UV Filters

[roysmith]

I've some doubts about the need for UV filters in DSLRs. Are they really needed to block UV light? My understanding is that sensors have a built-in UV filter, but are external UV filters also needed? I use a protector filter (Marumi DHG Lens Protector) just to avoid scratching the front glass, but I'm not really sure if a good quality UV filter will give me any advantage. Specially when shooting landscapes which I often do.

[Birma]

Hi Roy,

There is an interestiong thread about UV filters I have bookmarked.

http://www.photoclubalpha.com/forum/vie ... =27&t=2354

The link in the first post includes a description of why UV filters may be useful. I just quickly scanned through it again and it doesn't make any mention of the UV filters already in sensors so can't help in this regard.

[Greg Beetham]

Actually I've never been all that impressed with UV filters myself, I always thought they slightly burnt the greens in foliage even in the film days, so I've been using Skylight 1B's for a long time as a protector for the front element. My thinking was that a UV filter seemed to be a slightly yellow toned bandpass filter, and I just didn't much like the tone it produced.
Greg

[Wes Gibbon]

Some years ago (before digital), I read an article about UV filters (I think it was in PIC magazine - remember that?). The author took some test shots at Bryce Canyon where, due to the altitude, UV was causing a serious blue cast. He tried many different UV and other filters, but found that no UV filter made any difference and a fairly strong warm-up was needed to counteract the blue cast and give a satisfactory result.

[Greg Beetham]

I guess, if he says so, I haven't seen a blue cast from ultra violet radiation myself, but then I've never been above three thousand feet doing photography either, I think the highest mountain around these parts isn't any higher than about four thousand. I think I remember seeing/reading once that the film makers eventually adjusted their emulsions to take the UV filter effect into account...seeing that so many were using them as lens protectors. But I don't know if that included the professional chromes (probably not), or whether it was just some of the popular negitave/print ones.
Greg

[WaltKnapp]

I guess, if he says so, I haven't seen a blue cast from ultra violet radiation myself, but then I've never been above three thousand feet doing photography either, I think the highest mountain around these parts isn't any higher than about four thousand. I think I remember seeing/reading once that the film makers eventually adjusted their emulsions to take the UV filter effect into account...seeing that so many were using them as lens protectors. But I don't know if that included the professional chromes (probably not), or whether it was just some of the popular negitave/print ones.
Greg

Being a former mountaineer I can say for certain that UV increases significantly with altitude and will give you too much blue.

Skylight filters also remove UV as well as a little of the blue to warm the photo.

I use UV on my Sony/Minolta lenses with my a700s, and the few Zeiss I have I use Skylight 1A which warms that cold Zeiss look to get it a bit closer to the Sony/Minolta.

I've not seen any color shift problems with the UV filters, either now or back when shooting Kodachrome.

Walt