Do all filters cause a blue dot in strong light

Hi. Bought an expensive filter yesterday for my X100F and noticed that taking pics under any harsh light - typically from bulbs and lamps I get an annoying blue dot.



is this going to be true for every filter?



I don’t feel comfortable shooting without a filter in case my lens which is part of the camera gets damaged.



thank you

Sorabh said:

Hi. Bought an expensive filter yesterday for my X100F and noticed that taking pics under any harsh light - typically from bulbs and lamps I get an annoying blue dot.

is this going to be true for every filter?

I don’t feel comfortable shooting without a filter in case my lens which is part of the camera gets damaged.

thank you

Click to expand...

Hi Sorabh,

I understand that you worry to damage the lens but I stopped using filters in 2002 when I switched to digital photography and I never managed to damage the front element of a lens. I also never use lens caps but have the lens hood on all lenses all the time.

Except on my X100F where I simple put the lens cap on before I put it back in my camera bag.

Protective Filters (UV or similar) do all funky things but

• they never improve the image quality of a lens
• they are no real protection of the lens either

Can we see an example or two?

I suspect your answer will be "yes" in the sort of lighting conditions I think you are describing. The effect of filters is pretty much invisible if the light is behind you but flare and reflections are often a problem as the light moves forwards.

You may have to treat the filter as a clear lens cap to remove for shooting under the wrong conditions.

Finally don't worry about not using a filter. Cameras are meant to be used. A lens hood is said to afford a lot of protection as an alternative. Worth doing in very dirty situations but otherwise probably not.

Someone may have used the Fuji filter and can comment on that.

--
Andrew Skinner

Thank you Joachim.



I’ll follow your advice and return the filter. I think I’m being extra cautious with my new camera.

Good filters are effectively invisible, and even if you try hard under the worst possible scenario the effect should be imperceptible. In other words - forget about it

I use B+W clear filters on all my lenses as I often shoot outdoors, and never had any issues with light spots (and I like shooting against the sun )

Whether or not to use filters is a personal decision. The frequency with which I sometimes need to clean the lens from dust or water spray would make me nervous about the front element. It's also much easier to wipe flat glass rather than a curved, recessed element with hard to reach edges.

Thanks for your response Andrew.



it’s similar to this

And yes I was shooting towards a bright light and it showed up on my evf.



I suspect it’s lens flare?

Hi Andrew

1/- The UV filter MUST be a premium one to avoid undesired effect

2/- Side effects are observed rarely n harsh lught conditions If it is the case just try without filter

In my very very long photo experience I must say that I had very few to zero trouble with filters that do protect the front glass element.

Filters should Not have negative effects on picture quality. Buy Hoya or B+W and you should always be fine..

Filters have one big advantage, you can clean them with less care, replace if necessary, and your front element will always be like new.

Agree 100% !

I don’t normally use protection filters on any of my lenses except on my X100V as its sensor isn’t easily cleanable. I have a couple of options for filters and usually prefer the simple (and cheap) one piece Haoge solution - it accepts additional 52mm filters or hoods and its glass is excellent. I’ve tested it alongside my top quality B&W and neither produces any flare or anomalies that don’t also happen with the bare lens (other than a very slight loss of contrast). Surprisingly, the cheaper Haoge actually works a little better. I’ve never seen a blue dot.
Haoge LUV-X54W Metal Lens Hood... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BZJSTRX?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

De Fotoman said:

Filters should Not have negative effects on picture quality. Buy Hoya or B+W and you should always be fine..

Filters have one big advantage, you can clean them with less care, replace if necessary, and your front element will always be like new.

Click to expand...

When strong light sources are featured in a photo (street lights, the sun, etc), even the most expensive filter will increase flare and introduce a slight loss of contrast. Some people might never notice it and in many situation it might not be visible, but it's probably there. Therefore I've found that for my use I'll only add a filter when I can't replicate the effect in PP (i.e. CPL and ND filters).

The OP said "expensive" so I rather assumed it was a good, well coated filter. Having seen the image posted I do wonder if it is up to snuff. I've a recollection of someone telling me a lot of filters were multi coated on the front but not on the back.

I've given up on filters except when the environment is really dirty or splashy.

Sorabh said:

Thanks for your response Andrew.

it’s similar to this

And yes I was shooting towards a bright light and it showed up on my evf.

I suspect it’s lens flare?

Click to expand...

I’ve never seen anything like that with my X100V and my filter.

Sorabh said:

Hi. Bought an expensive filter yesterday for my X100F and noticed that taking pics under any harsh light - typically from bulbs and lamps I get an annoying blue dot.

is this going to be true for every filter?

I don’t feel comfortable shooting without a filter in case my lens which is part of the camera gets damaged.

thank you

Click to expand...

As others have noted, good filters don't have this issue as a general rule.

Additionally, if you bought the filter from Amazon or another mass retailer, return it. I've gotten *MULTIPLE* counterfeit "B+W" filters from Amazon, since they just basically throw all of their vendors' items into the same stocking location, and their are many fakes ones out there. Purchase only from authorized dealers like Adorama, B&H, etc.

Sorabh said:

Hi. Bought an expensive filter yesterday for my X100F and noticed that taking pics under any harsh light - typically from bulbs and lamps I get an annoying blue dot.

is this going to be true for every filter?

I don’t feel comfortable shooting without a filter in case my lens which is part of the camera gets damaged.

thank you

Click to expand...

The use of filters is controversial and needs research. Fuji lens are high quality and use high quality glass to deliver wonderful image quality.

The keys for me are why is one using a filter, is it of a similar quality to the glass it covers and is the effect valued?

I use only two types of filter, although a third is useful in many types of photography. I use a Fujifilm Protect ECB filter on some lens to protect the front element, never a UV, which is not needed in a digital format and can induce colour casts, and a CircPol on some landscape images. The third one in some situations is the ND filter.

I use a Fujifilm ECB Protect filter to protect the front element for casual shooting and hiking on the assumption that Fuji's own ECB filter uses a similar quality of glass as their lenses. In unscientific tests I can see no discernible difference in image quality on my 16-55 between shots with and without the Fuji Protect filter. I have not tested lesser quality protection type filters, they are two-a-penny on Amazon and eBay, but I suspect that cheap ones degrade IQ.

When I use a CircPol, I use a Breakthrough one, which uses Schott glass and I am pleased with its performance.

So, my mantra, if you want to use filters for a given reason, select high quality ones that are unlikely to degrade IQ or induce colour casts.

All my lenses wear a Zeiss T* UV filter and I've never had a problem and they are much easier to clean too..