[Leica] Filters

[Jim Laurel <jplaurel@microsoft.com>]

Here's my $.02 on the filter issue...

My wife was a working photographer for around 4 years, shooting for a
Honolulu newspaper.  She had 3 Canon bodies and a bunch of Canon primes and
was a firm believer in NOT using a UV filter.  She shot under all kinds of
conditions ranging from dusty farms, to sunny beaches, damp rainforests, and
the hustle of city event coverage.  Since one of the cameras and a few
lenses were mine, I was constantly complaining to her about using filters
because I didn't want my lenses damaged.

Know what?  Most of those primes are now DESTROYED with scratches and swirl
marks on the front elements.  Many times, she'd lose or misplace the lens
caps in the heat of a shoot and just drop a lens into her bag after a lens
change.  So, the lenses got damaged not only when on the camera, but
sometimes in the bag as well.

It got to the point where I couldn't bear to look at the equipment any more.
She'd come home from shooting canoe races, for example, and the cameras (and
the front elements of the lenses) would be covered with that fine Hawaii
sand, some of it lodged in the corner at the edge of the element and not
easy to remove.

This weekend, I shot pictures of a bunch of Land Rovers kicking it up in the
Olympic Peninsula.  Several times, I looked at my new 35mm F1.4 Summilux to
find a few splatters of fine mud on the B+W UV filter.

If she had used UV filters, those Canon lenses would have been usable today.
As it is, they are now garbage.  Good thing they didn't cost $2,000 each.
;-)

- --Jim Laurel