Thread: SLR lens filters

Opinions amongst DV's amateur photographers on the use of protective filters in front of camera lenses? I'm not really interested in any of the artistic applications of filters (coloured lenses, polarized lenses, etc.) at the moment, although they can certainly be discussed.

I'm a bit of a purist, so I'd hate to put any unnecessary glass between the subject and the sensor. Then again I'm quite paranoid about nicks and damaging the lens coatings... surely the lens hood and my usual careful handling alone would do a good enough job of protecting the lens, but... Also the good clear filters are quite expensive, so it's not just an issue of image quality loss.

Thoughts?

A lens filter can be nice if you're shooting in situations, where not getting stuff on the lens is nearly impossible. Shooting on a beach on a hot day is extremely difficult for example, without getting sand on there. However, if you do mostly portraits in doors and handle your camera nicely, a filer is not that important.

Thanks Marvo. What would you suggest for a protective lens with the lowest optical impact on the image? I heard good things about the Nikon neutral clear lenses, UV lenses seem kind of useless since the sensor is already protected against UVs.

UV filters are pretty cheap, around $10 in most sizes, I think. I'm not sure about purely protective filters, though I'd imagine they're even cheaper. I can't really suggest a brand, though anything should work really. When you buy lenses, you want to right brands, but with filters you don't have to be quite as careful with who you buy from, unless you're get a polarizing lens of course.