nlrela said:
As most lenses are quite expensive I was wondering wether protection filter are worth to use.....
Actually I am more interested if the orginal Canon protection filters do decrease the picture quality
or will they have no influence ?
As mentioned lenses are quite expensive, but the Canon protection filters are quite cheap...
What you think you are protecting is the front element of the lens. Depending on the lens, replacing that element may cost less than a good filter if you do it yourself. Front elements are not horribly expensive, its the IS and autofocus elements that cost a lot.
There have been some tests run that involved dropping a weight onto a filter from a height, and then doing the same on a lens. In most cases, the filter was destroyed, but the same test did not hurt the lens, and adding more weight did not either. This makes one wonder if you are actually getting any protection. The lenses were usually damaged internally before the front element broke.
http://www.backcountrygallery.com/photography_tips/all-about-uv-filters/
Summary:
Filter drop test results:
Filter Test 1 – No weight added
Initial test at half height (24 inches), all filters tested failed. As I mention in the video, I thought SOMETHING would survive. I should have started lower, I just didn’t think anything would break this easily.
Promaster HGX 62mm
Promaster DHD 62mm
Promaster Standard 62mm
Nikon 62mm
B+W 52mm
Nikon 52mm
Tiffen 52mm
Filter Test 2 – No weight added
For this test, I started out MUCH lower:
Promaster 62mm – Broke at a 5″ drop
Tiffen 52mm- Broke at a 5″ drop
Hoya 52mm – Broke at a 8″ drop
B+W 52mm – Broke at a 8″ drop
Canon 58mm – Broke at a 8″ drop
Nikon 52mm – Broke at a 13″ drop
Hoya 67mm – Broke at a 18″ drop
Lens Test Results:
No lens broke or was damaged in any way with the unweighted shuttle at any height. In order to get any lenses to break, we had to drop from the top with weight added. No filter tested could have survived even a 24 inch drop with no weight added.
Canon 35-70 Zoom – 48.5″ + 3/4lb combined weight
Sigma 75-300 AF Zoom (note this was after the drop test since the front element was still intact) 48.5″ + 3/4lb combined weight
Nikon 35-80 AF – 48.5″ + 1 full lb combined weight
Canon 50mm 1.8 – 48.5″ + 1 full lb combined weight
Vivitar 28-90 Series 1 – 48.5″ + 1 1/4 full lb combined weight
JCPenny 70-200 – (note this was after the drop test since the front element was still intact) 48.5″ + 1 1/4 full lb combined weight
Osawa 135 48.5″ + 3 full lb combined weight
Canon 70-200 Zoom 48.5″ + 4 full lb combined weight
Also, note that once we got over 1 Lb combined weight, the force of the blow did cause internal damage on both bare lenses and those protected by filters. Lenses simply do not like being hit hard.
Sigma claims to have a strong filter. http://www.dpreview.com/news/5587130142/sigma-demos-wr-ceramic-lens-filter-strength-with-impact-test