It doesn't do a whole lot, per say. Most of us it only to protect the glass of the lens from getting dirty or damaged.
Answer by Carl_the_Truth on 04 Jan 2010 06:44:08Actually, as I see it, there are no cons. Since the UV filter won't change your actual photos any it's just good protection for your front element.
Answer by Jim A on 04 Jan 2010 07:11:46There are no cons----protect your lens.
Answer by Vintage Music on 04 Jan 2010 07:28:03UV filters are used to protect the front element of your lens. It's a wise thing to do.
Con is flare from the UV filter. Good UV filters don't appreciably affect your image. Cheap UV filters can cause flare which looks like loss of contrast. Big difference between a $10 cheap filter and a >$25 filter. Spend the extra money and get a multi-coated UV filter.
UV filters not only help to protect the front element of your expensive lens, it also helps to sharpen your photo. This is especially true for photos taken in bright daylight, or on slightly hazy days.
Film and digital cameras are slightly sensitive to the UV component in light. It can show up as a light blue tinge or faint haze around objects.
Each frequency (colour) of light will bend to differing amounts. That's how you can use a prism to create a rainbow. Modern lenses minimise the difference in bending, but nothing is perfect.
So if you filter out the UV, it helps to get rid of that faint haze.
There are no real cons because UV filters, even really good ones, are inexpensive, and don't darken the lens by any appreciable amount. They don't get in the way of putting other filters in front. They are thin enough to not cause vignetting, even in the very widest lenses (not talking about Fisheye lenses though).
This is like asking what's better coke or pepsi? Plasma or LCD, standing back just to watch the fight begin.
I have UV filters. Yes they can keep dust off your front element, but that's about it. If you smash your lens because you fall, or the camera falls, is that little piece of glass going to protect the front element? Or will it just shatter and damage the front anyway?
Here's the downside. It's not totally true that it does not affect your photos. If you shoot in daylight with a hood, it's usually not a problem, but I do a lot of hand held, night photography. I've already got to deal with flare, and blue orbs from the lens. With a filter in place, I usually get a double ghost image from the moon, street lights and other similar lights. This light that normally bounces off the front element of any lens hits the back of the UV filter and shows up as a nice bright blob at times.
So who's going to tell me that's a lie? Nobody, so people that say it does not affect your photos can only speak for themselves. Under certain conditions, that extra piece of glass can ruin photos. Plus, I didn't spend tons of dough on my really good glass to put a cheap piece of glass in front of it.
So it can be personal thing in daylight conditions, but a real world issue at night and with certain types of photography.
It is good for protecting your lens and usually the cost is minor.
Mark
Put me down as a "True Believer" in the value of using a UV filter to protect the front element of my lenses. I'd much rather clean dust or smudges off a filter than off the front element.
Don't waste your money on cheap filters. Buy quality: Heliopan, Hoya, B+W, Tiffen, Singh-Ray.
No comments:
Post a Comment