Filtering out the BS

     Traditional photographers think they need to outfit their lenses with UV filters.  Do yourself a favor and skip that.  It just ends up costing you some money and it also makes for worse photos.  In the ancient times, some film had strange effects due to the photoreactive chemicals reacting with the UV light, and hence the UV filter.  Digital camera sensors all have been developed so the sensor is not affected by UV.  All the filter does, is create more lens flare and I also found that it traps moisture more.  There are rare occasions that if you are in a hostile environment, you know.. photographing a volcano, dirt bike race, or in the mist of a waterfall, then it might be beneficial to protect the lens, but for practically all other situations it is not needed despite many people still thinking they need to buy these things and put them on all of their lenses.  Standard Nikon lens coatings are actually very robust.  I sometimes have no choice but to wipe my lens with whatever shirt I am using.  Shocking, yes I know.  Some photographers treat their cameras like their first born and baby them, but to me they are simply tools, and sometimes I have only what I have with me.  Even with this, my old 18-200 lens that has joined me on many adventures has no visible scratches on the outer lens.

     One of the more useful filters I like to use is a circular polarizer.  It makes for better photos especially outdoors by increasing the contrast, increases the color saturation, and reduces or eliminates glare from reflections on water glass, wet leaves, etc., provided you can afford the lower light that it lets through to the sensor.There’s many, many brands of these circular polarizers you can buy cheap starting in the low 20s.  The problem with a low cost one is, while they will be a polarizing lens, they are also likely to cause negative effects too, so what’s the point?  Circular polarizers are difficult to manufacture to get the desired qualities.   And a good one will also have antireflective coatings on them.  Without them, there will be more ghosting and lens flare induced by the filter itself.  Finally, for an outdoor photographer, you are going to get dirt and dust on the lens, so the final coating needs to be scratch resistant.  

     Sorting through many pages of internet wisdom regarding circular polarizer filters leads me to find that the Marumi Super DHG Circular polarizer filter is, if not the best, one of the best circular polarizing filters you can get, so I got one.   The DHG in the name refers to the antireflective coating.  The super refers to the outer coating that is supposed to be very hard, scratch resistant and also has very low surface tension, so it rejects water and oil, beading up on it instead of smearing all over.  Sounds just what I need.  It’s not very cheap, the lowest cost I found was around $100 from my friend eBay… likely much more at your neighborhood store, if you can even find it, but I think it’ll be worth it in the long run for the better quality photos it will be helping with.