Jean Dantes
Well-known member
A friend recently told me not to buy UV filters, and instead, buy solid clear glass filters (which are cheaper then UV filters) to protect my lenses as digital cameras don't see UV light? Is this true?
Can digital cameras see UV light?
- Thread starter Jean Dantes
- Start date
Efexone
Well-known member
uh, cameras do pick up UV light if its in the right spectrum, like black lights for instance. UV/haze filters dont really affect the image at all unless they are multi-coated (more expensive). if you want a "clear" lens cap so to say, get a haze filter of decent quality (I always pick up Hoya's)
Samuel H
Major Contributor
all DSLRs come with a UV filter built-in over the sensor, so, in general, the answer will be "no"; maybe those filters let some frequencies in, but in general they're just the same as the best quality ones you could screw in front of your lens
the lensrentals blog (written by a guy that knows more about cameras and lenses than I could ever hope to learn) says:
http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2010/12/the-glass-in-front-of-your-glass-all-about-filters
"If you have a Leica M8.2 you need UV/IR filters, etc. but not many other people do, so we’ll limit this to filters of general usefulness"
and then
"UV. There, I listed it. I’m not going to even get into the discussion about lens protection. I just want to point out that the need for UV filters are basically a film need, the majority of digital cameras don’t benefit from filtering UV light. That function is built into the camera. So if you feel the need for a protective filter a UV, clear, haze, skylight or whatever will give you the same benefit."
and, because of that, they won't even rent you a UV filter unless it's for a leica M8.2:
http://www.lensrentals.com/rent/leica/accessories/uv-ir-filter-for-leica-m8.2
"UV/IR filters are only available along with the rental of one of our M-mount lenses"
well... actually they do, but not because of UV light, just as a protector filter:
http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2011/06/good-times-with-bad-filters
the lensrentals blog (written by a guy that knows more about cameras and lenses than I could ever hope to learn) says:
http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2010/12/the-glass-in-front-of-your-glass-all-about-filters
"If you have a Leica M8.2 you need UV/IR filters, etc. but not many other people do, so we’ll limit this to filters of general usefulness"
and then
"UV. There, I listed it. I’m not going to even get into the discussion about lens protection. I just want to point out that the need for UV filters are basically a film need, the majority of digital cameras don’t benefit from filtering UV light. That function is built into the camera. So if you feel the need for a protective filter a UV, clear, haze, skylight or whatever will give you the same benefit."
and, because of that, they won't even rent you a UV filter unless it's for a leica M8.2:
http://www.lensrentals.com/rent/leica/accessories/uv-ir-filter-for-leica-m8.2
"UV/IR filters are only available along with the rental of one of our M-mount lenses"
well... actually they do, but not because of UV light, just as a protector filter:
http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2011/06/good-times-with-bad-filters