Photography Thailand Forum

[Marc Schultz]

We have had discussions on here about the use of protective filters on lenses and the downsides. I think we came to the general conclusion that it is good to have a clear glass filter on the lens to protect it, but that the best policy is to remove the filter when shooting, as long as you are not in a shooting situation where you risk the front of the lens getting wet or damaged. Often we have hoods over our lenses as well, which offers a lot of protection too. So most of the time a protective filter is not needed when shooting. Also, I don't think there is any need for any UV protection, which many of the protective filters offer as well and could affect colors and contrast. Meanwhile, I just bought a very inexpensive clear glass protective filter made by a company called JYC. The filters says it is made in Japan on the filter ring, but according to the manufacturers web site, the company is in China and manufactures their products in China:

http://www.jyc-hk.com/html/company.html

What also is important when it comes to protective filters is that, if you are using a wide angle lens, that you get a protective filter which has a very thin frame so that you don't get any vignetting in your pictures caused by the filter. The JYC Pro1-D super slim wide band filters are some of the thinnest framed protective filters I have seen. So they are perfect for wide angle lenses. The reviews I have read from people on the internet have been mixed about the quality of the glass of these filters, but I basically plan to remove the filter when I am shooting and just to keep it on for general protection. In any event, when shooting with lenses that are 24mm or wider, I always suggest using a thin frame filter to avoid vignetting. I also can pretty much assure you with these filters you will not encounter any vignetting problems because of the thinness of the frame. On average they cost about $15 each, so quite a good value as well and they are simply clear glass with no UV coating.



Specifications:

    * Ultra-thin glass: 1mm (same class as Hoya/Kenko Pro1-D series)
    * Filter frames: 3mm
    * Materials: optical glass and anodized aluminum metal

[Gregg Spradling]

nice information Marc. Finding good information about filters tends to not be a simple task like lens info. Thanks for the info.

I assume that when in bad conditions such as sand, water, etc.. you will use this filter to shoot with?

I don't use filters because none of my current lenses are worth much (and the same reasons you pointed out), but if I get some nice L glass, I will have one just for protection.

[Marc Schultz]

Your welcome Gregg. I just want to clarify though that I am not saying that this brand of filters is particularly good quality in terms of the glass elements. They are not coated or anything it seems, but just for protective purposes they are a good, inexpensive, thin, and light weight solution.

Yes, you are right, situations like sand, water, dust, etc is when I would shoot with the filter on.

[bkkdave]

I do not use protective filters. I occasionally use a circular polarizing filter when the subject is at a 90 degree angle to the sun; other than that I just keep my lens hood on the lens; and all of my glass is rather expensive. When I could not afford better glass; I always kept it covered but now I have changed my mind and do not use any protective covering other than a lens hood which I feel offers adequate protection unless I intend to cover a BB or Pellet Gun Contest.

[Marc Schultz]

Makes good sense Jim. I still like having the option of being able to protect the top lens element in certain situations. I think there is still a good argument in favor of trying to protect the lens. I prefer not to take such risks, especially with wide angle lenses where the hood offers little or no protection. On long telephoto lenses over 100mm the hood offers a lot more protection. 

[bkkdave]

Last year at this time when all of the civil unrest was prevalent I was out and about taking images from both sides of the conflict. I choose to not cover my lenses so that I could possibly capture the best images possible according to my ability. It was just an individual decision on my part and I am not saying this is what others should do. If a sniper decided to take out my lens then I felt nothing would help anyway. If the situation were different; with water or sand or both blowing around, then of course I would cover the glass.

I like to shoot when the opportunity arises because I feel I may not get a second chance, and removing a filter before the shot is not an option I would like to consider.

[Khun Hans]

As I explained before I'm not using any filter beside pol and ND. Did not see the need for protection except the lens hood. Nevertheless will I think about your idea to protect with clear glass filters only in extreme situations.
Hans

[Marc Schultz]

As I mentioned, on most wide angle zooms or prime lenses wider than a 30mm focal length, the lens hood offers very little protection at all. On the new 24mm shift lens I bought, the hood may be able to block a little bit of side light from causing lens flair, but it certainly wont protect the top lens element from getting scratched or damaged by foreign objects. Also, the lens face is 82mm wide, so it is a very big wide target that can easily be damaged as well. As you can see in the photo below, the hood offers no protection to the lens element at all really and many wide angle lens hoods are the same.

[bkkdave]

Marc,

Your point is well taken in connection with the wide angle lenses. Sometimes things happen that are not planned. I was shooting a mountain bike race and needed to move quickly; grabbed my backpack, and the A2 body with the 70-200 L fell out because the back was not closed. Luckily the hood was attached as well as a Circular Polarizer. The lens hood absorbed most of the shock and the filter cracked. An expensive Heiiopan filter was ruined but a more expensive lens was saved.

Btw, that is a good looking lens!

[Marc Schultz]

The lens is quite versatile as well. See the video demo here:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/mbHYhHZeceM" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/mbHYhHZeceM</a>

[Khun Hans]

It is just a marvelous lens with a lot of different applications. And BTW you can use as an excellent 24mm WA lens .
Hans