Lens protector for 100-400 or not?

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huma11

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Hugh
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I have just bought a Canon 100-400mm L IS lens. Should I protect it with a lens protector/filter or will this significantly reduce the quality of the image? Is the lens hood enough? I have always used filters in the past for my other lenses, but I am not so certain in this case. Cheers, Hugh
 
It's one of the eternal debates :)

I used to put a filter on my 100-400 but don't bother any more as I find the hood provides more than enough protection and I prefer not to put anything in front of the lens, although, as long as you use a good quality filter, I really don't think it makes any difference to image quality one way or the other tbh.
 
I had filters on all my lenses from the word go and thought I was doing the right thing.
I was constantly advised against it so tried without needless to say I no longer use filters.
 
Taken with a 100-400 with a Hoya Pro UV filter

Ostrich%20III.jpg


:)
 
If you put a filter on make sure it's a really good one. No point putting a cheap £10 one on (which I've been guilty of in the past).

In the case of the 100-400 you've got 4-5 inches of lens hood protection
 
I was going to ask the same question about my Sigma 150-500 lens.
At 88mm a decent UV filter equates to 10% of the cost of the lens.
I always leave the hood on, so perhaps that will be enough protection.
 
Thanks for all the replies. I am now leaning towards only using the hood.

Cheers, Hugh

ps great photo!
 
huma11 said:
Thanks for all the replies. I am now leaning towards only using the hood.

Cheers, Hugh

ps great photo!
Click to expand...

Good decision. If you want best image quality, don't use a protection filter unless you absolutely have to. I have one that fits all my lenses - never used it yet!

The problem is not sharpness (usually) but flare and ghosting. Bright lights against dark backgrounds can show as a double image that reflects off the very shiny surface of the sensor, and returns as a double image bounced off the rear of the filter. It is particularly prevalent with longer lenses, where everything comes straight down the pipe directly on axis and reflects up and down. It's a digital problem, never happens with film, and you can't see it through the viewfinder as it only appears in the actual image (or with live view).

There have been quite a few bad examples posted on here. It sometimes shows up as a strange pattern in the background bokeh.
 
TinaC said:
Have you got a lens hood? I would consider that sufficient protection depending upon the circumstances in which you photograph. Is it particularly dusty? Drag racing? Or otherwise dirty? If not then i would suggest the hood is enough.
Click to expand...

Not sure about drag racing, but the speedway/bangers is the only event I'll always put a sacrificial filter on the front for. Not so much the dust as the horizontally flying grit/shale.
 
i never used filters on mine either, I found the hood offered more than enough protection for what I used it for
 
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