What filter to protect my camera lens?

Have a zoom lens on my DLSR Nikon camera, and after a 72mm filter to simply protect the lens … is a Skylight the one to go for? And then there’s 1a and 1b … aghhh! Any recos please – thanks!

Standard answer is UV, but there is is controversy over whether or not there’s any point.

Or a just a protection filter. Spend at least £50 or don’t bother.

I just use the lenshood to protect the lens.

OK, so a top notch one (£50!) is necessary to avoid it compromising pics? Otherwise, just be careful?!

Lens hood/lens cap, and clean it when it needs cleaning. Why spend hundreds on good glass, then another 30 to degrade its optical quality?

You have to try really really hard to find any trace of image degradation on normal quality kit, with a standard cheap filter.

I use B&W fiters. Have saved my lens from a drop once already…

For optimum image quality, any extra piece of glass will ultimately have a detrimental effect, but in the real world, unless you are shooting in certain tricky lighting situations with flare/side lighting, or with very small apertures, or doing macro work, you won’t notice any difference whatsoever. I have a 72mm ‘skylight’ filter on the front of one of my lenses, that’s scratched to buggery, and my pictures come out pin-sharp. The filter is well away from the focussing element, so any tiny scratches won’t matter. Scratches on the front lens element, however, can have a far greater effect on image quality (that said, I have a telephoto with a tiny chip on the front element, and it’s perfectly fine). It’s good to protect the front element, especially if you’ll be in places with dust/sand/grit etc flying about. And a filter helps reduce the amount of cleaning of the front element, which over time gradually degrades the lens coating

More expensive filters will have better quality glass, but really, unless you’re really really anal and like shooting test charts and spending hours doing side by side comparisons, even some cheapo Jessops filters are fine.

I use B&W fiters. Have saved my lens from a drop once already…

Hmm. a thin bit of glass isn’t going to add much impact protection at all. What they’re good for is protection from dust – if you’re shooting on a beach they’re a good idea, and a good brand like B+M is worth it.

Otherwise, not much point. And take them off before you put the lens away – I know of cases where a small impact has broken the filter, then the lens cap has held the broken bits against the lens while the camera bag jiggles. Trashed a lens that would have been fine otherwise.

With my tele I got spots on the image (flare) when indoors with a bare frosted light bulb in the frame.

Have saved my lens from a drop once already…

Hmm. a thin bit of glass isn’t going to add much impact protection at all

Friend dropped his. Filter ring is Alu, which will bend just a fraction. Then you have a lens with a smashed filter, and all the glass dust cleaning that goes with it, and a bent filter ring jammed on the end of the lens.
Think he did manage to separate them eventually, but things like dremels were discussed. Technically the filter may have saved the end of the lens, or then again may have made it worse.

Hmm. a thin bit of glass isn’t going to add much impact protection at all

I once accidentally bashed an expensive lens into a metal railing. The filter smashed, but once I’d carefully removed all the glass (a hoover is very useful here) and the metal ring, the front of the lens was 100% fine.

A filter is a few quid to replace. A lens can cost hundreds if not thousands.

As for types of filter; ‘skylights’ are a throwback to film days, where they helped compensate for the slight bluish cast seen in outdoor photography (the fliters are slightly pinky). White balance does away with the need for any compensation now though. UV filters help slightly reduce UV haze in landscape photography. A polariser can help produce dramatic blue skies if used carefully, reduce reflections and help saturate colours a bit more. You’ll probably need a circular rather than a linear polariser in order for your AF to work though.

I bash my lenses about all the time – I’ve never chipped a front element. I’ve badly dinged metal hoods, though – so that’s probably the protective effect, the metal ring not the glass filter.

I got Hoya Pro filters.

The lens I chipped, didn’t have a filter on at the time. The same impact would have merely chipped the filter. The lens is now virtually ‘worthless’ in terms or resale value.

dont bother it’s what insurance is for.

You have to try really really hard to find any trace of image degradation on normal quality kit, with a standard cheap filter.

My experience is that you have to try really really hard to find any trace of image degradation on an expensive filter.

A cheap filter is easy. Just point the camera at a light source.

There is a whole range between cheap and expensive of course, but I don’t think you’d know what you were getting until you tried it.

dont bother it’s what insurance is for.

What policy do you have?

Mine is Aaduki, and I think the excess is only 10%. No idea if it covers accidental damage though.

What policy do you have?

i have a policy with a specialist broker (williamson carson) as i need employers and public liability too, and sometimes need a higher limit if shooting on locations where 2million isnt enough cover.
costs about £650 for 20k of kit plus the employers and public and 2k of goods in trust.
excess is £150 but £500 from an unattended locked vehicle but no cover if locked overnight in a vehicle (im cool with that)

if you try and get employers and public liability for a photographer from a non-speciallist insurer the quotes are near 1k before you get to the equipment!

owned lots of lenses, never used a clear filter, never smashed a lens, it’s laptops that i tend to break on location.

Most damage I’ve ever done was dropping my camera off a crane*:

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Put a nice ding in the top of the camera, and snapped the mount off the lens, so a £200 repair job from Sigma. The camera is still fine, and it’s quite cool with a battle scar 😉

Not right off a crane – about 6ft down onto a sharp edge on a platform.

i have a policy with a specialist broker (williamson carson) as i need employers and public liability too, and sometimes need a higher limit if shooting on locations where 2million isnt enough cover.
costs about £650 for 20k of kit plus the employers and public and 2k of goods in trust.
excess is £150 but £500 from an unattended locked vehicle but no cover if locked overnight in a vehicle (im cool with that)

Mine is pretty much identical bar the liability stuff. Costs £220/year for £15k of kit.

costs about £650

Whereas a filter can cost £30 or so, and most people won’t have lenses costing more than £650, so saying ‘dont bother it’s what insurance is for’ is a bit stupid really for most folk.

I’ve always found Hoya to be very good, and use Nikon and B+W filters which are expensive but perhaps have ‘superior’ coatings to help reduce flare, improve colour transmission etc. Law of diminishing returns though, as with most things. And lot’s of marketing waffle.

Mine is pretty much identical bar the liability stuff. Costs £220/year for £15k of kit.

like i said public and employers is usually more than that plus theres legal representation, cover in europe, plus data recovery in there too. the fact its my job means it’s always going to be more.
it’s good value considering the amount of cover

most people won’t have lenses costing more than £650

i don’t have any that cost less than that.
a filter doesn’t protect your camera body or the rest of the lens so for me insurance is a more effective solution, i’m sure not having insurance and trusting a thin piece of glass works for some people.

Just realised the picture didn’t link….
Anyway, the B&W skylight filter was trashed, but my lens was perfect. As mentioned by others the ring took the brunt. This was a 3′ fall from a kitchen counter onto tile. Lens first but in a case… 😯

Have people considered that it might just be that the filter glass breaks but the lens glass doesn’t?

Its no proof that the filter saved the lens, just that it broke.

I do not want to put a cheap piece of glass in front of a very expensive lens – what is the point?

Keep the lens cap on when not shooting and don’t drop your camera…

Cheers

Danny B

like i said public and employers is usually more than that plus theres legal representation, cover in europe, plus data recovery in there too. the fact its my job means it’s always going to be more.
it’s good value considering the amount of cover

Yep, mine is worldwide, which is why I got it. Just in case I get mugged abroad eg wandering around Rome with £7k hanging around my neck….

Its no proof that the filter saved the lens, just that it broke.

It would be going back to canon after a drop like that to check for de-centering or other alignment issues and to have the lens mount checked (they are designed to break there to avoid damage to the camera or optics)

i don’t have any that cost less than that.

Bully for you. 🙄

Using a filter has saved me from having to claim on my household insurance, and increased future premiums. Think I’ll stick with what works for me thanks.

I do not want to put a cheap piece of glass in front of a very expensive lens – what is the point?

Fine if you work in a studio with little or no risk, but a situation like a riot, with all manner of debris and liquids being thrown around, and you might find a cheap piece of glass can help save your very expensive lens from being damaged. Just common sense to use them, in my experience. And all the photojournalists I’ve known have used filters. But less dramatically; sand, dust and various liquids are all things a photographer (whatever level) might encounter, so why not use one? As already stated; the ‘degradation’ of image quality is so small as to be negligible, if you use a decent filter. Which would cost around £30-50. Don’t know why some get their knickers in a twist over such a thing really.

i don’t like the flare they give, i sometimes deliberately use flare and a big flat piece of glass doesn’t behave in the same was as aspherics do. if i shot press/weddings/riots/weddings that involve fights i guess they are handy.

i’m surprised you use household insurance for paid shooting of weddings. are you even covered? what about public liability?

i’m surprised you use household insurance for paid shooting of weddings. are you even covered? what about public liability?

You don’t have to be covered, although if I was doing commercial work, I’d make sure I was esp Weddings, can’t think of anything more stressful with the potential to go tits up.