52mm UV Filter

[laulon]

Hi all,

I'm after a 52mm UV filter for my new 50mm lens, they seem to really vary in price! Any advice on a make to go for? Or does it not really matter? I've got a Hoya and a Marumi I bought overseas at the moment for other lenses, but they seem extremely expensive in this country!

Help!

 

[Wail]

Hi and

As for the UV filter; personally, I'd tell you to save your ££, you don't need it. Just get a good rubber hood for £5. Works better, offers better protection and even helps reduce flare.

 

[Mr G]

Think u may be in the wrong section for this ...but welcome to TP anyway

 

[Grendel]

Moved to Talk Equipment

to Talk Photography

 

[bostin]

Hi

I prefer having the 'safety' of another layer in front of the lens - I like to think that if that is damaged then it means it stopped the front element of the lens from being damaged and generally a filter will cost less to replace than a lens.

UV filters claim to filter out the UV light that would enter your camera and will reduce the blueish tones you can get when shooting in certain conditions - at altitude or just in a bright clear sky.

B+W filters make clear protection filters, which is just a piece of clear glass so does not affect what light enters the camera.

Suggest you go for filters with light transmission improving coating or sometimes called Multi Coating. This in effect makes the surface of the filter less reflective allowing more light through the lens - imagine a piece of normal glass would just reflect some of the light away. Also check they are coated on both sides of the filter as it is known that light can bounce off the sensor, back through the lens and then reflect back off the inside of the filter eventually causing ghost images.

Brands I would look at are Hoya who make a variety of different quality filters and B+W who are German, part of the Schneider Kreuznach family that make awesome lenses, and they make coated and uncoated filters but use brass mounts rather than aluminium.

There is certainly no point putting a cheap filter on the front of your lens, but a quality filter IMHO will not effect your images and maybe give you a little piece of mind over protecting the front of your lens - use in conjunction with a lens hood and you get double protection.

Just my thoughts

 

[jnO]

Under normal circumstances I don't use a UV filter. If I were to be using my camera in a hostile environment, say safari, sandy beach, or anywhwere with large amounts of dust/dirt that could damage or affect the front element I would use a filter, but only for that, not because I feel it would even benefit my shots, as it wouldn't.

Decent filters are not cheap though so you have to weigh up the benefits. A Hoya Pro1 52mm UV will be about £35 in the UK, nearly half the cost of a new nifty.