Any specific filters for birds

When it comes to birds do you all use a specific filter. I've been using a standard uv filter and that's it. I could see using a specific filter for a particular color to show better on particular bird. I've been using a canon 6d mii with a canon 400mm f5.6L prime lens. I did purchase a used like new canon extender 1.4x iii.

UV filter usually will just hurt your final image quality, damage detail, and often even harm auto focus results.

The only filter I tend to use for birding is on occasion a cpl is a good idea, depending on sky/water/time of day.

I wouldn't use any filter.

The key is good light and good location relative to the bird.

The best filter is going to be a big filter that hides you and the camera from the bird!

Very best,

Ok. So I assume you are all just running clear glass as a protective barrier to your lens element. I understand a low quality one can also hurt image quality. Or do you all just run nothing and a bare lens. Thanks

No. No filter, no clear anything. Nothing is actually clear. Bare lens.
I'd be curious why you would assume such a thing?

Consider this, the most expensive lenses made, the same super telephotos one might want for birding, can not be fitted with a front mounted filter. That $12K lens has no option to "protect" with an $85.00 filter. So we can't "protect" the front element there.

There are many possible detrimental effects of installing a filter, so I don't use them unless I am using them for a specific filter effect, like a circular polarizer, or neutral density. On a super telephoto this can be done with the rear mounted drop in filter.

Sure there are people that insist on this lens condom, (in particular, filter salesmen,) but your not likely to find many in the birding forum

Your 400mm prime is a magnificent lens, great for chasing fast birds. Enjoy!

Yup, no filter at all.

The lenses are very durable.
The coatings are very durable unless you take steel wool to them.

The problem with adding a filter is that not all filters are created equal, and are not all optically flat (find one that has a designation of at least 1/4th wave or better advertised) and simply introduce spherical aberration potential, unwanted reflections, potential decrease in contrast from scattering light if its really poor quality, etc. And a BIG filter for a big telephoto lens for birds, well, it should cost a ton if it's quality glass. If it doesn't cost much, well, lots of compromise.

After a session, gentle distilled water and soap solution on a cotton ball, dab, do not scrub, and dry with distilled water cotton ball dabbing. Or a typical lens cleaning solution and dab with cotton.

Very best,

As far as the 1.4 extender, you might want to leave it in the bag until you see results without it. Image quality suffered with that extender between my 400 prime and 7Dmk2.

I feel like a fool. From what I've read in general people always seem to use a filter of some sort or clear lens cover to protect their lens. I've bought uv and polarized filters for all my lenses. I spend and average of probably 80 dollars a filter. So not the super cheap ones but not the most expensive. So you guys have nothing on your lenses to protect them. I'm fine with it I just thought that was normal practice. Sounds like I wasted probably 700-800 on those for nothing. I've only been in the photography hobby since August of 2020 so I'm new and learning. I've always been a competitive shooter and hunter. I've cleaned my optics by using a optic brush to knock off any dirt or dust then use a lens cleaner solvent that is sprayed on and wipped off with a lens cloth. So is cotton ball dabbing better?

No filters needed. Just make sure you have a lens hood. Mine are all scuffed up after trudging through sometimes dense vegetation, so I know i would have had leaves and branches touching the lens without a hood.

Thanks again everyone for the input. I got three telephoto lenses and I removed all protectors and used a vello lens calibration tool and calibrated the auto focus. They were all off to some extent. Can't wait to get a day where I can get out.

Precision308 wrote in post #19209634
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Ok. So I assume you are all just running clear glass as a protective barrier to your lens element. I understand a low quality one can also hurt image quality. Or do you all just run nothing and a bare lens. Thanks
.

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Absolutely nothing but the bare lens. . No need to protect it at all. . And my lenses are worth more than my car. . Still see no need to protect them, and can't really think of anything bad that is likely to happen to them, anyway.


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Precision308 wrote in post #19209696
I've cleaned my optics by using a optic brush to knock off any dirt or dust then use a lens cleaner solvent that is sprayed on and wipped off with a lens cloth. So is cotton ball dabbing better?

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You don't really have to clean your lenses, at least not with any regularity. . I mean, dust on the front of your lens will almost never have any affect on the photos at all. . There can be what seems to be a good amount of dust and unless you are shooting right into the light, the photos will still be just as sharp and clear as if there was no dust on the lens at all.

Same with heavy water spots from when the lens element gets rained on - the water spots don't affect the photos AT ALL unless you are shooting directly into some very strong light.

I shoot professionally, and haven't cleaned my lenses for years and years, other than just wiping the obvious dust off with the sleeve of my shirt or a microfiber cloth that I get at the Dollar Tree. . All that hubbub about lens pens and lens cleaning solvents and special lens cleaning cloths and so forth is just completely unnecessary. . None of that will prolong the life of your glass and it won't give you better photos, either. . It is literally without any tangible benefit whatsoever.

The only exception to the above is when I get salt water or salt spray on my front element when shooting in the ocean or the gulf for waterfowl and shorebirds. . When I do that and get home with heavy salt residue on the front element, I get a paper towel (yes, a paper towel) and wet it down good with tap water from the motel bathroom sink and dab the front of the lens down with it so that the front element of the lens gets real wet, and then I let it soak for a few minutes to loosen up the salt, then I gently wipe it dry with another paper towel. . This doesn't damage the glass at all, no matter what anybody says, as long as you do it gently and don't press the paper towel into the lens surface with any force.

Lenses and cameras are tools that are made to be used to do a job, not collector's items that are made to be pampered and stared at, sitting on a shelf.


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For cleaning, i use in this order;
- Camel hair soft bristle brush, and/or bulb blower for lose dust.
- Zeiss Lens wipes in the field when things get sticky.
- ROR (Residual Oil Remover) and pec pads for serious deep cleaning. (I've only needed this after purchasing a poorly maintained used lens, or after exposing a lens to thick smoke, or salt water, or to "repair" a badly done cleaning on a used lens. )

P.S. the only time I have attached a clear filter in the last 15 years when I KNEW I was going to subject the lens to salt spray on a small boat. Again, still no option for my long telephoto, but the hood is so deep it's rare to get even a droplet of spray on the element.

Tom
If you recall I spoke with you about lenses awhile back. You recommended the 100-400 L series or even the sigma or tamron version. I'm not sure why I was just set on the 400mm prime. Don't want you to think I didn't put weight with your recommendation. I'm just new to photography and wanted to experience a prime lens for whatever reason. I live in a rural area and seem to have alot of bird opportunities right outside my door and everyone kept talking this lens up for birds. I do really appreciate all the help from everyone.

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #19209958
For cleaning, i use in this order;
- Camel hair soft bristle brush, and/or bulb blower for lose dust.
- Zeiss Lens wipes in the field when things get sticky.
- ROR (Residual Oil Remover) and pec pads for serious deep cleaning. (I've only needed this after purchasing a poorly maintained used lens, or after exposing a lens to thick smoke, or salt water, or to "repair" a badly done cleaning on a used lens. )

P.S. the only time I have attached a clear filter in the last 15 years when I KNEW I was going to subject the lens to salt spray on a small boat. Again, still no option for my long telephoto, but the hood is so deep it's rare to get even a droplet of spray on the element.

ROR is good stuff. I like Zeiss cleaner as well.