another point is the "instant clean" option of unscrewing a filter. if you work with animals or kids with dirty fingers, you would be surprised on how great it is to be able to clean the filter with sand/crap on it with a cloth on the spot (without worrying with scratching the lens) or just to be able to unscrew it and have a mint lens front element ready to shoot.

The point of UV filters is mistakenly thought to be the protection of the front element against impact damage. The actual point of the filter is to protect the element against the slow wear of constant cleaning! When the front element is coated, and most of them are, the coating is much more prone to scratching and hazing overtime than the glass itself. Unavoidably, even with activated carbon cleaning sponges (like the lenspen) one is using mild abrasives to clean the element. At some point and if one cleans the lens very often, it becomes more and more likely to scratch or haze the front element, especially when using the lens in harsh environments where sand is a possibility. Having a uv filter on there means you can afford to pay lens attention to the cleanliness of the lens and clean it quicker and less carefully than if you had no filter on. And if you scratch it or damage it it is 'quicker", "simpler" and cheaper to replace the filter. So a scratch on the lens doesn't mean you have to go without a lens for a while. A drop is a drop... no uv filter will save your internals from damage. Not saying you HAVE to use them. Just saying what the actuall point of the uv filter is

I tried this at home with all my lenses and you are correct.😢

Just watched this again. Great info. At the risk of being called a pixel peeper, I have noted image degradation with UV filters with all but the best filters. Doing a lot of bird photography often requires significant cropping so I do use B+W filters almost exclusively. That said, I use UV filters primarily to protect the front element from dust/moisture as I would rather clean a filter than a front element. By the way, your wildlife book is top notch. I am on my third read. Casey

Great video and I'm firmly in the "no" camp for UV filters - with one caveat. If you read the manual on many lenses they actually state that the weatherproofing built into the lens is only complete when a filter is fitted. So, if you're out and about and need the weatherproofing, you will also need some kind of filter on the front of your lens.

Well said! Best protection is to use the lens hood, always!

A couple of months ago, I dropped my Fujifilm X100T on a concrete sidewalk. The camera landed on the cheap third-party lens hood and the camera was not damaged in any way. I invested another 12 bucks in a new hood and everything is as good as new. The bit of advice about lens hoods, at the end of the video, is right on the mark IMHO.

Another excellent video. Thanks for all the time, effort, and money you put into doing these tests for us. Never saw anyone else do anything like this. Your videos are the best! Keep up the good work!

Thanks Steve, your videos are amazingly useful. Zero dislikes on a KZfaq video is an evidence of quality and a sign of respect for your work!

Just don't walk around places where there are metal rods flying around. Problem solved.

Breaking all these lens makes me sad. :(

Because I grew up in a photography studio owned by my father, I've always just purchased a clear glass filter when buying a new lens.. Nikon or Hoya... I just figured that's what you do. I want to thank you Steve, I think I'm going to remove them.... heck, the lens hood is probably protection enough. Your demo showing that filterless lens shots actually have more data in them is important to me. Going unprotected starting today. Thumbs up on this video... have a great day!

Any thin piece of flat glass will easily shatter with a direct impact. One thing that you didn't test for, and no-one seemed to comment on: was that from my experience, the majority of lens drops result in front edge impacts, not with the face of the front element. I've dropped a Pentax 645 (film) from +3 feet, onto a hardwood floor, and only the front filter bit it. The aluminum ring of the filter absorbed the impact, and the camera/lens was fine. As others have mentioned, I really use the filters as a first line of defence against grit, dirt, grease, sand, etc. I'm sorry, but when I've forked over +$2000.00 for premium glass, I believe a modest investment ($70.00-$100.00) in a top of the line, brass rimmed, schott glass MC filter is more than worth it. And when selling, I'm able to advertise the glass as "100% perfect/as new" condition, without the slightest imperfection. Priceless. ;~)

I still use a UV filter to help give some protection the front element from liquids ,dust, sand, oil from fingers, small scratches, rain etc.

Great video Steve. It lends support to what I've had to learn myself. I only wish I'd known all this 5 years ago when I took up photography after retiring and spending a lot of money on expensive UV filters. I also thought I had to protect my lenses - Insurance is more important. However, I also gave them up about 2 years ago for similar reasons (increased flaring, reflections and vignetting) and use sparingly when needed. Thanks

This is a GREAT video and test! Thank you!

My personal experience is that in the one mishap I had, our dog pulled the camera off our coffee table onto a tile floor because the camera strap was hung over the side of the table. In this case, the UV filter took the brunt of the fall with the glass cracking, and the filter edge getting bent. Because the filter would not screw out of the lens, I had to cut out the metal ring carefully with some wire cutters and bend it inwards away from the lens threads. Once I did that, I was able to screw another UV filter into the lens without any issues. My lens suffered no damage thankfully. Several suggestions / learnings from this video that I completely agree with are: 1) use a lens hood whenever possible to protect the lens. 2) Dont stack filters, and 3) remove the UV filter when shooting at night.

Thanks for the time and expense of doing these tests. I thankfully have not dropped any of my lenses such that the front of the lens hits an object at 90 degrees to the surface of the front of the lens/filter combo. I have on a few occasions banged the edge of the front of the lens with a filter attached and only the edge of the filter was crunched with zero damage to the lens proper. Of course this is only an advantage if I later decide to sell the lens since the lens worked just fine afterward. Also I have occasioned to have the front of the lens brush up against a branch while out in the field shooting birds and although it likely would not have damaged the front element of the lens it gave me psychological comfort in knowing that it didn't damage the coating on the front element of the lens. All the above said I've found that the biggest drawback is the occasional flare and associated light reflections connected with using a filter. Thus, that part of your test has given me good reason to seriously consider leaving the filter off altogether or at the minimum removing it when shooting scenes where there's a good chance of flare.

8 years later - this is still the most comprehensive thing I have seen about camera filters today(2024), aside from the 2017 article by lensrentals that measured light transmission. I realize it's not entirely scientific, but it is still WAY more effort I have seen anyone put into researching this and I appreciate it so much.

I use a Nikon clear filter on some of my lens depending on the application. I also use the lens hood since it provides protection from accidental dings and pings.I see quite a bit of work to produce this video. Thank you for all the hard work and sharing.

great vídeo, I know that a filter won't save my lens but I still use them to store them without caps because I'm lazy and to avoid scratches. I hate scratches on my lenses

Very interesting. Thanks for the video and all the work and destruction that went into making or... de-making it! ;-) I don't think the comparison to paper as any kind of a reference works here because the paper is flexible, stretched across a larger area, suspended by 3.5x3.5" wood blocks that are not fixed/rigid. This means that when your shuttle rod hits it, the paper is pushed down, pulling horizontally on the edges of the paper along it's length and strong axis, and pulls the blocks inward at the top. This dissipates the shuttles impact and provides a lot of dampening and thus it takes much more force to break through the paper than it would if you had the paper suspended (and glued) over a smaller area to a fixed support, like say a round metal hoop atop your steel pipe base. Then your shuttle rod would punch through very easily from a much lower drop. Unlike paper, glass is very rigid and brittle. it will crack and break easily with frontal impacts. It does provide great strength parallel to its surface though and can distribute impact around the ring when a lens is impacted at the front from the side. (I've had a lens drop where this in fact happened and it did save my lens from serious front end bending). For what it's worth, I use filters just because I can easily clean them with my shirt and not worry about scratches cleaning or small impacts/abrasions in the field. I've had two lenses damaged that way and none of 7 lenses in 20 years since using a filter as light protection. Thanks again.

Nicely done! I agree with your conclusion to use one when it's beneficial for some reason. There are accident scenarios that folks come up with on either side of this argument that support having a filter on or not. Your testing demonstrates that lenses are pretty tough without needing a filter. I have never damaged a lens (or a filter) but, I have taken pictures only to discover flare or ghosting off the back of a filter that I didn't account for when I took the shot. Your test demonstrates the risk of damaging a front element is not as high as one might think. Glass is really hard to scratch. Just for fun I just checked and I don't see any scratches on my front storm door pane and it's been up for a couple of years. I guarantee it has been bumped numerous times with things I wouldn't get close to a lens with.

Excellent video Steve! I gave up my UV filters several years ago due to lens flare and, it seems to me, a little bit of degradation. Also, I have insurance for my gear and it didn't make sense to put up with the hassle. I do still carry them for the same reasons you stated in your conclusions. If I'm wiping water spray off my lens every shot because of wave spray, it just seems easier to do that with the filter. When I started out, I had a lens fall from the back floor of the car, onto the road and the filter cracked. At the time, I thought it had probably done it's job but I think your test prove otherwise. Neat video.

Well done, Steve. Thank you for your time, effort, and expense to accomplish this test. I purchased UV filters for each lens in my kit when I bought them. They are coming off only to be used for the types of situations you mentioned. Not to fault photo gear shops but UV filters for new lenses are offered up like the add-ons they put on a new car. It is a means of making a bit more money in this age of thin profit margins however, as you've proven, they do not do accomplish their intended role.

The only time I use a UV filter is when I'm walking around in a crowded city or shooting at the beach to protect the lens from sea mist. Any other times the filter is off and the lens hood is on.

Great video Steve ! Amazing ! Thx - it answers a lot of my questions. Keep going!!

Steve, I find your delivery style and information provided very enjoyable and useful. Concise and well-paced. Keep up the great work.

One situation where I like to use a protector filter, is when I go to photograph birds or seals at the beach. I often photograph near the surf and I prefer not to have to clean salt off the front element of my lens. In all other situations, I don't use filters for protection, but in all situations, I use lens hoods for protection.

I love your videos Steve, as usual informative, fun and bound to set off lots more arguments :)

Steve: thank you for making this test and providing this video. People who *understand* it will be able to take better decisions about when to use a filter or not. Great work!

Many Thanks for the testing you have done and the way you present the results. I just became a new subscriber after watching your video on histograms.

Thanks a lot Steve for the wonderful detailed explanation of the matter! Very helpful! God bless you man!

I agree a UV filter offers only slight advantage to breakage and may degrade the image slightly. I expect flare from the filter as well because it is the front element. However, I use one to protect the lens and on occasion my polarizer from fumes and steam. I was in Yellowstone shooting geysers close up. If you have ever done that you will discover three things 1) no matter how long you wait, a geyser will not erupt until you start walking away 2) the steam always wafts to you and 3) you are surrounded by many people without regard to and completely unconscious of your presence (they just want to stand where you are). I did not want to take a chance with the front element of my lens. The steam is highly mineralized, I cannot say what effect it may have on the lens coating exactly but it could precipitate a difficult to remove mineral coating on it and I don't want to unnecessarily risk damage to my polarizer. So in effect I use a UV to protect may lens and will stack one over the polarizer. In both cases I could live with image degradation. Bear in mind there are no camera stores in Yellowstone, nor in the vicinity. Any camera related "stuff" at the "trading post" is over priced and under powered, especially SD cards. I liked your test equipment, I would add that instead of a metal bar, fix a piece of granite or limestone to the device and try the test again. In my experience I have noticed that the rim of the filter gets scratched from sitting down and letting the camera drag across a rock or bench. I think better that than the rim of the lens itself. Instead of a lens cap, I think the UV offers protection to the occasional branch swipe when hiking through dense foliage. I have yet to break one that way, but I have gotten pine tree resin or other crud on it. And I've lost a fair amount of snap on lens caps. Anyway that's why I would recommend a UV or clear filter.

Great video Steve! I strongly suspected what you have so clearly shown, but nevertheless still use UV filters quite a bit to avoid having to clean the front element too often. It makes sense to take them off when it is safe to do so. I did have an experience taking match-flare pictures where the sulphur sparks stuck to, and damaged, a UV filter on my macro lens, and I was very glad that I had it on. I had another experience where my lens hood saved my 70-200 f2.8 when it fell off the front of my camera onto concrete! They make excellent shock absorbers..Keep up the great work, there's nothing like your stuff for Nikon wildlife shooters elsewhere! Cheers, Robin.

Cheaper to replace a scratched filter then repair a scratched lens

Excellent video. If I'm working around drills and engineering equipment I don't think I'll bother with a filter. But at the beach, outback, or working fast (stuffing lenses in/out pouches), or confined heavy-traffic areas - I'll still use a filter. If I'm on a job and the lens gets scratched, I go home and lose a client. If I scratch a filter, I take it off and keep shooting, happy client pays the bill and I buy another filter.

Steve...thank you for making this video. I stumbled on to it when it started after watching a Tony Northrup video on the same UV filter subject. You present a much better argument on when to use and not use a filter, the benefits of the filter and disadvantages. In fact, I think some of the flare and ghosting I've seen in some of my photos are a result of the UV filter. As an engineer I appreciate the thought you put into the testing method, the establishing of a baseline altitude and how you maintained many of the variables constant. It was not a pretty effective test and one that generated results I can accept. Besides, it looks like you had way too much fun smashing lenses! lol

Steve - When I worked at a camera store many years ago in another lifetime, there were spiffs for selling filters at list price. Two bucks in your pocket for every filter at list. Now, this was in the late 70's, but making hourly plus commission plus spiffs like that did add up. Sometimes it's all I can do to keep from throttling the sales persons and Samy's and sometimes, I can't help myself when they're just outright lying to their customers.

OMG! Really informative. Great work. Thanks Steve.

WOW! I'm amazed at your job! Thank you very much. It pretty much answers all my doubts about UV filter protection. Really amazing, Cheers!

Hi Steve, thanks very much for the comprehensive video. I am pleased that toward the end you did advocate protecting the front lens element when at the coast or in inclement weather conditions. Now I have throughout the years made a qualitative comparison between to UV Haze Filter or not to UV Haze Filter, and I have discovered that using a UV Haze Filter does produce a slight increase in the warmth of colors. Not many of us expect to put our equipment in the precarious situation of having to endure an impact with the G Forces that you so well presented, however there is some comfort in having the filter on. I suppose I could give it a shot and leave off a UV Haze Filter on my most inexpensive lens and see where it takes me. Once again, a wonderful video, and I cannot help but wonder if you might have a formal degree in Mechanical Engineering. Well executed. Regards, Tony

always good information, and great video. Thanks for your hard work on this and your other videos. Yes I'm a Fan.......

Great video Steve. Good approach and interesting conclusions!

Great video Steve!! Thanks for taking the time and expense in putting this video together. I was anxious to see how you handled this topic because there are so many tangents to the topic, especially construction and type of the filter and lens which can complicate arriving at a reasonable conclusion. The other videos I've seen addressing the same topic weren't as thorough as your "non-scientific" approach to the topic, lol.

Great video, Steve. I can say first hand that i experienced a UV lens breakage when i accidentally dropped my camera bag holding my Nikon 70-200 VR with a UV lens from about 2 feet off the concrete floor. The UV lens cracked and the front threads were damaged/bent. The front element turned out to be alright in the end. I ended up forcing the front thread off the lens and replacing that myself.

Man... I wish I saw your video before buying all those UV filters. Great job, so far you are the only one who did real experiments to prove how much more fragile those filters are compared to the front element.

Thank you Steve for your tests to give me an idea when and how to use - or not use - UV filters. Thank you teacher.

Excellent Video....Thank you for your HARD WORK in this very informative video.

Thanks Steve for another informative and well produced video. Your conclusions mirror my own experience but I would add one more point. I once dropped a camera, causing the filter to smash. The front element was scratched but by the broken glass from the filter. So in this case the filter caused rather than prevented damage. I still use filters, clear not UV, for the reason you mentioned - protection from dirt etc.. I feel less anxious about cleaning filters than I do lenses. Which brings me to a question. What methods do you recommend for cleaning filters and lenses. I have read conflicting recommendations- air, brush, fluids, papers..

This is so great, thank you so much!

On some lenses like the Canon 50mm 1.2 you need a UV filter to get the weather sealing.

One point that Steve that did not cover is the likelihood of damaging your lens from a busted filter, as shown these filters crack and shatter very easily, I have seen a number of cases where these glass shards have scratched lens coating. For example a very minor side impact that breaks the filter could lead to a scratched lens from the glass shards, even though there was no front impact. I agree with Steve, I don't use them unless the environment dictates it.

Excellent coverage steve, thanks. I think I'll look for some clear copy paper to protect my lenses :-)

Steve, Another outstanding presentation. Thanks for doing this.

I would still use some filter, just to protect the front element from tiny abrasive particles like sand etc, to protect from scratches etc

Thank you for sharing your test results. As you mentioned, I have had my lens saved several times, not by the filter, but by the lens hood. However, I had my lens saved once while at Yellowstone photographing Old Faithful. I cleaned the filter shortly after taking the pictures because of the water spray, but the acid in the water had already etched the filter, an expensive Nikon polarizing filter.

Excellent tutorial. Thank you for this.

Very informative and detailed explaination! I was tempted to say something snide like "just don't drop your lenses". While that's ALWAYS good advice, this video did open my mind to situations where a filter could be useful.

very in depth explanation. thanks.

thanks Steve, awesome video, very informative, learned a lot with just one video, I agree that UV filters are a pain to switch when using along NDs and Polarizers. Thanks again. Will definitely give your book a look, wanna learn more about wild life shooting . :)

I use the filters more for scratch protection rather than impact but I do remove for night pics. Like the vid tho !!

Very interesting and thanks for doing the testing , well done bravo

Excellent video, very educational. Thank you..

Excellent, if a bit long winded ;) video. Matches my own experiences during 35 years of editorial photography. Good work!

Informative video. Thank you 🍻

Great video! subscribed. After watching this I don't think I personally have much of a need for a UV filter.

Great 👍🏻 video -- thanks for doing this as it really helped me make a decision.

Just returned a Hoya "HD3" UV filter after one outing at sunset. Flares galore! Like others, I also just ended up insuring my entire kit with a personal articles policy for like $5/month.

This is truly excellent. This is one of the most honest/unbias videos I have seen. My experience is exactly the same. I see no significant differences in sharpness when a quality filter is used. Tiffen is generally pretty poor performing. B+W, Hoya, and Nikon Neutral Clear perform much better. In shooting conditions with direct sources of light filters will introduce more flaring then a naked lens and should be removed; even the best ones. The impact test is interesting, but are people really worried about impact protection? My understanding is nobody is using a filter for impact protection. I use a filter when shooting outdoors. It is worth the money in those situations. Especially when you are shooting in the desert where there is a lot of dust or dirt or on the beach with sand and salt. It's easier to remove the filter, rinse under water if necessary and then clean. B+W MRC Nano are exceptional here. They are very easy to clean. Much easier than the front element. Whether you use a clear filter, uv or polarizer doesn't matter if your intent is outdoor shooting and easy cleaning. Of course, each of those filters is different.

Excellent video Steve! I think the paper might have broken a little more easily is the wood it was taped to was weighed down. It looked like the paper and wood caved it allowing a little impact to be absorbed. If the paper was tight during impact and not allowed to move I think you would have seen the paper much more easily. But, regardless this was an excellent video and I am sure like like myself, many of us wishes would had the time to do something like this testing. Thanks so much for taking the time to do so and for sharing. Much appreciated!

Thank you for actually doing this test :-D

Excellent and very informative video thank you!

Very informative video Steve ... and I love the eBook too!

The was a great video and thank you for putting it together and answering questions about some things that all of us wonder. You took the time to go get the lens to break, the filters, etc and it is much appreciated. I only take exception with one thing and it's in your conclusions in which you think its just anecdotal evidence that the filters broke instead of the lens because they "are much easier to break". Well yes, but they serve as a barrier of breakage when it sits above the lens. Whatever broke the filter might have been prevented from breaking the lens by the mere act of breaking the filter. I am not saying that this happens every time for sure and in reality, I am sure sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't but its definitely at least in the mind, and probably in reality a breakage benefit to have some sort of filter on top of the lens. Especially on action cams and UAV cams, IMHO.

for my DSLR, I don't use one for the reason you state, but I use a mirrorless for cycling. It has a pancake and I slide the camera into my pocket where it gets sweaty and sand on it etc on it all the time -- the filter has been a great move for that use case.

Thank you for covering the filter thread aspect. I don't see many use that argument for UV filters.

Very informative video. I've always used Nikon NC filters on all of my lenses since my Nikon F Photomic FTN days, for protection. I don't know if the NC (Neutral Color) filter is considered a UV filter. I prefer the heavy brass Nikon filter housing to the cheaper aluminum ones. I also use the Hoya Fusion One Protector filters. Again, I'm not sure if they are considered a UV filter. Anyway, you answered my question...should I remove my NC filter when using my Polarizing filter.

breaking things, so we can safe money. Love it. Thanks for the great video. Definetly subbed.

Thank you Steve, very informative.

loved this video finally proof of what i always thought to be true and so much destruction i would have loved to have done a test like this myself thanks for going so in depth grate video

Thanks, Steve. A lot of work! Useful information. Enjoying your Secrets book, by the way. RCA

I always use lens hoods so am not worried about impact damage. I DO worry about smears, dust & stuff like pollen. The answer for me is to remove protective filters for many low light shots to cut out reflections but to also buy decent filters for decent lenses. Many photographers use square filter systems rather than screw-on ones anyway. Why do filters attach by threads anyway? Couldn't bayonet be made low-profile?

First Steve, I’m a big fan. I like your reviews better than anybody’s but this one is ridiculous. No one is trying to protect their lens from flying bullets. It’s the greasy fingers, grit and everything else that finds it’s way onto that beautifully polished piece of glass leading the way to your subject. A filter is a removable, and or disposable barrier that shields the most vulnerable part of your lens from all that crap and when it becomes fouled and you need to get your shot, you can quickly set it aside exposing a pristine piece of glass ready to clearly capture the moment. No need to rush trying to clean the filter till an opportunity presents itself. As you said, it’s almost impossible to tell the difference between pictures taken with or without one with the exception of shooting directly into harsh light. That’s where the filter comes off, or buy a good one. But not to close negatively, I really do appreciate the good work you do.

Fantastic video, I shared it with my camera club. I am a no filter guy, unless the environment calls for it. Dust, water, kids! But everyone has their own choice to make. Shooting about 30 years semi-pro, I have never scratched or broken a front element as I used a hood 100% of the time, and lens cap 100% of the time I am not shooting...

Thanks Steve, great video.

About sharpness is also worth asking, what is best: A mint front element with all its coatings and a new uv filter or a naked lens that has been cleaned so many times that the front element coating is all cracked and missing on the center?....

I have saved several lenses. My 6x7 45mm, my 200mm lens, twice and a zoom I was using. I have also had ghosting issues with filters so there not always ideal.

Hi David. Please help. I am an amateur and I would like to know if the uv filter helps in any way if one is shooting in program mode underneath a shed where sunlight filters through polycarbon sheets. I found that my pictures has a slight haze. Do you think I would need a uv filter? Thanks.

Another great video! Thanks Steve. It is scientific enough for me. I never shoot without a lens hood.

I use to use UV filters for the purpose of keeping things off of the front element including little bumps when I am hiking. Some lenses are listed as requiring a UV filter as a part of their weather sealing. The Canon 16-35mm L for instance but I don't own any of those lenses anymore. Great video and more scientific than the argument of "yes it does" "no it doesn't"

It had to be done, and you did it. Well done !

Awesome video Thanks! I'm a new fan.

Thanks for a great video!

Good one . I use filters, polarizer and a ND filter . Interesting video . Great instruction .

Great work. Thanks Steve.

Great video! Thanks

I think the biggest problem with UV/protective filters is that they tend to make lens flare a lot more noticeable.

Excellent video ! :)

His final point is definitely valid. Don't chuck the UV filter, it really does protect from the elements, blowing sand, dusty conditions, or, if you ever shoot something like a color run, you BETTER have a UV filter on (not to mention your whole camera covered somehow...)!