Does anyone not using front lens cap for quick street photography?

rustyair · Aug 11, 2012

Hi,

I'm thinking of getting a B+W UV filter for my Mamiya 7 65mm F/4 lens and forget the front lens cap for faster action street photography.

Does anyone do that? Or is it bad idea?

Thanks,

ann · Aug 11, 2012

I am not a fan of using a UV filter or even the plain glass types on the lens. Others will disagree, but in over 64 years I have never damaged a lens.

andrew.roos · Aug 11, 2012

I usually use a lens shade but no cap. The shade protects the lens against the occasional bump better than a filter would.

rustyair · Aug 11, 2012

ann said:
I am not a fan of using a UV filter or even the plain glass types on the lens. Others will disagree, but in over 64 years I have never damaged a lens.

Can i ask you why you are not fan of them?

BrianShaw · Aug 11, 2012

rustyair said:
Can i ask you why you are not fan of them?

It is a religious thing. Some people are devout to one belief or another.

BrianShaw · Aug 11, 2012

Like Ann, I have never wrecked a lens. Given a druther, I'd rather have a lens hood than a protective filter. The truth is that I have protective filters on all lenses in use since the early 1980's because that was the mantra back then and I've never bothered to remove them. All of my lenses have lens hoods though. I have seen big differences between hood and no-hood, but no differences between protective filter and no-protective filter.

cliveh · Aug 11, 2012

rustyair said:
Can i ask you why you are not fan of them?

I also don't like using a UV filter. I understand the prime reason for protecting the lens, but if you are a mad purist like me , you don't want anything effecting the refractive index of your lens. However, a lens hood is a must.

jp498 · Aug 11, 2012

I use uV filters instead of lens caps for most of my lenses. If it's multicoated clean filter, it's good. I've destroyed one filter to save a $1200 lens once. I'm a believer.

rustyair · Aug 11, 2012

Those of you who don't use UV filter, Do you have to clean the front element? How often do you clean?

ann · Aug 11, 2012

rustyair said:
Can i ask you why you are not fan of them?

Degrades quality of the image, I do use a lens hood, all the time, inside, outside always.

This is a topic that is highly debated and split into two seriously passionate groups of people so it may be difficult to get unbaise opinions.

BrianShaw · Aug 11, 2012

Rusty, that depends entirely upon the environment. Sometimes I go months without ever needing of cleaning my "unprotected" lens. Ohter times, like in high dust or salt spray areas, I might need to clean the lens once every couple of hours. By clean, I often just blow it off with my mouth and only do more if I can't keep the saliva in my mouth. In terms of a real cleaning with a brush, solution, and lens paper... very rarely, maybe even extremely rarely.

Jeff Kubach · Aug 11, 2012

To clean my lens I go through a car wash!

Jeff

cliveh · Aug 11, 2012

rustyair said:
Those of you who don't use UV filter, Do you have to clean the front element? How often do you clean?

Yes, this is quite important and I would say about every month or so. But this of course depends on how often you use the camera.

Peltigera · Aug 11, 2012

rustyair said:
Hi,

I'm thinking of getting a B+W UV filter for my Mamiya 7 65mm F/4 lens and forget the front lens cap for faster action street photography.

Does anyone do that? Or is it bad idea?

Thanks,

I use a lens cap while I am walking into town but it comes off and goes in my pocket as soon as I start shooting. You can't be taking the lens cap on and off between pictures, can you.

On the UV filter thing, I theoretically use them but in real life I just cannot afford one for each lens - it would eat into my film budget too much.

pgomena · Aug 11, 2012

I only use protective filters when shooting at the beach, where salt spray settles on everything 24 hours a day. Otherwise, I always use a lens hood. Why put a $20 piece of glass in front of a $600 lens? It increases flare and unwanted reflections. I've never damaged a lens, even when using 35mm gear daily for newspaper work. When shooting, all my lenses get carried face-down in a padded bag with the lens hood on, no cap or filter, back cap on. I clean them when they need cleaning, which is not that often, unless I've been out in the aforementioned salt spray.

Does it make a noticeable difference? Test the lens with and without a filter, in flat light and in high-flare conditions. See which you prefer.

Peter Gomena

rustyair · Aug 11, 2012

ann said:
This is a topic that is highly debated and split into two seriously passionate groups of people so it may be difficult to get unbaise opinions.

I didn't know that!

Bill Burk · Aug 11, 2012

How can I stand up for both Ann and BrianShaw without appearing to waffle?

For filters:
I like to get lenses that had UV filters on them, even if the filter is wrecked... The glass underneath is pristine. And I like to clean lenses that had UV filters on them, because a puff of air is all it takes. And if the filter is dirty I can clean it with the edge of a t-shirt because it's just a filter.

For lens hoods:
I don't know of any shots ruined by filters, but clearly some could have used a lens hood. Taking off a filter removes two reflective surfaces... But when a lens hood eliminates a reflection, it removes it from all the surfaces.

Against filters:
Two reflective surfaces that can degrade image quality. Harder to close some camera cases. Harder to adjust aperture of some lenses. Potential for vignetting when combined with lens hood.

If in doubt, if you think it will ruin a picture, take the filter off! You're paying attention to what you are doing, unless there is a sandstorm or ocean mist, you will not ruin the lens. Then you can put it back on when you toss the camera in the back of the car - where the real danger lies.

Gerald C Koch · Aug 11, 2012

rustyair said:
Those of you who don't use UV filter, Do you have to clean the front element? How often do you clean?

More lenses have been damaged by zealous cleaning than from any accident. Loose dust can be blow off using a baby ear syinge. The only time to clean a lens is when there is a greasy mark on it.

Bill Burk · Aug 11, 2012

rustyair said:
Those of you who don't use UV filter, Do you have to clean the front element? How often do you clean?

I clean the front and back very carefully before any important shoot. But I allow a little dust to accumulate on a trip where I know I might be less careful cleaning. When I am out, I will clean if a fingerprint appears - those degrade quality and can be harder to clean if you postpone it.

benjiboy · Aug 11, 2012

I carry my lenses without front lens caps with a clear multi- coated protection filter on them and the hood fitted face down in my camera bag with just a back cap on them I never clean the front elements of the lenses they are clean already, I only clean the protection filters once in a while.

hadeer · Aug 11, 2012

Using filters as protection, you will never have to clean a lens with that fragile anti-flare coating on it. Combined with a lens shade the risk of flare is minimal imo. I often clean the filter surface with whatever comes to hand and throw the filter out when it starts to show signs of wear. Lenses still pristine after 30 years of service.

BrianShaw · Aug 11, 2012

Bill Burk said:
How can I stand up for both Ann and BrianShaw without appearing to waffle?

Well... here's how I do it:

(Ann) I totally agree with her when it comes to my large format lenses.

(Brian) I totally agree with him when it comes to my 35mm lenses.

(Ann and Brian) I totally agree with both of them when it comes to my medium format lenses because half have filters and half do not.

easy-peasy!

Poisson Du Jour · Aug 11, 2012

For street photography you should have nothing on the lens, certainly not a lens cap, because it's all about spontaneity. A high quality UV filter will not impart any great degradation on your images: match the filter quality to the quality of the lens.

Matthew Wagg · Aug 11, 2012

I only ever use filters when they're needed. I use a yellow green filter for street work when I'm shooting black and white. But for colour I rarely ever use any. I might put an 81a on if it's a bit overcast or a uv one on if I know there's a lot of depth to the shots but they're hardly ever on.

pbromaghin · Aug 11, 2012

A green filter for street work? Interesting. Your subjects must get some rather extreme complexions.

Does anyone not using front lens cap for quick street photography?

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