Question on lens and filters.

Inoran

Inoran

Well-known member
I was wondering how dangerous it is if I shoot without any UV or polarized filter. From what i've heard these protect your lens from UV light and without them you can damage your lens. Is it not safe for me to be shooting outside in the snow or places with alot of light? Where can i go localy to get a UV/polarized filter? What size do i need?

I've been told that the outermost lens is very hard to clean. If I get dust on it, is it okay to just wipe it off with my shirt or some cloth (the outermost lens without taking anything apart).
 
Inoran said:
I've been told that the outermost lens is very hard to clean. If I get dust on it, is it okay to just wipe it off with my shirt or some cloth (the outermost lens without taking anything apart).
Click to expand...


NO!! Definitely not. Use a brillo pad.

(J.K. Use extreme care. A search on cleaning lenses will bring up good advise.)

As for UV filter, if I am not mistaken, the DVX has a UV coating on the lens already, but you definitely should put a protective filter on it. Never take it off! Never give your lens a chance to get dirty enough to clean!
 
I personally never use a UV filter anymore. It usually just compromises the picture quality too much. Usually I am shooting with a matte box, which I leave attatched to the camera, and use the french flap as a big lens cap when not using the camera. I will us a UV 4x4 filter if I am shooting outside on a clear day, but I do not have any screw in filters in place. If your shooting indoors, there is really no reason to use a UV filter, unless you are really afraid of some guy throwing a baseball at your camera lens. By the way, do not use your t-shirt, it contains more dust, fibers, and abrasives that will ruin your lens. I personally use disposable lens cleaning tissues, with a little hot breath, and that's it. Use it once, throw it away.
 
As far as I'm aware no pro cameraman ever use UV filters, there is no need and as scharky said it only detracts from the image quality. Use filters/mattebox when the lighting requires it.
 
but is it safe to not use a UV filter in places with alot of light, like shots of the sun? I thought i heard before that ultra violent light can damage your lens and that's why you should use a UV filter. is there anything on can put over the lense like a clear filter or something so that the filter gets dirty and not the lens?
 
I always use a UV filter and I am very happy with the image .
As for pointing at the sun , I believe there was just a Thread on this . Try a search as it was recent . or try looking in the Tech section I think that is where it was ?
Ian
 
versioncity1 said:
As far as I'm aware no pro cameraman ever use UV filters, there is no need and as scharky said it only detracts from the image quality. Use filters/mattebox when the lighting requires it.
Click to expand...

I don't know if you'd consider me a "pro cameraman" or not...I've only been at this a little over twenty years. I've never left my home or television station I worked for in the past without a UV filter on the front of my lens.

It's basic protection for the lens and cheaper to replace a cracked or scratched filter rather than an entire lens.
 
lensmith, I guess your the exception to the rule ?!!!
Just in my experience (Europe/Britain) I've never seen a cameraman use one
 
I think a UV filter, can add a certain quality, of course any glass in-front of the original lens will have some effect. I never used one, until some kids I was working with pushed a wax potato into my lens. Then it shot on believe me...
 
There is no way UV, IR, X-ray, gamma-rays or whatever could damage the lens. It is GLASS. The sensor* might get damaged by too much light, but that's what the ND filters are there for (it is not their main function, though, of course). UV filter only blocks UV, and in the time of film UV caused a blue cast, but I do not think this holds true with digital sensors anymore. Thus the only function would be the protection it affords and the dowside the extra flare it will cause.

For that reason I would take the UV filter OFF when shooting with the sun in the frame...

*) in the manual they warn about pointing the viewfinder towards the sun, the reason being that there is a magnifying glass there, and it would burn the image of the sun on the viewfinder LCD if you were unlucky.
 
I don't care either about any possible damage made by UV-light. But I do care about:

- dustparticles (they can produce scratches even if you don't remove them OR if you remove them in a whiping way)

- sand

- salty water from the sea or in the air near the coast

- water drops from rain (a lot of H2SO4-acid in it...)

- water drops from boat, pool (3 weeks ago I was filming close shots of firebrigade during estinguish...)

- smoke (can contain chemically very HARD carbon-particles that can scratch the lens)

- fat/oil -- from fingerprint, cosmetics etc.

An important aspect is, that the image we see ~20" diameter on television has only a diametre of 55/58/62/72 mm on the lens of the camera. So the particles occupate a space about 30-100 times larger on the image than they look like. They stuck ON the lens, so they are blurry might you say... but it's still a coverage of some percents of the image and it's still a factor that reduces the quality of the picture.

The UV-filter reduces the quality of the picture perhaps even MORE than the possible dust/dirt on the lens - BUT I can clean the UV-filter as much as I want with a microfibre-towel and as much pressure and as less care as I like. I can take the filter in my hand - watch it under a good lamp and clean it as good as I can. And I cannot avoid scratching it, but thanks it's not the dear lens!! - I can throw that filter away and buy a new one whenever I want - it's so cheap and I don't have to care about mixtures of dirt on the objective. If it was a lens, the mixtures are a problem:

- remove GREASE with soft, (special) towel not to scratch lens

- remove dust with an air-pump-brush or a soft brush by taking the dust electrically and NOT in a whiping way for not to scratch the lens

- remove spots from water (salts, minerals) with ??? vinegar? distilled water? dry towel? alcohol? - but with the towel I scratch ANY EVEN MICROSCOPIC particles into the glass... outch!

The UV-filter just leaves me

a) film without beeing afraid of getting some salt-water drops / dirt / dust
b) clean its surface without thinking so much about possible damages

That's for me 2 better reasons than getting possible better picture quality because filtring some "bad" light... I prefer possibly loss of image quality due an UV-filter to a possibly loss of the lens.
 
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