But Aaron and I spend all day adjusting lenses by evaluating changes in these kinds of dots. This is subjective data, of course, and I gave you full-size images so you can make your personal opinion. From their testing.yes it impacts IQ to varying degrees and brand/cost isn't a big factor in whether a filter impacts IQ and to what degree. Lens rentals tested a lot of filters to answer your question. Seems your mileage is a bit different, and that is perfectly okay! That's not a reason for me to not use filters anyway. I'm sure some will disagree, but I recommend using filters.ĭo you use a PL or ND filter often? If so it seems like a lot of time would be spent removing and replacing the protective filter unless you want to stack them. the stuff the 19 lens elements in the 200-500 are made of. They are after all, made of optical quality glass. And heck, I sometimes shoot birds at a feeder through my double pane kitchen windows and still get great detail with that lens. I don't think I have ever noticed any kind of adverse effect from the filters I use. The modern multilayer coatings on state of the art filters are designed to help keep them clean, reducing the need for us to clean them, as well as reduce reflections. B+W 95mm Clear UV Haze with Multi-Resistant Coating. So for me, brand new lenses get a filter screwed on right out of the box.Īlways, for sure, use good filters. And if you screw it up, it is easy to replace. If something needs cleaning, it will be the filter, not the front element. I once ruined a good Hoya polarizer by not knowing how to clean it. I always worried I would scratch the coatings or make a smeary mess. Second, I want to never have to clean lens elements. You'll likely ruin the filter in such an incident, but the front element will be spared.

Even just a light bump on the wrong object could cause significant damage to the glass and/or the coatings. First to protect the expensive front element. I have had filters on all of my lenses since my second camera in 1964.

Nikon lens filters effects