Sgt. Pepper said:Hi KSeet,
Generally, it's use for lens protection to filter dust and other objects that might damage your lens.. But, I'm more comfortable using lens cap as a protection.
togu said:The filter absorbs the ultraviolet rays which often makes outdoor photographs hazy and indistinct. Heh, most importanly, it also serves as a permanent lens protector.
KSeet said:One more thing, will it affect the quality of photographs? sharpness or something? Or makes it blurrer?
ST1100 said:Most folks use it as a protector.
Normally it does not affect the picture quality, and it's also a lot easier and safer to clean then the lens front element, esp curved elements.
A poor quality UV filter can affect the picture quality; esp an uncoated one. When there is a light source in the picture, eg candle flame, you may get internal reflections from the filter, resulting in a bright flame shaped highlight diagonally opposite your light source - ie, if the flame is at the bottom left, a mysterious flame will appear on the upper right side. i got lots of it when i used a $10 uncoated hoya on a 50/1.4. i once took one picture with a lit building against a night sky, building on the right. An entire 'building' appeared on the left side.
All UV filters will have some degree of internal reflection; BW MRCs are the best (least reflection), followed by Hoya HMC. i've not tried other brands. You can confirm this by looking at the reflection of the ceiling lights off the filter in any camera shop. Don't waste money on uncoated ones.
Oh yes; take off the filter when there are point light sources in the picture.
how true is this nowadays? i read somewhere that modern lenses mostly have UV coatings already, is that true?togu said:The filter absorbs the ultraviolet rays which often makes outdoor photographs hazy and indistinct. Heh, most importanly, it also serves as a permanent lens protector.
ST1100 said:Most folks use it as a protector.
Normally it does not affect the picture quality, and it's also a lot easier and safer to clean then the lens front element, esp curved elements.
A poor quality UV filter can affect the picture quality; esp an uncoated one. When there is a light source in the picture, eg candle flame, you may get internal reflections from the filter, resulting in a bright flame shaped highlight diagonally opposite your light source - ie, if the flame is at the bottom left, a mysterious flame will appear on the upper right side. i got lots of it when i used a $10 uncoated hoya on a 50/1.4. i once took one picture with a lit building against a night sky, building on the right. An entire 'building' appeared on the left side.
All UV filters will have some degree of internal reflection; BW MRCs are the best (least reflection), followed by Hoya HMC. i've not tried other brands. You can confirm this by looking at the reflection of the ceiling lights off the filter in any camera shop. Don't waste money on uncoated ones.
Oh yes; take off the filter when there are point light sources in the picture.
KSeet said:Thanks for the info! I already bought my UV filter without checking, now I have to go home and see if mine is uncoated. Its a $6 Hoya UV. So I should go test it by photographing some bright sources to detect reflections? Thanks!
Zerstorer said:All Hoya filters are at least single coated on both sides. The main difference is between uncoated and coated filters. The differences between coated and multicoated are far less tangible.
oeyvind said:
togu said:The filter absorbs the ultraviolet rays which often makes outdoor photographs hazy and indistinct. Heh, most importanly, it also serves as a permanent lens protector.
Zerstorer said:All Hoya filters are at least single coated on both sides. The main difference is between uncoated and coated filters. The differences between coated and multicoated are far less tangible.
As far as I know, Hoya doesn't make uncoated filters. Their cheapest filters are at least dual-coated(1|1), HMC are 6(3|3) and SHMC are 12(5+1|5+1). B+W MRC is supposedly 8(4|4) IIRC.ST1100 said:It's not tough to tell them apart.
Look at the reflection of a strong light, say, some lit flourescent tubes, the ceiling kind.
Uncoated filter gives a reflection that is bright and white in colour. Also a perfection reproduction.
The Hoya HMC gives a coloured reflection (yellow?) and the reflection is dim. The BW MRC gives a diff coloured reflection (maybe diff coating) and the refection is even dimmer. When compared side by side, the diff is very obvious.
$6? Might be uncoated.