Epiphany Report, or Am I doing the right thing by ditching filters for good?

[sjmurray]

<p>Obviously, some people photograph under extreme conditions and protective filters are important. Myself, I have been photographing people and landscapes since the 1960's (see my folders) and never used filters except for an occasional polarizing filter for "deepening" the sky. All my lenses are in pristine condition, even the ones from the 70's except for my original 1969 Nikkor 50mm f 1.4, which was assaulted by an errant sparkler during the bi-centennial fireworks in 1976. It suffered a blemish on the outer edge of the lens from a piece of burning sparkler, which never affected the image quality. It could have been in the center of the lens, which probably would have been worse. Other than that, I have never had any problems with damaged lenses and I rarely need to clean my lenses either. Maybe I just don't get out enough where the conditions are really harsh! </p>

[danielleetaylor]

<p>It should be pointed out that some lenses aren't fully 'weather proofed' without a front filter. The Canon 17-40 f/4L comes to mind.</p>

[Ed_Ingold]

<p>A filter is not necessarily a cheap piece of glass in front of a masterpiece of optical engineering. Do the math - a good (e.g., B+W filter) costs more than any single element of even a very expensive lense (e.g., 70-200 VR).</p>

<p>I put a protective filter on each of my working lenses, and a hood too. There are too many opportunities at events for a lens to be bumped by someone, another camera or against a piece of furniture. Children like to touch lenses and dogs like to lick them. If I have to scrub something, or it gets chipped or scratched, I'd rather it be something easily replaced.</p>

<p>The worst effect I find from filters is glare/flare, especially shooting toward the light. If I can't shade the lens properly (sometimes I use my hand), I have to remove the filter. I use a 55/2.8 AIS Micro a lot for landscapes because it is sharp and nearly flare-free - UNLESS you have a filter in place and the sun can strike it. Big zoom lenses don't need a filter to cause flare. Just about anything really bright in the field of view can cause flare - it's a matter of degree rather than kind.</p>

<p>I don't, as a rule, use filters with my Hasselblad gear, which is used mostly in solitude (studio or nature). It's a balance of risk vs benefits. If you don't strive for maximum image quality, medium format is a waste of time and money. Even so, it is flare not optics which affects that quality when you use filters.</p>

[indraneel]

<p>This is probably too late, but I'm just starting into UV photography. Removing lens coating seems to be a really tough job. It's really hard and resists chemicals. just don't rub sand on it.</p>