WHY WE USE LENS FILTERS

This is my $1,200 lens after a no good very bad accident on Sunday.

tragedy. kind of.

The part that is broken? A $40 UV filter.

I have one on every lens I own.

You should too.

Because $40 is far less money than $1,200.

I also learned that when it comes to getting a broken lens filter off entrust it to someone who is either A) a professional or B) not emotionally attached to the lens but still values its importance.

The sounds that led to this were horrifying.

I sat across the table from Cody as the most horrible noises known to my ears came from him breaking and prying off the filter. It’s a barbaric process no camera owner should have to witness but take heart that when it is all over your actual lens is still in one piece, unscratched and unscathed.

It took at least an hour for my pulse to slow down.

The guy at the camera store is not trying to steal your money when he suggests a lens filter (UV or skylight is all you need…nothing fancy.) Don’t make me send my mom after you, she’s the one who scolded told me about them in the first place. You can find some for $10 and some for $100. The size you need will be printed on the inside of your lens cap. The one above is a 77 mm.

Lens filters.

Don’t leave home without them.

23 thoughts on “WHY WE USE LENS FILTERS

  1. Ack! The camera store is closed I cannot wait the paranoia overcomes me! Kidding.

    RIP filter. You were a good lad. That’ll do, pig. That’ll do.

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  2. When I was in Europe with my family and husband last year (two years ago?) my Mom went to hand me her (new) beautiful DSLR….and somehow it fell, to cobblestone below, lens first.

    Thank GOODNESS we had a lens filter on. The lens was fine. The filter shattered into a million pieces.

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  3. Oh yes, my camera fell out of my car in Yellowstone and the only thing broken was the filter… Hooray for that $20 that saved my 1.2 prime lens! 🙂 I will never use a lens without a filter ever again!

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  4. Way to give me a stroke first thing in the morning.

    But yes. Traveling in Europe when we lived there, hubs managed to rotate the polarizing filter all the way off and drop it over the fence into the Roman forum. Forgot to buy a new filter and then went to France. Toddler tossing pebbles in the square in front of Chartres cathedral chipped the lens. (Yes, he was ours, yes, he’s still alive.) It’s tiny, but it’s there. 😦

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  5. Whenever I leave the house with camera in hand, Grannie asks if I have my lens filters and clean underwear on.

    I have no idea what one has to do with the other.

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  6. Pretty sure my heart stopped a little when I saw that first shot! Yikes! And YAY for filters. My dad pretty much insisted I get one and after seeing this…I dont think its coming off!

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  7. I rented a lens and it didn’t come with a filter and I didn’t have a filter that fit nor could I get one locally. I was nervous as a cat the entire time I had it.

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