What do you think?

Hey guys,

Since starting photography as a hobby, I have been a die hard anti-filter kind of guy. However, since buying my first heaping chunk of L glass I'm starting to get a little nervous. When not in use, the cap is always on and the hood never leaves the lens. I don't want a huge amount of degradation in IQ, but I also want to keep my front element flawless. If you know of a good 67mm protection filter please let me know. Or, if you think the lens should go naked, justify why.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Benjamin

Keep the hood on it and you should be fine. Get a CPL/ND filter(s) for it and use them when you need them. If you're shooting in dusty conditions, a good (B+W is good) UV filter is a good choice. You can read reams of text here on filters and IQ.

rick_reno wrote in post #13573368
Keep the hood on it and you should be fine. Get a CPL/ND filter(s) for it and use them when you need them. If you're shooting in dusty conditions, a good (B+W is good) UV filter is a good choice. You can read reams of text here on filters and IQ.

That's the reply I was looking for. Thanks for the advice.

Jon's advice

From this site:

https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1024244

Jon nails it!

(After working at photography for a long, long time--I was carrying bags out to the car. Had a small Billingham bag on my shoulder. The strap slipped; bag hit the concrete porch. It took out the B&W filter I had on the zoom lens. First, and I hope last time! Could have been so much worse. I have a Domke pad on that strap now. And I *try* and remember to loop it over my head. Old work habits die hard. Or--can't teach this old dog new tricks. )
ps I bought another B&W filter.

2mnycars wrote in post #13573411
From this site:

https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1024244

Jon nails it!

(After working at photography for a long, long time--I was carrying bags out to the car. Had a small Billingham bag on my shoulder. The strap slipped; bag hit the concrete porch. It took out the B&W filter I had on the zoom lens. First, and I hope last time! Could have been so much worse. I have a Domke pad on that strap now. And I *try* and remember to loop it over my head. Old work habits die hard. Or--can't teach this old dog new tricks. )
ps I bought another B&W filter.

Perfect! Thanks for the link

Hoods have served as 'bumpers' to deflect the lens itself from striking a hard surface. But there are also photos on POTN of lenses which were BROKEN IN TWO because the hood served as a lever arm to break the lens in half!
'Protection''?...right​.

Filters have seemed to serve as 'bumpers' to deflect the lens itself from striking a hard surface. But I also have personally experienced a filter being totally undamaged while it fully transferred the force to the zoom mechanism of my lens, jamming it and preventing it from zooming across the range of FL until it was repaired!
'Protection'?...right.

Hoods were invented to reduce FLARE, they should be used for that purpose. Filters were invented to optically modify light, they should be used for that purpose.

Filters are not an ALWAYS or NEVER thing, they are 'as needed' in concept. The only other purpose that I will use filters (besides optical modification) is to prevent salt spray and blowing sand/grit from striking the front element of my lens at the beach or on a windy day in a sandy area. I already know they are NOT bumpers!

Always buy and use only high quality muticoated filters; remove even these filters in optically demanding circumstances... one example is photographing candle flames in a dark room. Page 2 of this link shows an optically demanding circumstance where even a high quality filter has observable harmful effect on the shot. http://www.kenandchris​tine.com/gallery/10543​87_ucZqa/1
Never bother with bargain filters, as they certainly will optically degrade your photos in ALL circumstances.

Wilt wrote in post #13573545
Hoods have served as 'bumpers' to deflect the lens itself from striking a hard surface. But there are also photos on POTN of lenses which were BROKEN IN TWO because the hood served as a lever arm to break the lens in half!
'Protection''?...right​.

Filters have seemed to serve as 'bumpers' to deflect the lens itself from striking a hard surface. But I also have personally experienced a filter being totally undamaged while it fully transferred the force to the zoom mechanism of my lens, jamming it and preventing it from zooming across the range of FL until it was repaired!
'Protection'?...right.

Hoods were invented to reduce FLARE, they should be used for that purpose. Filters were invented to optically modify light, they should be used for that purpose.

Filters are not an ALWAYS or NEVER thing, they are 'as needed' in concept. The only other purpose that I will use filters (besides optical modification) is to prevent salt spray and blowing sand/grit from striking the front element of my lens at the beach or on a windy day in a sandy area.

Always used only high quality muticoated filters; remove even these filters in optically demanding circumstances... and example is photographing candle flames in a dark room. Page 2 of this link shows an optically demanding circumstance where even a high quality filter has observable harmful effect on the shot. http://www.kenandchris​tine.com/gallery/10543​87_ucZqa/1
Never bother with bargain filters, as they certainly will optically degrade your photos in ALL circumstances.

Very detailed and thorough answer. I appreciate it!

Quality filters in order of preference:

B+W MRC, Hoya S-HMC
Hoya HD
Hoya Pro1 Digital, Hoya HMC

Avoid: Tiffen, Canon, Nikon, Hoya 'blue box' and 'green box', B+W non-MRC, most 'store brand'

Thanks Wilt. Add--I've found I have to be careful with Nikon filters....talking distortion and glass faults.
That's why I have B&W now.

Best,

Sigh... I wish one of the mods would consolidate all the protective filter threads together in one sticky and we could just divert all these new threads that pop on the matter weekly to that sticky and close these threads. Im all for helping those that dont know or havent made their decision yet, but man, this topic wont go away.

ben_r_ wrote in post #13574016
Sigh... I wish one of the mods would consolidate all the protective filter threads together in one sticky and we could just divert all these new threads that pop on the matter weekly to that sticky and close these threads. Im all for helping those that dont know or havent made their decision yet, but man, this topic wont go away.

My apologies

I have this (B+W MRC f-pro 77mm) and the 67mm. Tested indoor and outdoor shots and no difference on picture quality. Wish I made a comparison test thread about it, but I got too lazy.

On a side note though, if theres a direct light towards the lens/filter from the place that you shooting (i.e. sun, candle, or any source of bright light), you have to remove the filter because it WILL create a glare.

edit: I kept mine on the lens all the time (better safe than sorry), other than the mentioned circumstances above and when using modified filters like CPLs and NDs.

sil40sx wrote in post #13574219
I have this (B+W f-pro) and a 67mm. Tested indoor and outdoor shots and no difference on picture quality. Wish I made a comparison thread about it, but I got too lazy.

On a side note though, if theres a direct light or ray towards the lens/filter from the place that you shooting (i.e. sun, candle, or any source of bright light), you have to remove the filter because it WILL create a glare.

Interesting. Thanks for the reply.

ben_r_ wrote in post #13574016
Sigh... I wish one of the mods would consolidate all the protective filter threads together in one sticky and we could just divert all these new threads that pop on the matter weekly to that sticky and close these threads. Im all for helping those that dont know or havent made their decision yet, but man, this topic wont go away.

You might consider how many threads on "Which Tripod" your tripod sticky hasn't averted before you complain about filter threads. We have filter stickies, as linked earlier in this thread.

Jon wrote in post #13574962
You might consider how many threads on "Which Tripod" your tripod sticky hasn't averted before you complain about filter threads. We have filter stickies, as linked earlier in this thread.

Man... youre def right about that... Even with the sticky we still see them all the time. There must be SOME way to divert the traffic to the stickies instead. Or, perhaps many threads on the same beaten topics is just the nature of the beast.