How bad is it for the lens if your lens cap comes off inside bag?

Most of the marks I have seen on glass seem to have come from filters on other lenses, due to the serrated nature of the marks. As much as a I am filter person, I wonder how many lenses have been damaged by placing a camera and other lens with a filter down into a bag across the uncovered glass of a different lens? Kinda like a self-fulfilling prophecy...

"I use a filter on my lens to protect it, but I damaged my other lens with said filter!"

TeamSpeed wrote in post #17757328
Most of the marks I have seen on glass seem to have come from filters on other lenses, due to the serrated nature of the marks. As much as a I am filter person, I wonder how many lenses have been damaged by placing a camera and other lens with a filter down into a bag across the uncovered glass of a different lens? Kinda like a self-fulfilling prophecy...

"I use a filter on my lens to protect it, but I damaged my other lens with said filter!"

that's an interesting observation. ......... could it be that they come from changing filters often?

for me, when i am changing filters, it's almost always in less than ideal conditions--like i'm shooting landscapes and i go, oh i should use a polarizer! or i'm rushing to use the polarizer while at a car show, and am changing filters in the corner of the floor. ..........it's really easy to screw up and touch the filter to the lens. to make the serrations though i guess you'd have to do it backwards, which i've never done. but, i dunno, if you're stressed i can see people making that mistake.

i dunno, just one theory.

Not sure, but I have purchased alot of used lenses over the years, and invariably if I see scratches, they are not random scratches, but rather a couple of series of matching side by side scratches that seem like they could have lined up with a brass filter ring. Changing lenses could be the cause as well, if they weren't careful, or applied too much pressure as they tried to screw on the filter, and they slipped the filter across the lens face. That would be a good definition of irony, wouldn't it?

Xyclopx wrote in post #17757323
FINALLY, one note that i guess should be pondered: My filters DO have scratches. And I STILL use them on the same lenses they saved. One even has a pit in it, right smack in the middle--that one is on my 50 1.2. Never replaced one yet. So, that says something in itself, for both camps.

Yes, you should be more careful! I don't use filters, and my lenses are scratch- and dirt-free after 10,000's of pictures.

Could it be that filters give a sense of security emboldening some users to be rougher with their gear?

Could be part of it... I know I am a bit more daring on what I shoot knowing I have a filter. However I am still careful putting on the lens cap, and putting away my equipment so for myself, I don't know.

Archibald wrote in post #17757361
Yes, you should be more careful! I don't use filters, and my lenses are scratch- and dirt-free after 10,000's of pictures.

Could it be that filters give a sense of security emboldening some users to be rougher with their gear?

that certainly is true for me.

if i know my lens is bare, and there are times where that happens like i took off a ND but don't have time to fiddle with stuff, i definitely am more careful with it. HOWEVER, that to me is a great thing. babying your gear is a sure way to lose shots. if a filter gets you to go crazy, it's priceless.

btw archibald, i am willing to bet you do have scratches and dirt. a big $$$ bet. .... i've purchased lenses from people who said in their descriptions that they are immaculate. and many have fine scratches, at least in the coating, if they did not use a filter. ALL lenses have dirt if they have had any use at all. just take a flashlight and shine it on the glass at an angle. it's gonna freak you out how much dirt there is, and the occasional scratch. i btw never do this if i don't have to, because it does freak me out too. and i use filters 99.99% of the time.

i'm just gonna put a number out there--that 20% of people who say the don't use filters and have no scratches are actually plain wrong, but never realized it.

That video definitely shows that the filter can't hold up the same way a front element does. But ad the author of the video stated, its far from scientific. While sometimes a force with that small and hard of an impact point is possible, it's not very normal in my assumption. In every day use with care of ones equipment, Im in the camp that a filter helps, unless of course you are going to run onto a bolt head on.

Xyclopx wrote in post #17757373
that certainly is true for me.

if i know my lens is bare, and there are times where that happens like i took off a ND but don't have time to fiddle with stuff, i definitely am more careful with it. HOWEVER, that to me is a great thing. babying your gear is a sure way to lose shots. if a filter gets you to go crazy, it's priceless.

btw archibald, i am willing to bet you do have scratches and dirt. a big $$$ bet. .... i've purchased lenses from people who said in their descriptions that they are immaculate. and many have fine scratches, at least in the coating, if they did not use a filter. ALL lenses have dirt if they have had any use at all. just take a flashlight and shine it on the glass at an angle. it's gonna freak you out how much dirt there is, and the occasional scratch. i btw never do this if i don't have to, because it does freak me out too. and i use filters 99.99% of the time.

i'm just gonna put a number out there--that 20% of people who say the don't use filters and have no scratches are actually plain wrong, but never realized it.

I don't see how there could be scratches on my lenses. I almost never clean them because they practically never get dirty. My 100-400 II is 10 months old, has taken ~10,000 pics, and is spotless. OK, a couple tiny specks of dust. I don't think I have ever cleaned it.

Anyway, a scratch that nobody can see is not a scratch.

mcoren wrote in post #17755961
Have you tried amateur astronomy?

nope; afraid of the dark...

Frodge wrote in post #17757376
That video definitely shows that the filter can't hold up the same way a front element does. But ad the author of the video stated, its far from scientific. While sometimes a force with that small and hard of an impact point is possible, it's not very normal in my assumption. In every day use with care of ones equipment, Im in the camp that a filter helps, unless of course you are going to run onto a bolt head on.

Congrats. You moved the thread from off topic about audio to off topic about filters. Really glad, 'cause that discussion is new and interesting.

Fact is when the thread is a bit silly, not naming any threads now, it is more likely to take the odd turn or two. No reason to hand out warnings.

On the plus side, this has opened my eyes to the issue of lens caps popping off in bag. I've tossed two lenses this week that experienced that unfortunate occurrence. I'm not buying expensive filters that half of you say I don't need, and I'm not going to obsess about if my lens has a scratch, so out it goes!

I didn't move it off topic about filters. Someone pur a link to a video about filters and how fragile they may be. Go back and reread. I'm only responding to precious posters.

I keep the lens caps on my lenses all the time. I've never gotten a single scratch on any lens, and the only downside has been that my photos are all really underexposed. But I can fix that in LR**.

**Probably, I haven't tried. I mostly just talk about photography, not do it.

absplastic wrote in post #17757755
I keep the lens caps on my lenses all the time. ...and the only downside has been that my photos are all really underexposed.

You need to take the cap off before you take the shot! ; D

PhotosGuy wrote in post #17757758
You need to take the cap off before you take the shot! ; D

You can do whatever you want with your gear, but I invested too much in lenses to take that risk. I prefer to crank up the ISO, use really powerful strobes, and just shoot through the cap.

Archibald wrote in post #17754740
Wow, .... Monster cables

Pfft, meh,.. It's Tara, Kimber or AudioQuest. Monster is Mainstream Tiffen garbage

Now B&W however does make some good speakers