Filter and LEns Hoods?

Hi Guys!

I have a EF 100mm f/2.8 macro lens which i use for aquarium and portrait photography and am waiting for me EF 24-70mm f/2.8L lens.

Do i need to buy a filter and lens hood for my macro lens and a filter for the 24-70?

Can the filter and lens hood be applied at the same time?

What filter would u recommend for both?


thx
Dave

I'd be inclined to get a UV filter for both lenses. Others will disagree, but I like to think that if there was an accident, the filter is a LOT cheaper to replace than the lens

I use the 24-70 and yes, you can use filters with the hood on. Turn the zoom to the 24mm position and its easy.

I wouldn't have thought that a hood was essential for the Macro lens.

You'll love the 24-70 its a great lens.

There are many opinions on filters and lens hoods. I only use filters on my L lens, the rest I use hoods, for their normal benefits and for protection. Ask 5 people about this subject and you'll get at least 7 opinions. Are they necessary? No. Will they make the image quality worse? If you get a good one, probably not.

thanks guys!

I think i will get a couple of filters then. I don't want to scratch my lens. Hopefully they won't degrade the image.

Dave

Hi MoliroMan. One thing to watch out for is that if you leave a filter fitted you are putting the front-most piece of glass even further into the light. Because of that, make sure you at least buy multi-coated filters. Use your hood too but remember that the hood might not be sufficient if bright light is coming in from the sides. If you're using a tripod you can look into the lens and see whether it is being properly shielded. If it's not, then hold something off to the side so it is. Without a tripod it becomes difficult!

I use lens hoods and UV filters on both my lenses. Good for protection. It's especially important to use a hood and filter when shooting macro hand held, because you never know when you might accidentally bump into something while looking through the view finder........

Hmmmm, I'm wondering, does anyone know if you should still use a lens hood even in low light conditions? Like, indoors or on a wicked cloudy day.

And do UV filters reduce image quality in any given situation? Low light, lotsa light, ect?

lens hoods would not adversly affect your picture in anyway so it's fine to leave them on even in low light conditions. if you want to use the onboard pop-up flash though, be careful because sometimes the lens hood will block off part of the flash coverage.

a good, multi-coated (such as B+W's MRC) uv filters should not reduce image quality in any significant way. it's better to go with no filter if you are shooting directly into the light (like a street lamp or the sun), even the best filters may cause more flare than no filter at all.

-alex

Oooooh I see! So, a filter on a wide angle like the 17-40L for landscape prolly wouldn't be a good idea if it's broad daylight and the sun is in the the area of the shot right?

Sorry Moliro Man, don't mean to steal your thread..... hopefully responses to my questions are helpful to you as well.

yeah i always take off the filter if i'm shooting into a light source. here's an interesting article on this: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/columns/​sm-feb-05.shtml
-alex

You could have trouble. See the simplified explanation at http://www.2filter.com​/faq/multicoatedfaq.ht​ml. The times I've had trouble were precisely as you mention. The hood on the 17-40L is made for the widest setting on a 35mm camera so it's even less effective at short focal lengths on a digital camera with a smaller "film area". The sun doesn't need to be in-shot. The most obvious problems occur where there is a bright light in-shot, such as shown in this article http://www.luminous-landscape.com/columns/​sm-feb-05.shtml.

Snap!

what can i say... great minds eh?

-alex

lancea wrote:
Snap!