[Leica] Re: Are UV filters "safety glasses" for the lens?

["Michael Darnton" <mdarnton@hotmail.com>]

There's an assumption which develops every time this discussion comes up, 
which precedes the flame war which ultimately happens, and that is that we 
care about squeezing the ultimate out of our lenses. Speaking for what must 
be a certain percentage of Leica owners, I didn't buy it for the quality of 
the optics, I BOUGHT IT FOR THE VIEWFINDER SYSTEM. My lenses are a mix of 
Leica, Canon and Voigtlander, and some are old and outdated by almost every 
standard (my 85/1.5, for instance), and absolutely, undoubtedly not up to 
even 1970 standards. What they DO do, however, is take pictures, which I 
don't blow up to 30X40" to prove how good a technician I am, because I'm 
not, and I don't scrutinize them with a magnifying glass. A large number of 
Leica photos of the past ended up on bleeding newsprint at 80dpi, and 
sharpness was not a factor then, either, but the photos still communicated.

For me, filters are fine. Filters with dirt on them are usually fine, and if 
not, I wipe them with my shirt; and filters with scratches on them are cheap 
to replace. I like to carry my lenses ready in pockets and knocking together 
in my bag; I treat my equipment shamelessly, and knock the paint off 
everything fast, and trash the metal, and the cameras still work. What I 
don't want, and won't tolerate, however, is a nasty, fatal scratch on a 
$1000 piece of glass which I can't afford to replace.

Jim (I pick on you because you're the leading force in the anti-UV movement) 
I don't care if the filter degrades performance. You might be right; you 
might be wrong. I don't care, and before you can convince me filters are a 
quality issue, you have to convince me that quality is an issue. :-)

I wonder how many people share that view. I bet more than a few, though I 
don't think I've ever heard it succinctly stated here, which is why I'm 
piping up at all. . . .

- --Michael
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