To Filter.... or Not To Filter. That is the question.

TedG954

Senior Member
A lot of controversy as to whether or not to use a UV filter to protect the lens glass.

I understand that a bad filter could distort a picture. But, what about the constant cleaning/wiping of the lens glass? Won't that eventually damage the lens?

Wouldn't it be better to wear off the coating on a filter versus the lens glass?

Do you use a filter to protect your lens glass?


:confused:
 

J-see

Senior Member
I used an UV just once and got that horrible CA, I binned it. It was a cheap one but even so.

I only clean my lens when really needed, else I just blow off the dust and that's it.

Same with the in-cam sensor cleaning; very rarely. I'm of the opinion that as long as you don't see the problem, there's no reason to potentially add another problem.
 
Last edited:

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
I use UV filters on all my lenses except for the 14mm which can't hold one. It pays to use quality UV filters as some will degrade the image. The down side is the extra layer of glass means you might be prone to additional lens flare. At times I've had to remove mine to cut down on flare when the sun is in the frame.
 

Eyelight

Senior Member
Practice safe shooting. Always use protection unless you have a need for all the quality you can get.

I use clear protectors on the walk-arounds. I don't have one on the macro, but I keep the cap on when not shooting.

Tickles me to hear folks go on and on about IQ and then scrub their front element with the rubbing compound otherwise known as dust and humidity.
 

TedG954

Senior Member
Practice safe shooting. Always use protection unless you have a need for all the quality you can get.

I use clear protectors on the walk-arounds. I don't have one on the macro, but I keep the cap on when not shooting.

Tickles me to hear folks go on and on about IQ and then scrub their front element with the rubbing compound otherwise known as dust and humidity.


That's kinda what I'm getting at. When I go to the beach, my eyeglasses end up with a film of salt mist that requires cleaning. Whenever I would ride my motorcycle along A1A, the first thing I did when I got home was to hose off the salt film.

So, everytime I go shooting at the beach I have to vigorously clean my camera lens filter. Without the filter, I would suspect the grinding effect of debris on the lens glass. Any dust (city smog, etc.) would do the same.

Yet, when I research, many refuse to use a filter. All I'm looking for is real world advice based on experience; not a yea or nay battle. No one is forced to contribute.
 

480sparky

Senior Member
not_this_crap_again.jpg
 

AC016

Senior Member
I don't think there is a right or wrong answer with this one. Some people have strong believes against it, others just do it. All i can say is, buy a really good UV filter if you are going to use one. I used one for quite some time when i got my first DSLR. I put it on my 55-200mm to take photos of aircraft. In the end, there was slightly more contrast (sky was a tad bluer). Inspecting the photos by zooming in, i really did not see anything "unusual". I say, if you want to use one to protect your lens element, go for it. But, buy a good one.
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
Filter on all mine except the sigma 105mm macro, the front element is so far recessed i dont need a lens hood if i dont use a filter,plus i have since lost the lens hood :D
 

Moab Man

Senior Member
I do and don't. If I were at the beach, near the ocean, ABSOLUTELY! Salt is highly abrasive. But in general, I use one with the exception of a paid shoot or night photography.
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
That's kinda what I'm getting at. When I go to the beach, my eyeglasses end up with a film of salt mist that requires cleaning. Whenever I would ride my motorcycle along A1A, the first thing I did when I got home was to hose off the salt film.

So, everytime I go shooting at the beach I have to vigorously clean my camera lens filter. Without the filter, I would suspect the grinding effect of debris on the lens glass. Any dust (city smog, etc.) would do the same.

Although I haven't been to the shore in a long time, I still get stuff that sticks to the UV filter. A rocket blower can't always remove every piece of debris so I understand where you are coming from. I don't particularly like doing wet cleanings to my filters, but sometimes it is necessary.

This thread doesn't need to turn into a hot debate. All people need to do is to simply state the pros and cons of using UV filters and allow Ted to make an informed decision. ;)
 

TedG954

Senior Member
Although I haven't been to the shore in a long time, I still get stuff that sticks to the UV filter. A rocket blower can't always remove every piece of debris so I understand where you are coming from. I don't particularly like doing wet cleanings to my filters, but sometimes it is necessary.

This thread doesn't need to turn into a hot debate. All people need to do is to simply state the pros and cons of using UV filters and allow Ted to make an informed decision. ;)

Thank you.
 

carguy

Senior Member
Although I haven't been to the shore in a long time, I still get stuff that sticks to the UV filter. A rocket blower can't always remove every piece of debris so I understand where you are coming from. I don't particularly like doing wet cleanings to my filters, but sometimes it is necessary.

This thread doesn't need to turn into a hot debate. All people need to do is to simply state the pros and cons of using UV filters and allow Ted to make an informed decision. ;)
Of course it doesn't and shouldn't, but there are a few dead horses here with this subject name :)
 

Eyelight

Senior Member
I use filters to protect the front element from wear caused by cleaning. Glass and/or coatings are not so hard that they cannot be scratched. We are not talking about big scratches you can see, but microscopic. One could use proper cleaning techniques, but even then, repeated cleanings will soften the image over time. This is all fact and simply how things work.

Someone will argue that you can't see a big speck of dirt on the front element in the image, so microscopic scratches don't matter, but that doesn't mean both don't soften the image.

People's attitudes toward care of their glass this day and age makes me less likely to buy used.
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
That's kinda what I'm getting at. When I go to the beach, my eyeglasses end up with a film of salt mist that requires cleaning. Whenever I would ride my motorcycle along A1A, the first thing I did when I got home was to hose off the salt film.

So, everytime I go shooting at the beach I have to vigorously clean my camera lens filter. Without the filter, I would suspect the grinding effect of debris on the lens glass. Any dust (city smog, etc.) would do the same.

Yet, when I research, many refuse to use a filter. All I'm looking for is real world advice based on experience; not a yea or nay battle. No one is forced to contribute.
99% of the time I have a filter on my lenses. Not so much for impact damage, as is the common battle ground over whether to filter or not to filter but for some of the very reasons you point out and are often overlooked by the "You don't need a filter" crowd: there are other considerations *besides* impact damage. I shoot at the beach a lot and I shoot in the desert a lot.

Salt spray, bird poop (damn seagulls!) and what I call "beach schmutz" (if you shoot at the beach, you know what I'm talking about), is not something I want to be wiping off my front lens element... Ever. I just don't. It's not that I'm not all that concerned about damage, it's just a pain in the ass. So much easier to remove a filter, run it under warm water and dry it off. Hoya HD filters are amazingly easy to clean this way, it's like they're Teflon coated or something. Then of course there's shooting in the desert...

Desert sand is not like beach sand *at all*. Desert sand is talcum-powder like in consistency, gets EVERYWHERE, sticks to EVERYTHING and is delightfully abrasive. This too is not something I relish removing from the front lens element. All "need" aside, I just don't want to do that. I find it much easier to remove a filter and run it under water to clean it. Even if I don't have running water it's a heckuva lot easier to clean a filter in the car or in the field than it is, say, a big 70-300mm lens. And if something *does* go horribly wrong it goes wrong on $100 filter, not a lens costing eight or ten times as much.

Lastly, I shoot with CPL filter almost all of the time because I like the effect it has on my shots when shooting outdoors. There's a LOT of what I call "adverse reflective light" out there a CPL removes and I think it gives outdoor shots a sort of boost in saturation and clarity that you can't get any other way, including in post processing. It's kind of one of those things: you don't really notice it until you see it removed. All my lenses wear CPL's and only come off when they need to for specific situations. Once we're back to Situation Normal, the CPL goes back on.
.....
 

rocketman122

Senior Member
heres my POV on UV filters. theyre way over hyped and way overpriced. for a thin POS glass that may or may not have the amount of MC the MFR says, I simply use a middle range one (price wise) and be done with it. I personally dont touch hoya or tiffen. because tiffen is crap and hoya is counterfeited the most of any filter. I dont buy from a retail store and only from ebay. I dont like getting screwed and I dont feel one needs to pay so much for such a dumb thing from a retail store and prefer the discount from buying from ebay through a reputable seller who I know is legit. and I dont buy from asia. I only buy nikon NC filters. thats it. nothing else. all the rest is BS. you will not see any difference from buying any more expensive filters. you wont, forget it. btw with a simple spanner tool, one could easily remove the glass and just replace ti with a cheap no name piece and they would not know. the difference when using even the crappiest UV filter is so minute that putting in effort to choose one is wasted energy to me.

regarding wiping the lens element, you are correct. years back I had the 15mm sigma fisheye non DG and every wedding I would give the lens a wipe over. after 2 years the lens coating started to wear off and you could see it more and more.

I use a UV filter only for protection (dirt/impact) and for no other reason. it doesnt cut flare or haze or such. this is not film days.
[MENTION=13090]Horoscope Fish[/MENTION]-there would be no way id take my gear out to shoot in the desert. im notworried about sand getting in the front. im worried about it getting in the lens and into the body throught the air being vacuum pressured from the zooming. the front element is the least Id be worried about. I dont take my gear out in the rain in the snow, sandy conditions including the sea. never.
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
[MENTION=13090]Horoscope Fish[/MENTION]-there would be no way id take my gear out to shoot in the desert. im notworried about sand getting in the front. im worried about it getting in the lens and into the body throught the air being vacuum pressured from the zooming. the front element is the least Id be worried about. I dont take my gear out in the rain in the snow, sandy conditions including the sea. never.
Well where you choose to shoot is most certainly your choice and I fully respect that.

That being said, I would like to point out people have been shooting beaches and deserts for some time now and Nikon cameras have certainly endured far, far worse shooting conditions in the course of their history. If there were some inherent danger in taking shots at the beach, I think it would be common knowledge. It's true I don't treat my camera's like they Ming porcelain, that much is true, but neither do I feel I need to. Some of my past Nikons are testaments to Nikon durability; my trusty D40 rolled down rocky mountainsides (three times, total), was run over by a horse-drawn carriage, and got rained on a couple of times. I still have that D40, somewhere, and it still shoots like the day it was made. I shoot at the beach and at the desert without a worry, personally.

....
 
Top