for added protection I felt they added. Now just getting into DSLR, I went for the Nkon NC filters for the protection I feel they give. All opinion, but for me I'd rather have to replace a filter with scratches than a lens. Maybe a waste of money, but maybe not. It makes me feel good. Ha!
 

Deleted

Senior Member
Thank you all for your replies.

In my 35mm days, all my lenses had a Skylight or UV filter as a matter of course. I had Hoya filters on all my lenses. With Digital, I read that new cameras already compensate for UV light, so the purpose for that filter disappears. I read recently that camera retail shops will push filters for protection as they have a high profit margin on these items. It's why I'm not automatically going for filters this time around.

For landscapes, I live on an island, so will often be by the sea & for macro, I could be spraying a flower with water to get light through the droplets. This means that the lens could get fine spray on it which would mix with any fine dust particles & need it to be cleaned. Any night shots I take are most likely to be night skies.

It is easier to clean the convex surface of a lens than a filter, but it's less stressful cleaning a filter surface as it is much less expensive if damaged. I'm very careful with my equipment, so scratching is unlikely, although not impossible. I'd have thought that an impact would be just as likely as a scratch & a filter would be unlikely to help in an impact.

Regarding quality, I think that any additional item in front of the image will have an effect, but Hoya or Nikon is going to be good glass & I would tend to believe that it's much cheaper to build an optically good piece of flat glass, than it is to build a lens element.

The only quality issue I feel is ghosting when taking against a bright light source.

Reading back, I may have talked myself into filters for protection, but I have already changed my mind twice while writing this.
 
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