[Leica] Ah! Back to the Great Filter Dispte!

[tedgrant at shaw.ca (Ted Grant)]

The Great Filter debate! :-)

It's the year 3008 and this conversation will still be going on! :-) WHY?

Simply because some people are amateurs, some are pros and some always seem
to be in one panic state or other over the subject. Certainly when plain old
fashion common sense will tell you when to use and when not to.

Absolutely honest experience... I never use them unless for specific reason:

1/ Photographic effect, polarize for both types of film. Never used any on
digital camera! In the olden days I had a pile of filters for almost
everything imaginable for colour & BW until I fell under the spell of the
great GURU "Neverusefiltersperiod!" A wise man? Nope! He didn't use common
sense regarding what you are shooting.

 

2/ No filter: I learned the hard way photographing a welder while using a
28mm R Lens and shooting for real tight close-ups. OOPS!!!!!! Bad move!

One spark landed right in the middle of the front element burning a tiny
mark right into the glass! Damn! :-(

However a test later revealed absolutely no defect in image quality from
wide open to stopped down at any aperture.  And at any size Kodachrome
projected on 10 ft. sq. screen or for print reproduction. Kept using the
lens.

However, the angst of worry even though nothing showed, the constant mental
stress of one day a big black mark will show on a major shoot became too
much so I sold it, bought a new lens and filter!

Did I immediately put the filter on and leave it forever? Nope! No point as
99.9% of the time a filter is 2 extra glass faces you have to clean. And or
creates flares just when you don't want any!

HOWEVER! The assignment dictated when the filter should go on.

Obviously if I ever shot welders again! :-) 

Stock and sprint car dirt track racing. Lots of crap flying through the air
with those cars

Calgary Stampede as David explained!

And any location where "flying debris" is liable to happen.

The filter WILL NOT protect any lens under any condition when you drop an
80-200 brand new out of the box one level of house to lower level 15 feet to
marble floor. You only have the pieces of everything to pick-up. Obviously
that included every shard of filter glass! This only happens on the first
day of an assignment in a far off country! :-(

 

Use, non-use, is a matter of who-why-when & where for each individual
shooter because it's the guy or gal holding and owning the gear that
determines the choice. Quite frankly I don't get into the discussion other
than point out personal past & present "work related situations" and leave
it to each his own decision. Have at it folks! :-) 

 

ted