Lens protection filter...UV or polariser?

Question

I have a polariser filter attached to my camera lens for practical use and for protecting my lens. But Im wondering if thats affecting my image quality due to the slight loss of light? So would I be better off using a UV filter as my permanant lens protector? Thanx.

Answer 1

Use Neither.

Use a SKYLIGHT 1A instead.
The UV filters out UV light (obviously).
UV light kills mould. This is good.

A SKYLIGHT 1A will protect your lens with no perceptable degradation, light loss or colour cast, but will also let the UV light in to fry the mould which could destroy your lens (in a similar way to cateracts)

SKYLIGHT 1A filters and UV filters usually cost exactly the same.

For what it's worth, you should have a polariser in your kit bag anyway, but not for protection. This most useful of filters has an ND effect (allows you to use slower shutter or wider aperture for effect), visual effect on reflections, and a saturating effect on nice summers day rich blue skies.

Answer 2

I prefer a UV filter to a polarizer so if those are the only two you are considering, UV filter for sure. But, I've noticed a bit of a difference at times (not all the time, just occasionally) where the UV filter also seems to cause a slight image degredation. Because of this, I normally prefer a lens hood.

Overall, I think a UV filter will be fine for most shots but for the one where you have to have high quality, go with a lens hood.

Answer 3

My friend, You are losing more than a "slight" loss of light. You are losing two f/stops of usable light by keeping the polariser on your lens. The UV filter is by far the better choice. But be warned not all filters are created equal. Some filters are made of plastic and others of varying degrees of quality glass and will cause image degradation. Therefore buy only filters from quality companies like B+W, Ho ya, Tiffen, etc. Good luck friend.

Answer 4

The two stop light loss (more than "slight") is a factor, certainly. But filters tend to cause more lens flare and assorted problems. The best protection is a lens hood. If you want a filter, use a skylight or UV, and get a quality one.

Answer 5

Well, only the neutral density filter actually reduces the light significantly, while both polarizer and the UV both have this effect only slightly.

The UV does this even more at it is specifically designed to reduce the effect of an entire spectrum of light. Still, it's the better choice for a permanent protector since the polarizer has most of its uses only in daylight (to increase contrast when over lightning would dim the contrast between well-lit and poor-lit subjects) while the UV filter improves color temperature in daylight and has barely any effect in other cases (when the circular polarizer would sometimes darken the image).

Answer 6

A good quality UV filter is best for protecting the lens, a cheap one will affect the quality of the image, the main purpose of a lens hood is to reduce lens/light flare, I never take a photograph without one, except when I want the lens to be extra close to the subject.

Answer 7

Definitely better off using the UV filter for general lens protection.

Mine lives on the camera!

Answer 8

Certainly not the polarizer. Some people offered great reasons not to. It's the UV or Skylight you should go with.