RF 50mm f1.2 users (and probably EF version as well), do you use a protective filter on it?

jwilliams wrote:

I never use a protective filter on any lens. Ever. In fact my 50 1.2 is the last lens I'd ever do that to if somehow I was forced to start the practice. It has the best optics of any lens I have ever owned. Why would I want to screw that up by adding something else to the front of it that the only possible effect would be to degrade the image quality of such a fine lens?

The "possible effect" here is protecting the lens. Nobody buys a protective filter to improve image quality.

Lens hoods and lens caps are for protection. Filters are for changing the way the image is recorded.

And also sometimes for protection. Are you going to pretend that a large number of photographers don't use protective filters or that they don't exist?

In 30+ years of photography I've never used any sort of protective filter. I've never managed to damage any lens, but once did load a camera/lens to someone and it came back with a chip in the front lens element. Lesson learned, don't lend your camera gear out to others.

One could argue the other lesson is that maybe a filter would have helped protect that lens.

People worry way too much about something happening to the front of their lenses when in fact it is actually very hard to do something to a lens that actually produces a noticeable effect on the image recorded. In my case of the lent lens I was never able to detect any effect on the images taken with that lens and it actually had a chunk of glass missing from the front element.

So a  chip or scratch in the front element is nothing to worry about, but high grade multi-coated optical glass in a filter is going to destroy your image quality?

I agree with you about the scratches, but you can't wave away those while acting like you can't  let anything come between you and a 4th decimal of optical perfection.

The most likely way to do something to a lens that would actually impact the images taken with it is by being aggressive and zealous in cleaning the front lens element. Enough small scratches will eventually have an effect, but a single mark, scratch, chip will generally not be detectable.

And one way to keep from ever touching that front element is to use a filter and then you are only cleaning an easily swappable filter.

Save your filter money and go buy something that actually helps you with your photography.

A little filter money might save an expensive lens. As I said earlier, nobody will argue it helps with photography.   Do we tell people to skip lens caps because it doesn't improve photography?