Reaching out for some help...lens protection (filters)

[drifter106]

I am to a point where I need to do something for all the lens that I have. Need something to put on the lens to protect the glass. I am familiar with some of the names but don't want to dive into something, spend a lot of cash, and end up with an inferior solution. Have several lens that need the protection for I have been very lucky not to break any glass. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. (IF NOTHING ELSE WHAT BRAND WOULD YOU SUGGEST)

thanks
John

 

[Nick5]

John.
I use the Hoya HD3 UV Filter and the B+W MRC UV for all of my lenses.

 

[3Rotor]

I have mainly used B+W on my lenses when I needed the extra protection against water, oil, dust and debris. Hoya filters as well. I usually just use the hood sans filter for the majority of my use cases.

 

[Capn Jack]

I am to a point where I need to do something for all the lens that I have. Need something to put on the lens to protect the glass. I am familiar with some of the names but don't want to dive into something, spend a lot of cash, and end up with an inferior solution. Have several lens that need the protection for I have been very lucky not to break any glass. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. (IF NOTHING ELSE WHAT BRAND WOULD YOU SUGGEST)

thanks
John

What are you protecting against? My concern is something physically breaking or chipping the front element of a lens and a lens hood keeps things at a distance for the lens.

 

[Mr Chodes]

Funny, to use protection or not can be almost a religion for some!
You may need to consider specific lenses.
Some may need slim filters to avoid vignet.
Some filters can interfere with lens hoods. I believe Breakthrough can have this issue due to ring thickness.
Some filters don't have enough ring depth in front of the glass to avoid scratching from (your) lens caps.

I used to only buy B+W as they're definitely quality and there were a few Chinese sellers offering very good prices.
There were endless discussions on whether these were genuine. You can't fake the weight of brass.
After having a B+W Circ Polariser for years that remained clear and dust free internally I knew that result could not be faked either.
Things have changed and I'm out of the loop.

Warnings I mentioned remain valid. Don't buy a set of filters and find out later you run into any of those problems, eg your all RF lens collection's caps are a poor match for the filters.

 

[aeon]

I use B+W, Breakthrough, and Sigma ceramic, and I have been quite satisfied with all of them, the Sigma most of all—which is good, because at 105 mm, it was a bit precious.

Cheers,
Ian

 

[paddler4]

IMHO, For simple lens protection, you need a good multicoated filter but don't need to pay for a premium brand. You can buy either plain protective filters or UV filters, since UV filters are for all practical purposes just plain glass on digital cameras. I use mostly Marumi and Hoya for this purpose.

ND and polarizing filters are another matter. There (particularly in the case of ND), you can sometimes see differences in performance.