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11/21/2008 10:16:30 AM · #1 |
While I still need to do some extensive testing, it appears that the wisdom of using a filter to protect a lens has paid off for me.
Short story:
I walk in from picking kid #1 from soccer practice. Kids #2 and #3 leave the room quietly. Wife hands me my favorite lens and says "this somehow rolled off the counter".
The lens cap is now firmly embedded into the UV filter. I can't separate the two. Removing the filter from the lens itself proved to be a challenge, but I succeeded. I can thread other filters on, so I'm thinking only the filter was bent (by the lens cap). Inital test photos look ok. The lense is focusing and zooming appropriately. I will do some more extensive tests this weekend.
Lesson learned - Always keep a filter on your lenses.
Lesson also learned - Take the time to put your lenses away. |
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11/21/2008 10:46:45 AM · #2 |
I hope that the lens has no hidden damage. You have an impressive lineup of challenge images shot with that lens.
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11/21/2008 10:54:28 AM · #3 |
Originally posted by Nobody:
Lesson also learned - Take the time to put your lenses away. |
I would say the least expensive and most sensible way to protect your lenses.
I predict this thread turns into one of those UV filter or no UV filter debates.
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11/21/2008 11:06:42 AM · #4 |
| Let me guess 'nobody' did it....or didnt' do it?? :-) |
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11/21/2008 11:21:02 AM · #5 |
Another short story:
I got out of my car and reached for my camera bag and forgot that it was open. My D300 with my 70-200 f/2.8 lens came flying out and landed on the road...I heard a "CRACK" and I totally freaked. Looked at my lens and the filter was shattered, it had landed on the corner of the lens and bent the filter and cracked the filter glass but no damage to the lens itself. I got a new appreciation to B+W filters!
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11/21/2008 11:33:41 AM · #6 |
Originally posted by NstiG8tr:
Originally posted by Nobody:
Lesson also learned - Take the time to put your lenses away. |
I would say the least expensive and most sensible way to protect your lenses.
I predict this thread turns into one of those UV filter or no UV filter debates. |
Or a "UV filter or no UV filter or just keep the hood on at all time debates".
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11/21/2008 11:36:52 AM · #7 |
Originally posted by aneyra:
Another short story:
I got out of my car and reached for my camera bag and forgot that it was open. My D300 with my 70-200 f/2.8 lens came flying out and landed on the road...I heard a "CRACK" and I totally freaked. Looked at my lens and the filter was shattered, it had landed on the corner of the lens and bent the filter and cracked the filter glass but no damage to the lens itself. I got a new appreciation to B+W filters! |
I doubt that the filter "saved" your lens, it just broke when you dropped it. Your lens wouldn't have been any worse off if it didn't have the filter. While the thought of the noble UV filter sacrificing itself to save your lens is appealing to people, all it really does is sell filters.
Message edited by author 2008-11-21 11:38:44. |
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11/21/2008 11:37:22 AM · #8 |
Better lesson, insure your gear and let it roll off to get new gear. :D
Actually I have quit using UV filters on everything, but hood everything. I also insure my gear in case something does happen.
Matt
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11/21/2008 12:49:15 PM · #9 |
Last time I dropped an EF 50 1.4 it I could count the lens elements. After a 50 euro rebuild the lens worked again and I had a girlfriend who is now my wife (religiously). :) So I would have hated it if there was an UV filter on it...
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11/21/2008 12:53:42 PM · #10 |
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
Originally posted by aneyra:
Another short story:
I got out of my car and reached for my camera bag and forgot that it was open. My D300 with my 70-200 f/2.8 lens came flying out and landed on the road...I heard a "CRACK" and I totally freaked. Looked at my lens and the filter was shattered, it had landed on the corner of the lens and bent the filter and cracked the filter glass but no damage to the lens itself. I got a new appreciation to B+W filters! |
I doubt that the filter "saved" your lens, it just broke when you dropped it. Your lens wouldn't have been any worse off if it didn't have the filter. While the thought of the noble UV filter sacrificing itself to save your lens is appealing to people, all it really does is sell filters. |
And so begins the great debate....
Simple physics tells us that the filter does actually serve a purpose. It absorbs energy and deflects it away from the lens (ie - by breaking). If that energy were all transfered into the lens directly, there is a higher probability that the lens itself would take damage.
So no, filters don't "prevent" damage to lenses, they simply reduce the probability of it by adding a buffer, much the same as the styrofoam in the bumper of your car does.
Of course, the simple solution would be for us all to stop being klutzes and dropping our gear :-)
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11/21/2008 01:00:12 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by OdysseyF22:
Simple physics tells us that the filter does actually serve a purpose. It absorbs energy and deflects it away from the lens (ie - by breaking). If that energy were all transfered into the lens directly, there is a higher probability that the lens itself would take damage. |
Or it breaks and the pieces are nicely grinded on the much harder front element by the lenscap. Scratching the coating or worse.
I used to do the filters all the time, but I really cant be bothered anymore. I simply decided that when I drop it, I will drop it so hard that it is really, really broken. :)
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11/21/2008 01:04:48 PM · #12 |
Originally posted by OdysseyF22:
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
Originally posted by aneyra:
Another short story:
I got out of my car and reached for my camera bag and forgot that it was open. My D300 with my 70-200 f/2.8 lens came flying out and landed on the road...I heard a "CRACK" and I totally freaked. Looked at my lens and the filter was shattered, it had landed on the corner of the lens and bent the filter and cracked the filter glass but no damage to the lens itself. I got a new appreciation to B+W filters! |
I doubt that the filter "saved" your lens, it just broke when you dropped it. Your lens wouldn't have been any worse off if it didn't have the filter. While the thought of the noble UV filter sacrificing itself to save your lens is appealing to people, all it really does is sell filters. |
And so begins the great debate....
Simple physics tells us that the filter does actually serve a purpose. It absorbs energy and deflects it away from the lens (ie - by breaking). If that energy were all transfered into the lens directly, there is a higher probability that the lens itself would take damage.
So no, filters don't "prevent" damage to lenses, they simply reduce the probability of it by adding a buffer, much the same as the styrofoam in the bumper of your car does.
Of course, the simple solution would be for us all to stop being klutzes and dropping our gear :-) |
No, simple physics tells us that the filter transmitted the energy of the impact to the lens. It "may" have attenuated the peak impact to a very, very small degree, but since the materials that the filter is made of, metal and glass, are quite stiff, that attenuation will be miniscule. The fracture of the filter glass isn't going to absorb significant energy either.
So, they will absorb a very small amount of energy, but to describe them as a "bumper" is erroneous. A plastic lens cap would make a far better bumper than a filter ever will. |
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11/21/2008 01:22:55 PM · #13 |
| I'll model this in Solidworks and use FEA (Finite Element Analysis) to solve the debate once and for all. |
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11/21/2008 01:49:19 PM · #14 |
Originally posted by Mulder:
I'll model this in Solidworks and use FEA (Finite Element Analysis) to solve the debate once and for all. |
Does it do non-linear impact simulation?
You may need some more horsepower in the software department.
When I did impact simulations, we used a software package from an offshoot of Lawrence Livermore Nat'l Laboratory. It was basically the same thing they used to simulate a nuclear blast.
It'd probably be less expensive and give a more definitive answer to buy a dozen lenses and drop them. |
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11/21/2008 02:03:58 PM · #15 |
| I have the same lens... and wife also brought me my lens when it "rolled off of the counter" - There was no damage... The filter could have protected a direct impact on the lens, but I think that lens is a tank. |
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11/21/2008 03:15:01 PM · #16 |
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
Originally posted by Mulder:
I'll model this in Solidworks and use FEA (Finite Element Analysis) to solve the debate once and for all. |
Does it do non-linear impact simulation?
You may need some more horsepower in the software department.
When I did impact simulations, we used a software package from an offshoot of Lawrence Livermore Nat'l Laboratory. It was basically the same thing they used to simulate a nuclear blast.
It'd probably be less expensive and give a more definitive answer to buy a dozen lenses and drop them. |
Can't we just ask some Oracle in Greece? It would be a lot more fun.
And I could use some sun.
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11/21/2008 03:19:41 PM · #17 |
Originally posted by pastortimmr:
I have the same lens... and wife also brought me my lens when it "rolled off of the counter" - There was no damage... The filter could have protected a direct impact on the lens, but I think that lens is a tank. |
Given the damage to the lens cap, I think it was a direct hit on the front of the lens.
Regarding the energy absorption, I agree that the metal ring would transmit the force to the body itself. However, The compression of the lens cap and filter was definitely a benefit, and the fact that the cap was forced back into the filter and damaged, I certainly think that it took the brunt of the direct impact and protected the front glass from getting scratched. |
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11/21/2008 05:57:20 PM · #18 |
I found this online:
...filters can protect your lens against impact damage and other mishaps. Filters are designed to absorb the force of an impact to protect the lens in much the same way a car is designed with crumple zones to protect the occupants in a crash. If you bump up against something or drop your camera, the filter ring will bend and the glass in the filter will break. Often, this is enough impact absorption to save the lens and camera...
We should get Mythbusters to try this theory. |
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11/21/2008 06:32:32 PM · #19 |
If anyone's interested, here's the lens cap & filter..
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11/21/2008 08:47:11 PM · #20 |
Originally posted by aneyra:
I found this online:
...filters can protect your lens against impact damage and other mishaps. Filters are designed to absorb the force of an impact to protect the lens in much the same way a car is designed with crumple zones to protect the occupants in a crash. If you bump up against something or drop your camera, the filter ring will bend and the glass in the filter will break. Often, this is enough impact absorption to save the lens and camera...
We should get Mythbusters to try this theory. |
Where did you find it online?
You can find just about anything online and a great deal of it's just B.S.
Filters being designed with crumple zones is pretty suspicious. They're basic metal rings with a very flat piece of glass held in the middle.
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11/21/2008 11:47:42 PM · #21 |
I think getting Mythbusters to do it is a great idea, although I'd hate to see all that glass broken.
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