Uv filter what is

You are out taking photos and it starts raining. Your bag is out, all over the floor, and you have to collect all of your stuff scattered around. You sling your camera on your back, throw everything you can into the bag, and head to the car. Now, you have a huge scratch in your glass. Thankfully, you have your UV filter on, saving your expensive lens and only destroying your filter.

That is a fair trade-off in my book. Filters also need careful attention for cleaning, can trap dust between itself and the front glass element of the lens. And they cost money. Adding more reflective items to your lens has the capacity to add more surface to bounce light from.

A UV filter can pick up stray light and bounce it back. It may even create ghosts in very direct light. UV filters come in all kinds of price ranges, and therefore, all kinds of quality. A low-quality UV filter can have adverse side effects, such as noticeably reducing light. Digital cameras no longer require UV filters, they are an extra cost and need attention, especially when it comes to cleaning.

A UV filter blocks UV light as it enters the lens. Think of it as sunscreen for your camera. This was especially common if you were shooting somewhere there was a lot of UV light, like on a really sunny day or at high altitude.

You can see it in this polaroid by MoominSean on Flickr. Steve Perry from Backcountry Gallery drop tested a load of different lens filters and lenses and what he found was that the filters added minimal, if any, protection.

Also, if a lens was hit hard enough that the front element was damaged, there was normally large amounts of internal damage too. Even in the few cases where the UV filter might have protected the front element, the lens was dead anyway.

This all means that if you drop your lens with a UV filter and the filter breaks but not the lens, all you probably did was break a filter. The lens would have been fine either way. UV filters block a small percentage between 0. Because of how the light interacts with your filter, this reduces the sharpness and contrast of your images very slightly. In the image above, you can see some artifacts caused by the UV filter and the lens flare.

It really depends. The best advice I can give you is:. Browse All iPhone Articles Browse All Mac Articles Do I need one? Browse All Android Articles Browse All Smart Home Articles Customize the Taskbar in Windows Browse All Microsoft Office Articles What Is svchost. Browse All Privacy and Security Articles Browse All Linux Articles Browse All Buying Guides. Best Portable Monitors.

It can also help to boost contrast on overcast days or shooting when shadows are present. But most importantly, a UV filter will protect your lens, making them invaluable even for use on digital equipment.

Have a look at our UV filter vs CPL filter comparison guide to find out more about the best use cases for these two filters. The difference in these two ranges and price points lies in the quality of the glass used and the layers of nano-coating.

Some photographers argue that adding a UV lens filter can increase the prevalence of reflections, ghosting and lens flares in your images. However, this is very unlikely to happen if you use a good quality lens filter from a reputable supplier. If you want to reap the most benefits from using a UV lens filter, choose one that is of a high quality and preferably comes with a protective multi-resistant coating, especially if you use your camera outdoors a lot.

You can find different grades of UV lens filter protection, ranging from those that block out minimal UV radiation to those that absorb the majority of UV light. Did you know Urth makes lens filters that reforest the world? Five trees are planted in deforested areas for every filter purchased.

Shop our range of lens filters here. Share this story Facebook Twitter Copy link. Words and Photography by Urth HQ. Why should photographers use UV filters?