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UV or not UV?
By sirsnapalot | March 3, 2010
Yesterday I had a sales guy try to pressure me into a UV filter for a 10-22mm wide angle zoom lens. In the days of film, these were commonplace, though I personally never used one. Film, at least, was sensitive to the UV portion of the spectrum and could at higher altitudes, make the picture look bluer.
Digital cameras are almost opposite- they are sensitive at the infrared end of the spectrum, but that is filtered inside the camera, lest your pictures come out to reddish. A UV filter for a digital camera serves no purpose other than “to protect the lens”. Thank you, but in all my years, I have not scratched a lens. And why would I put an extra piece of glass on an expensive lens? It is only going to create more opportunities for specular reflections- the sun, streetlights, etc…, which unless photographed straight on, will bounce around between the glass surfaces that have air space between them and give you sun dogs.
So, my general advice is, unless you are hard on your optics, forgo the extra expense.
Incidentally, the vendor was Abe’s of Maine. They do have good prices on many products, and I have ordered several digital cameras over the years. However, they will not place the order until they talk to you on the phone to “verify a few things,” which inexorably leads to an attempt to upsell you a filter kit and whatnot.
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Topics: Opinion, Tips, Uncategorized | No Comments »
