So you just spent a lot of money on a new lens?  Do yourself (and your lens) a favor and get yourself either a Skylight or a UV filter and put in on your lens. You may be asking yourself the following question.  Why would I want to put a filter on my new lens and add another layer of glass?  You want to protect that expensive piece of equipment; that's why!  Lenses can be easily dinged and scratched up.  It would be much better if a Skylight or a UV filter takes the ding or scratch, instead of your expensive lens.  In addition to protecting your lens from dings and scratches, a Skylight or a UV filter will keep out dirt, dust, and fingerprints too.

There are purists out there that will disagree with my recommendation vehemently.  They will argue that the colors of the image will not be as "natural" and accurate with the addition of a Skylight or a UV filter.  They are technically right, but the change in color from a Skylight or UV filter will be minimal and undetectable by most eyes.  This change in color can be removed during post-processing with Photoshop or your favorite photo editor.  No machine is ever going to be able replicate a human eye and brain, so you will never get exactly what you see, anyway.  If you are concerned about this, you may want to choose a UV filter over a Skylight filter.  A UV filter is pretty much transparent, filtering out UV light.  In contrast, a Skylight filter will warm your image a tad bit – not significantly enough for most photographers to worry about though.

An alternative option for lens protection is a lens hood.  In addition to protecting your lens, a lens hood will also reduce lens flare.  A lens hood will not protect your lens from dirt, flying rocks, etc. though.  This is why I recommend a protection filter over a lens hood.  You could decide to use both and have added protection and reduce lens flare too.

The decision is yours, but I recommend that you use a Skylight or a UV filter and/or a lens hood for protection.  Skylight and UV filters are cheap at around $15-$20 for a decent brand.  I would recommend either a Hoya or Tiffen brand filter.  You will regret not using one if you ding or scratch up your multi-hundred or multi-thousand dollar lens!

Article by Jeremy Baker