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How do you use a UV filter to improve your photographs? You sell it on e-Bay and buy something useful.

That may sound harsh but it's the truth unless, of course, you are one of the dwindling band of photographers who still use film.

The UV filter did have its uses in the film era, when it cut out wavelengths of light that were believed to cause slight fogging of the film but in the era of the digital SLR the only argument that is put forward in its favor is that it protects the front lens element.

Well, that is true, but it is an expensive and unnecessary piece of protection. Who ever heard of a front element of a lens getting smashed? And if the filter was exposed to that sort of force, wouldn't the delicate internal workings of a modern lens be smashed beyond repair?

Maybe not. I've put some of Canon's finest through the most horrible ordeals: one camera bounced out of a golf cart on to a concrete track, another plummeted four feet onto a tiled floor with the full weight of a 5D and battery pack behind it - and they all lived to tell the tale.

I don't deny that it is possible that, once in a blue moon, a UV filter might save a lens from damage. On the other hand, there was a discussion some years ago on DPReview.com (which has the photo-geek's premier discussion forums) about faint stripes appearing in a photo. Eventually, they were tracked down to an unexpected optical interaction between a UV filter and the elements in a top-quality lens.

In any case, the (usually equally expensive) plastic lens hood that can be bought for high-end lenses provides better protection for the front element than a filter ever could. It is flexible, not fragile, and extends far in front of the lens. It also has the advantage of reducing the risk of flare, that can create ugly artifacts in your photos.

We photographers are constantly assailed by sales patter, telling us we need this and we need that to improve our photos. Sometimes it is true and sometimes it isn't. When it comes to UV filters, it used to be true, it isn't any more.

But that won't stop the salesman trying to part you from $30 for a sharp-cut 77mm UV filter.

Learn more about this author, Paul Cowan.
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