Well, I had a bit of an accident today...

I was packing my small carry bag (Lowepro) to take with to the Panthers game (they lost to the Calgary Flames) and my bag slipped out of my grip and well fell. And well, I heard a really unwanted "thud". Pick up the bag and hear a VERY unwanted ting-ting sound. ****!!!! PLEASE GOD NO!

So I unzip it and go about checking each lens (packed were my 11-16, 17-55 mounted on the 7D, and 70-200 f/4L IS, Vivitar Series1 7mm Fisheye).

First, the 70-200 f/4L IS, the tell-tale sound of broken glass? CHECK! Plus a jammed lens cap. Pry off the lens cap (which is kinda dented now), and find the filter popped... as expected. Shake out all the pieces (which for the most part stayed together) clear off any glass dust with the Rocket Air, then with a dry wipe wipe softly and then blow some more. No residue left, and no scratches to the front element... WIN #1 of the day.

Second, the 17-55 f/2.8 IS, shake shake shake? rattle rattle rattle... Take off the lens cap that got a bit dinged too. And another shattered filter. Blow, wipe, blow as before... and again... No Residue left, and no scratches to the front element... WIN #2 of the day.

Third, the 11-16, filter in tact.

The fisheye was sitting in its own pouch above the 11-16, so it didn't feel the impact.

Counting the filter that spared my front element back in April (First exhibition game at New Yankee Stadium against the Cubs), thats 3 filters that have spared me much costlier damage to my lenses.

You may or may not agree with "protective filters", but I do for these reasons.

But today's misadventure will cost me about $120 in filters to replace. I'm thinking I might try the HOYA HD's over my usual SuperHMC Pro1's simply for the harder glass.

-Alan

[/vent]

I'm glad to hear none of your lenses took a hit.

Next time: Hoya HD filter
http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=cT6wBQR7iqE

Better get your glass checked. It's kinda like a brain that got shook. haha. good to hear the win win situation

Shot both lenses tonight... I love my 70-200 f/4L IS for hockey.

That's a great ending to a scary story! Glad to hear the lenses are fine. I had a similar experience with my 200mm 2.8 a few years ago. I don't use UV filters, but I store lenses with the hoods on. The hood saved my 200mm from certain damage. Your story doesn't excatly make me want to buy UV filters, but it confirms my belief that keeping a hood on, even in storage is a good thing. Bottom line... you better have something you believe in to protect your lens in case of a fall!

Hobbes330i wrote in post #9551670
I'm glad to hear none of your lenses took a hit.

Next time: Hoya HD filter
http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=cT6wBQR7iqE

how much does that cost?

Packing lenses with hoods un-reversed is VERY wasteful of space. And very counterintuitive to packing light and small.

As for the prices of Hoya HD UV(0), Replacing a 67mm UV and a 77mm UV will run me about $120 for the pair.

First I'd like to say that I'm happy your gear is okay!

i don't necessarily believe that your filters protected your lens from any damage, lenses are much thicker and more dense then thin filters so I would think you just lost $120 in filters. your lenses were in the bag so they took the same impact either way, I would get them checked out as suggested. Not trying to be a downer or anything, I just don't think fragile filters are what people make them out to be, they do protect against things like sand and water which could damage the coating. Glad they everything is working though, I have never dropped my stuff I know I'd be panicking as well. lol

nureality wrote in post #9551625
Counting the filter that spared my front element back in April (First exhibition game at New Yankee Stadium against the Cubs), thats 3 filters that have spared me much costlier damage to my lenses.

You may or may not agree with "protective filters", but I do for these reasons.

But today's misadventure will cost me about $120 in filters to replace

Maybe it's time to give up the filters. I don't see how they did anything to help your lenses, but they certainly cost you a nice bit of money. It sounds like your lenses would have survived just fine without the filters, and you wouldn't have had to clean a bunch of broken glass off the lenses.

If anything, maybe you should be looking into getting a bag with more padding on the bottom, or look into adding some additional padding to your existing bag. That would have cushioned the impact without breaking anything, and without costing $120.

I don't know. I feel the energy of the impact got mostly disbursed by the shattering of the filters. These lenses were all loaded into the bag front-down. And it fell directly on the bottom.

I agree this particular bag needs more padding on the bottom.

It did give me a great idea for a camera bag design.

That's two wins in a row for the Calgary shames.

The plastic cap is probably capable of absorbing a lot more impact than the filter. It's even possible that the flexing of the cap itself is what caused the filter to break (due to the cap flexing into it).

Glass can't really absorb much impact, because it doesn't flex enough. It bounces if it's thick (think about dropping a marble on concrete) and shatters if it's thin (think about dropping a wine glass on the same concrete). The filter ring can absorb a little bit, but not enough to justify $120, especially since you can buy empty rings for about $5.

nureality wrote in post #9551786
Packing lenses with hoods un-reversed is VERY wasteful of space. And very counterintuitive to packing light and small.

As for the prices of Hoya HD UV(0), Replacing a 67mm UV and a 77mm UV will run me about $120 for the pair.

You're absolutely right, but it has saved a few lenses over the years.

It appears Vokoun had another great game tonight. Too bad Florida couldn't give him much support. If you ever have a chance to post any hockey photos, please do so, I'd like to see them.

glad your gear are safe!
am so getting the HD filter also!

A different story with a different outcome...I had my film SLR with 35-70mm zoom mounted, camera slung over my shoulder as I am scrambling about an old German castle on the Rhine. In a narrow area, I pivot to go somewhere, the camera swings out on the strap, the lens hits the adjacent wall on the leading edge where the filter is mounted. The filter is not broken, but the zoom mechanism has been damaged so that the lens has a limited range of FL selectable. Off goes the lens to the manufacturer's service shop. The filter did nothing except transfer the force to the lens zoom mechanism, protecting nothing.

Moral...the filter is NOT 'protection'. Sometimes it breaks, sometimes it does not break, sometimes the lens is fine, but sometimes the lens is NOT fine, even when a filter was in place!!!