I always love when someone posts a pic or tells a story of a lens that was saved by a filter. The filter is alway shattered and jammed on the lens and my response is, " Great! Glad you saved the lens. Imagine if you had a hood on it, you probably wouldn't have had any damage at all."


I don't know if some folks realize, a filter will not absorb any shock and the lens and body absorb it all. A hood will absorb quite a bit of the shock and could save the internals of both lens and body.


I know from personal experience shock will take out a USM even in an L lens.