Re: [Leica] Re: Filters part umpteen

[Ted <tedgrant@home.com>]

Mark Rabiner wrote:
Jim Brick wrote:
Robert Appleby wrote:

A whole bunch of stuff re: filters... love 'em or hate 'em. ;-)

aaaaaah the same old story. There's those who believe you need them for protection,
"moi at onetime," then one learns..... who needs them unless they are required for
"effect improvement. of the photograph"

Yep only one time in 50 years have I had a surface damaged due to not having a
filter on a lens and that occurred due to my stupidity of  working tooooooooo close
to an arc welder!  A little bit of that sparky stuff kinda made a zit right in the
middle of a 28mm 2.8. Dang!  And do you no what?  It never showed up any where on
any frames stopped down to the max or open to the max.

I used it for awhile then sold it, bought another simply because I imagined even
though I couldn't see any difference in the transparencies I imagined it wasn't as
good.  Today?  I'd know better and just keep the lens and click away. ;-) Save the
money, buy film and single malt scotch instead!  ;-)

I think this filter/lens protection thing is subjective and one shouldn't belittle
another shooter if he believes that's his calling for filter use, by the same token
the filter user need not make a big thing out of it either. It's like, too each his
own, as experience has shown some of us have got along just fine without them for
years under all kinds of assignment conditions and experience has also shown the
reverse for the users..

Do I use filters?  Yes for visual effect only.

ted



> > >
> > >I use filters on all my lenses because they're all expensive! And if you
> > >take the filter off, you'll see that the lens is not just in good shape,
> > >it's absolutely pristine. The front elements have never been cleaned or
> > >even touched. After a year of good use, an optically brand new lens - what
> > >more can you ask for?
> > >
> > >Rob.
> >
> > My lenses never have filters on them unless the filter will enhance or
> > otherwise improve the photograph. My accumulation of lenses date back to
> > 1974 when I bought my first Leica. A CL. They get cleaned regularly with,
> > then, Kodak lens cleaner and tissue, later, a tee shirt and ROR, and now,
> > microfiber cloth and ClearSight. They look as pristine, clear, clean, no
> > marks of any kind, and do not flare when pointed toward the sun or other
> > bright lights. I live and do most of my photography, on the California
> > coast, on the shoreline. What more can you ask for?
> >
> > Jim (to each, his own) Brick
>
> I thought nothing of using UV filters (I thought UV was evil and needed to be
> filtered at all cost) until one day I had a drink with a photographer from the
> Oregonian who had all his gear with in in a large Domke bag in the early 1980's.
> He pulled out some of his Nikon lenses which I also at the time used and showed
> them to me.
> Mine had UV filters on them. His didn't.
> He rolled his eyes.
> I took the filters off when I got back to my studio.
> Have never put them back on.
> His barrels were more banged up than mine but his glass was all perfect
> And none of my 26 lenses have since ever had their glass damaged.
> I'll clean them with my shirt tail if it is soft clean fabric.
> I huff on them first.
> Mark rabiner