Is a brand new lens filter supposed to be pristine?

Sorry for the somewhat dumb question, but this is the first lens filter I've ever purchased. I bought a brand new one, a B + W 49mm UV filter I purchased for protection on my X100s. When I got it and checked it out, there were some stubborn dust flecks on it. It didn't look obviously used or anything, but at the same time wasn't pristine and spotless. Is this normal?

Dust is going to happen with new or used. Dusts are everywhere. Clean it and enjoy it.

Sounds perfectly fine. Once it is mfg'd. it's not in a "Clean Room" environment. Photography, not surgery.

The Dark Knight wrote in post #16740279
Sorry for the somewhat dumb question, but this is the first lens filter I've ever purchased. I bought a brand new one, a B + W 49mm UV filter I purchased for protection on my X100s. When I got it and checked it out, there were some stubborn dust flecks on it. It didn't look obviously used or anything, but at the same time wasn't pristine and spotless. Is this normal?

I've purchased about 30 b+w filters new. About 1/5th of them came dirty and a couple really really dirty. I've returned one because it was just too dirty. All of them had the seal on top intact but you probably noticed the bottom can be opened without breaking the seal. The remaining 4/5 were completely clean with no visible dust.

All filters came from Samys (a brick and mortar store), amazon, adorama, or bh. I'll let u draw your own conclusions about what happened.

If I was paying top $$ for a B &W I'd like it clean. If it's all removable by an air blower fine but if it takes more than that I'd make an inquiry of the vendor.

At least that's all you had to deal with. A couple of years back I bought a filter set off Amazon and when it arrived one of the filters had come out of its plastic case and was just rattling around in the box.

dave63 wrote in post #16748659
At least that's all you had to deal with. A couple of years back I bought a filter set off Amazon and when it arrived one of the filters had come out of its plastic case and was just rattling around in the box.

lol. Reminds me how I received a couple of hard drives from them. They were supposed to be "frustration free packaging"..... this included just being thrown into one large box with 2 air packages. They were just flopping around in the box....

I also once had to send a B+W filter back. It had a strange spot on the glass that I could not get rid of.

Send it back and get a refund! There is no need for "protection". See Sticky at the top... One more piece of glass to diffract or alter the light entering your lens, another 2 places for more dust to collect (as you found without even using it yet!) and on and on and..

Though you were going to tell us it was scratched!

Dust is normal, dust gets everywhere. Clean it off and get on with your life.

Ratjack wrote in post #16748677
lol. Reminds me how I received a couple of hard drives from them. They were supposed to be "frustration free packaging"..... this included just being thrown into one large box with 2 air packages. They were just flopping around in the box....

The caveat, here, is whose frustration they're referring to. In this case, that would be shipping and receiving.