Will a filter save your lens?

[Dallasphotog]

I see the occasional debate about the ability of a filter to save the front element of a lens. My 16-year old daughter carries a Canon XT everywhere and it generally lives a pretty rough life. Last weekend she had the camera knocked from her hands. The camera landed lens downwith the requisitenoise of glass breaking.When she got home we removed the filter andto our surprise the front lens element isundamaged.


This incident has me looking at my lenses again tosee what is not wearing afilter.

[Keith B]

That is good news!


I bet if she had a hood on, there wouldn't have been any damage at all.


Yes I'm from that school.

[Chuck Lee]

Obviously,


From your experience it does. So is the posted question relavent? Why not post a statement rather than a question? Filter saves Lens, Scene at 11. Maybe it's because the answer is not stricktly yes or no. It needs to be qualified. We get to editorialize!! yeah!


1) In your daughters case it was "yes" qualifier: "when dropped on it's face" the filter served as a protective device.


2) In my case "no" qualifier: " when taking shots of the sunrise it caused a teriible flare spot and lowered the contrast of the lens"


3) In my wifes case: "yes" qualifier: "You should have seen the front elements on her Minolta 35mm set after a year"


4) In my case "yes" qualifier: When shooting on a windy beach it's a good idea to use a UV filter rather than exposing the front element of a $1000.00 lens to the blowing sand.


Good Thread Dallas..........

[Keith B]

4) In my case "yes" qualifier: When shooting on a windy beach it's a good idea to use a UV filter rather than exposing the front element of a $1000.00 lens to the blowing sand.


Good Thread Dallas..........

Yeah windy beach and extreme weather are the reasons I have a 77mm UV in my bag. Just not full time on any lenses.

[Chuck Lee]

Exactly!! I do the same.

[Bob]

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"]<span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color: #333333; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"]<o></o>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"]<span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color: #333333; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"]The next question you should ask, did the dropped camera suffer any damage?<o></o>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"]<span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color: #333333; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"]Is the lens mount parallel to the sensor&rsquo;s plane? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"]It would only take a 1/100 of an inch or less to have one side of the image become soft due to a bent / displaced lens mount on the body. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"]Check the corners of your photos, do they all look the same or is one side different?<o></o>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"]<span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color: #333333; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"]A lens hood, being made of plastic, will dampen the shock of hitting the ground vs. the hard metal ring on the filter.<o></o>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"]<span lang="EN" style="line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color: #333333; font-size: 10pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"]Hope your camera is OK.

[clemmb]

I do not have a filter on any of my lenses but have a lens hood on all of them all the time. They seem to stay pretty clean.


I have bumped and banged my lenses around but have not dropped one yet. Hope my luck continues.


Mark

[Maleko]

I have a lens filter on any of my more "expensive" lenes all the time, unless I need to change the filter for a different one. Saying that I also have lens hoods on all my lenses, as this does have more of a protection in some cases.


But, at the end of the day, provided you have the camerawrapped round ur neck securly , dropping it shouldn't be an issue, expect for knocks.

[rlriii13]

I'm not sure how or when this happened. I was shooting with this lens and didn't even notice it until I went to put it away. I don't reside on either side of the fence about filter safety vs. image quality, but on this day I was happy I had a filter on.

[Don Burkett]

It has saved my 100-400 and 70-200 at one point or another, so I'm a believer.