UV Filter to the Rescue
There are a couple opinions on using UV or Skylight filters. Many photographers use them to protect their lenses, while an equal amount of shooters feel that it's counterproductive to put a "cheap piece of glass" in front of their expensive optics. I fall into the "protect my lens" camp.
My decision to use UV filters on my lenses paid off big time while I was on the shoot in Seattle. I had just made a lens change when my 24-105 rolled off my camera bag onto the slate floor. The lens hit the hard surface on its front edge. I expected the worse when I picked it up, but the lens cap and UV filter took the fall for the lens. I did a quick check to verify that focus was still intact and moved on with the shoot.
In retrospect, the $35 I spent on the filter paid for itself many times over with this single event. If I hadn't had the filter attached, the lens barrel would have taken the hit. At the very minimum I'd now be unable to attach filters, or worse the front element would've been damaged.
Now, off to pick up a replacement filter.
Canon 30D, Canon 50 f/1.8 lens - 1/60 second, f/1.8, ISO 400
2 Comments:
I fall firmly into the "protect your lens" camp and my workhorse wide-angle has been saved four times by filters taking the brunt of the "knock". $500-1000 lens? $50 filter? No contest.
The owner of a camera shop I visit once brought out a filter he used to explain to people just how important they could be. The glass was pulverized and there was a rubber strap wrench around it that was used to remove it from a rather expensive lens it had saved during a big fall.
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