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Articles Table of Contents   Page 1: Filters for Protection, Polarization, Infrared and Ultraviolet Page 2: Tips for Buying Filters Page 3: Do Filters Degrade Image Quality? Page 4: Color balance of UV filters. Page 5: Neutral Density Filters Page 6: Filter—B+W UV 010 UV (clear) Page 7: Zeiss UV Filter Page 8: Zeiss Circular Polarizer Page 9: Filter—B+W 103 0.9 ND, 3-stop neutral density Page 10: Filter—Hoya HMC Super UV 0 (clear) Page 11: Filter—B+W 091 Deep Red Page 12: Filter—B+W 092 Infrared Pass Page 13: Filter—B+W 093 Infrared Pass Page 14: Filter—Hoya R72 Infrared Pass Page 15: Filter—B+W 486 UV-IR Cut Interfence Filter Page 16: Filter—B+W 489 Infrared Cut Page 17: Filter—B+W 415 and 420 UV Cut Page 18: Filter—Baader Venus Ultraviolet Cut Page 19: Filter—Kenko DR655 Infrared Cut Page 20: Filter—B+W 403 Ultraviolet Pass Page 21: Filter—Baader Venus Ultraviolet Pass Page 22: Filter—Baader Venus II Ultraviolet Pass Page 23: Filter—XNite BPG 750nm Infrared Bandpass Page 24: Filter—XNite BPG 830nm Infrared Bandpass Page 25: Filter—XNite BPG 950nm Infrared Bandpass

Do Filters Degrade Image Quality?

As I’ve begun to shoot more and more top-notch lenses, such as the Zeiss ZF/ZF.2/ZE lenses for Canon and Nikon, I’ve stopped using filters except when there is sand/dust and/or salt spray or similar hazards.

Protect your lens from salt spray, blowing sand, and kids fingers — use a filter!

Don’t bother with a filter if there is no hazard!

Especially with stellar “glass” like the Zeiss ZF/ZE line, and Leica APO lenses and Coastal Optics 60/4 APO, my working assumption has been that quality filters probably have no discernible effect, but then again they aren’t going to help things either.

Note that by “filters” I mean only the very best quality ones like the Schneider Optics B+W MRC line. Obviously, single-coated and/or primitive multi-coated filters are something I’m not going to entertain as an option, except in infrared, where single-coating is superior.

See my list of recommended filters.

The scene below shows increased veiling flare and degradation of image contrast with the filter (mouse over and out). The filter wasn’t spotless, but most photographers would consider it clean enough to not have bothered cleaning it. So at the least, a less than pristine filter does degrade image quality.

The rollover below shows the results with and without the filter.