[Leica] part 2

[Jim Brick <jim_brick@agilent.com>]

To begin with, I have to tell you that I use filters a lot. My bags have
dozens of filters. Polarizers, ND, split ND, color grad, warming, cooling,
red, green, yellow, high quality glass, high quality resin, you name it, I
probably have it. Except for Cokin filters and UV filters. I don't like
Cokin filters and UV filters have absolutely no use whatsoever.

I use filters when and only when using a filter will ENHANCE my
photographic result.

Wouldn't it be really silly to use a filter when it has the possibility of
DEGRADING my photographic result?

So why would someone use a UV filter on a modern lens, manufactured from
probably 1960ish to present. Certainly not for the UV inhibiting factor.

This question is answered by Zeiss, Leica, (and all other major lens
manufacturers) as they have all of the UV inhibitors built into both the
lens glass itself and the cement between the elements.

The second part of the question is totally up to you. If you cannot sleep
at night worrying about what might happen to your front lens element, put
something over it. I suggest a lens cap. That is what I use. That is what
they are for. When taking photographs, I use no filter unless the filter
will enhance the photograph in some way.

You cannot protect your camera by having a filter on the lens. Dropping or
otherwise banging a camera will damage the camera, not specifically the
very front of the lens. For every 10,000 camera dents, lens dents, RF
misaligned from whacks, other camera-lens mutilations as a result of
dropping, whacking, banging, there might be one damaged front lens element
(damaged without any metal lens housing being damaged as well.) But I can
tell you exactly how to damage your front lens element without hurting the
lens barrel...

If you have a glass filter, any glass filter (UV filters are glass) in
front of your lens and bash the front of the filter, what do you suppose
will happen. Ask Eric Welch. The filter breaks and the shards of glass are
gashed into the front of the lens, ripping big gouges in the lens coating.
Not a pretty sight. Do you think that something hitting the filter hard
enough to break it is going to retract quickly enough to keep the broken
filter glass away from the lens? No. If it breaks the filter, it is going
to jam it right into your front lens element. How close is the filter to
the lens. A millimeter + or -. If something hits the filter and doesn't
break it, well, it won't break or damage your lens either, if the filter
wasn't there. Front lens elements are mostly recessed. A filter sticks out.
This is not rocket science. The BEST protection is to use your head, use a
lens hood, and of course use filters when "appropriate."

I have been a photographer since 1950. I live on the pacific coast of
California. Neither I, nor any of my colleagues (thousands over the past 50
years) have ever damaged a lens element. I have neither seen  (other than
the broken filter gouging the lens) nor known of anyone bashing only their
front lens element. The salt air and sea/sand spray from the ocean winds
have never been a concern either. I have spent thousands of hours along the
seashore, photographing waves, rock formations, sunsets, seascapes,
wildlife, etc. I still have and use some of the lenses I had at Brooks in
1960. They look today like they looked then. Pristine glass. I breath this
air, and it hits my eyeballs constantly. No damage. If sand starts blowing,
squint your eyes and take the lens cap out of your pocket and put it on the
lens. But this is not going to keep sand and dust from getting into your
camera mechanism and lens mechanism. To me, protecting the workings of my
camera and workings of my lens is a much bigger concern than treating the
front, recessed, small piece of glass as some sacred spot. You can pour
water on the front element of your lens. Tip it over and pour it off. Wipe
it dry. But don't do this with any other part of your camera.

Hasselblad is built in a factory located in an ocean side city. I attended
Brooks Institute of Photography, Santa Barbara CA, and ocean side city. Do
Brooks Students use "protection" filters? No. We were taught to only use a
filter to enhance some aspect of the photograph. Brookie's spend an
inordinate amount of time photographing along the beach, seashore, and in
boats. Where's the damage? There is none.

I live in the same area that Ansel Adams lived. I have spent time with him,
while photographing along the California coast. He was a very nice person
and used lots of filters. But never a UV filter. Not on his view camera
lenses, not on his Hasselblad lenses, not on his Conterex lenses, and not
on his Leica lenses. He used filters ONLY to enhance a photograph. Quite
often a deep red to darken the sky against the white clouds. Quite often, none.

Why don't Large Format photographers use "protection" filters? A large view
camera on a tripod is far more unstable than a Hasselblad or Leica. I have
seen view camera disasters. Falling forward while on a tripod. What is
leading the fall. The lens. I have never heard of a view camera lens (the
glass) being hurt. Camera standards yes, lenses no. LF photographers don't
use UV filters because they know better. And they have not been sold a
"bill of goods" by the camera stores. Camera stores make a maximum of 5%
profit on camera and lenses. They make up to 200% profit on filters.

I have taught several Leica workshops for a professional camera store in
San Francisco. I was told specifically: "DO NOT TELL THE PARTICIPANTS THAT
THEY SHOULD NOT BUY UV PROTECTION FILTERS."  I said "why." And they
answered "because they are a high profit item that adds to the total profit
when we sell a lens." Straight from the horses mouth!

This whole UV protection filter game is a gimmick. UV filters do not
"protect" anything except the store's bottom line.

Modern lens coatings are quite hard. You can clean your lens every day with
a microfiber cloth and never damage the coating. Some lenses before
1960 (specifically some Leica lenses) had soft coatings. This is why you
will sometimes see a Leica lens advertised saying "cleaning marks." These
are old lenses. You cannot damage a modern lens, unless you specifically
try to damage it. Like putting a filter over it and then smashing the filter.

If you are lackadaisical when driving your car, you can expect to be
involved in fender benders. If you are lackadaisical when handling your
equipment, you can expect to damage something. Usually the finder, film
back, side of the lens (f/stop ring, shutter ring, focus ring), but it
would take a certain talent to zero in on just the front element. In fifty
years, I have yet to see this happen. I've seen many dented cameras and
lenses that won't focus. But no smashed front lens elements. One smashed
filter that resulted in a damaged front lens element.

Someone told me that they knew of someone that bashed the front element of
their lens, so this is why they have a "protection" filter on their lens. I
told them that I know two people that dropped their camera in a lake, and
one in the ocean. The M3 that I personally have is a replacement, by
Wetzlar, for an M3 that tried to swim in a lake. I also know a person that
dropped their camera out of an airplane during an aerial photography shoot.
Does this mean that I should put a flotation jacket on my camera when near
water, or a parachute on my camera when doing aerial photography? No. There
isn't anything that someone, somewhere hasn't done. Does this mean that you
are going to do it? Most likely not.

Use a lens cap when not photographing. Take the lens cap off to take
photographs. Use filters to enhance your photographic result when possible.
When no enhancement is possible, use no filter.

I use filters a lot! But I am very careful of where, when, and why. Do what
Leica says. Don't point a filter at a bright light source or high contrast,
bright scene.

But above all, be true to yourself. If you really feel that having a UV
filter over your lens gives you the piece of mind to not worry about your
lens, then by all means, use the filter. The best quality money can buy.
Just be aware that there are numerous photographic situations that a filter
will cause a marked degradation of image quality and possibly lens damage.
You should be knowledgeable of these situations because any filter, not
just a UV filter, has the potential of causing you grief. Not using a
filter can never cause you grief.

Jim