Quote Originally Posted by neuroanatomist


On a dSLR, the UV filter is entirely about protection, not IQ improvement. While a UV filter (or a clear filter, for that matter) does have an effect on light transmission, with high-quality multicoated filters the light attenuation is of neutral density (no color shift) and is less than 3%, effectively unnoticeable. A polarizer reduces light transmission by ~2 stops - that's not something I want to leave on my lens all the time.



I understand that folks love to protect there lenses with UV, but while there is a polarizer on there, isn't it providing the protection. Is this a question of laziness or the fear of the 30 seconds the lens will be unprotected? No one suggested keeping the polarizer on all the time.