How a UV Filter Can Protect Your Lens

An expensive lens can be protected with a UV filter.

OK, not completely.

If you're intent on dropping the lens on concrete or letting it fall into deep puddles of water, there's not much that can be done.

If you're like me and tend to bang the front of the lens on this when your SLR is dangling from a strap, a UV filter might be helpful.

UV Defined

The UV stands for Ultra-Violet, and UV filters are designed to keep Ultra-Violet rays from entering the lens.

That's the complicated definition.

The simpler one is that a UV filter is a clear piece of glass.

The filter should not affect any part of your photographs: it won't change the color or affect the image sharpness.

So what's the point of a clear piece of glass?

An Insurance Policy for Your Lens

The clear UV filter screws onto the front of your lens.

On a hike, you bang the front of your lens against a sharp rock, and put a nice big scrape across the front of the glass.

Without a UV filter, you're going to have to replace the lens.

Depending on the lens that you've got, this can cost anywhere from $300 to $3000.

If you scraped up the filter, then you don't have to replace the entire lens, just the filter. Approximate cost: $30.

Big difference.

I always tell people that a UV filter acts as an insurance policy for a lens.

They are especially useful for the accident-prone or those with perpetual butterfingers.

What's the Catch?

Since the logic behind a UV filter makes so much sense, why doesn't everyone use them all the time?

It comes down to image quality.

Many professional photographers argue that a UV filter affects your photos no matter how clear it may be.

This argument also makes sense: for the clearest possible images, don't put something on the front of your lens and leave it there all the time.

How much does a UV filter affect image quality? It's debateable.

You and I may never notice any difference between photos shot through a UV and those that aren't.

But here's something else to consider: using a UV filter is like any other type of insurance policy.

You're paying money in the off chance that sometime in the future something might happen to the front of your lens.

I have been using a lens for 3 years without a UV filter now.

I am careful with my equipment and always put the lens cap on when I am not taking photos.

Unless there is a freak accident, it's unlikely that I will ever scratch the front of the lens. Chances are that I will drop the lens and camera both before I just scrape the lens glass on its own.

And a UV filter isn't going to help one bit if the lens is dropped onto pavement.

Where Can I Get One?

You can get a UV filter from Adorama in just about any size (this is where I've gotten mine in the past) and you can also find a wide selection at Amazon.