If u have the luxury to drop 500-2000$ every time something bad happens to your lens, go for it. I don’t have that luxury. It’s not worth that “single stop of light” (use a tripod), use a hood (for those flares), etc.

As far as cleaning is concerned: don’t unless you must (or change filters :))

PS..love your other hints I have just purchased a Pentax DSLR K2000 (have still got my old Pentax SLR SP1000)
and I want to get the most out of my camera as possible..

Boogle – My mate dropped her 40D and 24-105L on her recent trip to Nepal… Had she not put a filter (daylight) on the front she’d have no front element in her lens now. I use filters and if they’re not letting me take the shot I want, I remove them and put them back on right after I have the image I want. Simple.

I stopped my friend blowing in his 1Ds MkIII the other day… (With his mouth!!) condensation city… ugh!

Good article.

Sime

So given these multiple non-flat elements, you’re claiming that a single flat piece of glass is going to drop sharpness of 20% or more? Or that is stops a WHOLE stop of light? The only thing a cheap filter will do, other than protect the front element and create a weather seal on Canon L glass is…. add lens flare / ghosts. A quality filter will not harm image quality (its little more than an extra simple element added to the lens package), but it will be immensely helpful when in the field.

If you’re really worried about image quality you should be investing in a high-quality tripod and never hand-holding. You should also be using medium format or larger.

Either way, the second one of these people drop their lens in the field, all of a sudden that filter they don’t have will be worth its weight in gold. The ‘it’ll breack and scratch the front element’ is a poor argument at best. What do you think BROKE the filter? It would sure as hell do immense damage to the front element anyway. But if the filter takes the hit instead of the front element, you’ve just saved a lot of money.

Attaching any excess glass to the front of your lens will reduce image sharpness by 20% or more, depending on the filter that you use. It’s optical law. Think about this, If you see through a single glass, compared to double glass, which one will allow you to see a cleaner and sharper image?

Plus, when you drop your lens, and the filter breaks, the fine pieces of glass from your filter will scratch your lens, so either way you lose. I think the only reason why the camera dealer and salesman want you to consider purchasing UV filter for protection is because they want to make more sales and profit out of it.

Attaching the lens hood will definitely help without sacrificing image sharpness. It will also protect the lens element when you drop your glass. Being cautious with your camera and glass will greatly help as well.

For cleaning, I use a Giottos Large Rocket Blower and a Nikon Cleaning Pen, they both works perfect for cleaning my lens and sensor.

Does anyone know if these pre-moistened tissues are safe to use on the LCD screen? That’s the worst cleaning job…facial oils aren’t always removed by the microfiber cloth.