Protective filters

[pedaes]

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I know there are split opinions on the benefit or need for a protective filter, but a well known dealer in Scotland is listing a 24mm Summilux with this description "Cosmetic scratch marks to front element this shouldn't effect the optical quality of lens". Probably will not be visible in images, but confirms to me why I have a filter on my lenses. Would you take a chance with a lens of this price?

[IWC Doppel]

I hate protective filters, the number of times I had flare with my M8 was enough to put me off. Plus there is degradation however small and that seems silly to me when hoods protect perfectly well. Plus small marks make no difference, I have yet to see any analysis of small scratch no filter plus perfect and filter but I suspect the former still wins

[pgk]

I always leave UVa filters on my lenses and judging by the amount of marks I have to (try to) remove, its well worthwhile. Nobody has convinced me that they can see the difference between with and without a thin UVa so I'm sticking with keeping one on all my lenses.

[kokoshawnuff]

A small scratch on the front element will increase the likelihood and incidence of flare, but then again so will a filter...though the only flare I ever have issues with when I have a B+W MRC clear filter attached is at night with bright lights at certain angles.

 

I always hear that a good hood will protect a lens just as well as a filter, but its just not true under many theoretical instances. Firstly not all leica hoods are rigid and deep; think of the Summilux ASPH. Secondly what if you are walking with your camera hanging from a shoulder and it swings into a branch...it doesn't matter what hood you have on your camera a branch can easily fit in the 39mm-55mm openings of leica lenses, directly striking the front element.

 

Many people use good filters without incidence, and it is something that ca put your mind at ease. I have all my lenses fully insured for any kind of loss, theft, or damage...but its a p.i.t.a. to go through trying to replace of repair your lens

[IWC Doppel]

Oh, I never wear the camera around my neck, I'm way too clumsy for that it stays in my hand with finger loops to stop me dropping it.

 

I can happily walk like this for hours at a time and the camera remains in standby, if the action interest isn't around ill pop back in the 'man bag' with my wallet n phone.

 

In three years using this method I haven't damaged anything yet, nearly dropped it three times but that loops worked and I'm known for being clumsy !

[MarkP]

I always use filters (and lens hoods) during the day (Leica or B+W), and sometimes at night depending on how critical is the work and my concern about further reflections.

 

The filters give me peace of mind from dust, dirt and scratches. I can avoid taking lens caps, and I'm comfortable cleaning filters with my t-shirt if I don't have a lens cloth with me.

 

True the hoods do more to protect the lens than a filter, and a filter can only do so much. There have been quite a few times where I believe the filter has protected the front lens element from damage. I have yet to be convinced that I've ever taken a daytime photograph that has been compromised by having a protective filter fitted.

[james.liam]

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The quandary that has launched a thousand threads.

 

Are you ready to drop 1/2 the price of the lens when the front element is nicked by a mysterious pebble strike? If the lens is a business expense, it's the cost of doing business I guess.

[rramesh]

I think its a no-brainer. Use the lens with a good filter. Its good protection. If you do need to use the lens without a filter and you think its safe, it's just a couple of screw turns away.

[semi-ambivalent]

The quandary that has launched a thousand threads.

 

Are you ready to drop 1/2 the price of the lens when the front element is nicked by a mysterious pebble strike? If the lens is a business expense, it's the cost of doing business I guess.

 

Indeed. Remember the person in Scotland was not using the lens, he was selling it, and a different calculus comes into play. That is why he said "shouldn't" and not "won't". Smart man.

 

There's lots of pages on the 'net showing the performance of lenses with scratched elements; it's amazing what you can get away with without notice. And I have seen one comparison with five skylight filters stacked on a 35mm f/1.4 Nikkor and at 100% you had to really work the center of the field to see any difference at all (I happened to guess correctly). The eventual buyer and he will agree at some point and strike a price. The lens's performance, at that moment, is almost irrelevant.

 

s-a

[Bill W]

I am in the group that uses a filter 99% of the time. Its may be that some marks do not influence a photo but if you are buying a used lens are you going to buy the one that says "a few marks but they do not..." or the one that says "always had a filter on it from day one". I would guess you would get more when selling your lens if it has had a filter on it. Just my $.02 worth.

[TomB_tx]

I've collected quite a number of old cameras and lenses off eBay in the last several years, and the lenses that have had filters (or come with them installed) tend to be in much better shape, so I look for that in descriptions. That tells me that in the long-term filters are a benefit - or at least that those who bother with protective filters take better care of their equipment.

Of course, most of the filters attached to these are before multicoating or are cheap, and you can certainly see ghost reflections under certain lighting; so I discard them.

[tobey bilek]

I had a Leica uv stick on my 50 Elmar M today. Stuck HARD. And I never tighten it.

I turn it in until it stops and use no force, nothing, ever. Both are sllver chrome.

 

It came of when I resorted to tape and channel locks. It took quite a bit of force and there is no place to apply counter rotational torque on that lens. Is a mystery how it got that way.

 

Filter threads will get some lube.

[algrove]

Tobey-

 

Had that happen while in the Miami Leica store and was changing out my UVa for an ND. No one could loosen it, so David Farkas put in the freezer for 5 minutes. He took it out and the filter came off like soft butter. Amazing to me, but it worked.

[rramesh]

Try this. As a matter of discipline, unscrew your filter a fraction of a turn before storing away your lens. Tighten only when the lens is mounted on the camera.

[tobey bilek]

Good ideas for future. I have a feeling chrome on chrome does not work well.