[Leica] Re: UVa Filter, Thomas Kachadurian.

[Jim Brick <jim@brick.org>]

Hi Tom,

I've mentioned this very fact many times on the LUG and got poo pooed. Last
summer when I taught a Leica Workshop in San Francisco, I was asked by the
sponsoring store (Adolph Gasser) not to tell people that they should not
use "protection" UV filters because this was a source of revenue over and
above the meager margin on lenses. Since in all honesty, I could not do
this, what I did instead, was to show the class all of the various filters
that I do use. Polarizer, KR3, KR6, KB3, ND 4x, ND Grad's, 25A, YG, etc. I
told them that whenever you put a filter over your lens, it should be for
the purpose of "enhancing" the resulting photograph. Then I showed some
slides using the filters that I do use. This generated lots of filter sales
for the store. Expensive filters. But no UV filters. The store was happy.

So thank you Tom, for reminding me of this again. And thanks for
corroborating my knowledge about lenses and filters.

By the way, I bought your book "Views from the Sleeping Bear". Great book.
Great great photographs.

Jim

At 09:14 PM 2/10/00 -0500, Thomas Kachadurian wrote:
>Jim:
>
>I won't add more to the points you have made except to let you in on 
>the dirty business of filter.
>
>It's all about profit. The mark up on cameras is so slim, that 
>dealers learned they could double their profit by selling some high 
>mark up add ons, Everyready cases and filters. The whole "protection" 
>angle was a sales pitch that became truth with frequent repeating. I 
>worked in a camera store for several years while I was in college. In 
>all those year I only saw one lens with a damaged front element; it 
>was scratched by a piece of glass from the filter which broke when 
>the lens was dropped.
>
>I have seen filters that saved the filter threads on the lens, but 
>you can achieve that with a good lens hood.
>
>I don't use filters except to intentionally alter the image I'm 
>making. I really don't care if others do or don't. What bothers me is 
>the perpetuation of myths.
>
>Tom
>