What gimmick? Filters were made for a reason, there's also other filters out there that serve a purpose like gradient filters and circular polarizing filters.

Good filters can be pretty strong too.

As what others mentioned filter + hood is best.

Filter helps protect against elements, hood protects against physical impact on the front element which is the most important and also the most fragile.

cheap filter will reduce quality, if your lens is cheap i suggest use lens cover to protect, should be sufficient.

if photo not good - reduced quality not a problem.
if photo is to put on Facebook / Flickr / Forum - reduced quality not a problem



a spoiled 18-55 makes way for new lens.

Anyway Canon 18-55 is 58mm filter size, might be worth getting a good filter if you intend to get other lenses in the future that happens to have the same filter thread size.

quality? can you tell a from a photo that on the lens attach with cheap filter? no filter? expensive filter?

Compare against a no brand cheap filter with a hoya filter, I can do that without even the need to pixel peep.
The hazy contrast effect is very prominent

i actually heard hoya from my friend. any other good filter recommend?

filters are important to enhance your image quality. ND for low shutter speed, CPL for decrease reflections, enhance color, saturation, contrast etc

B+W.
But those are venturing into the... Should I really spend that much on a clear glass ?

I use B+W Variable ND filter though. Really useful and doesn't give a noticeably color cast.
One of those cost as much as a cheaper lens.

Filters are like screen protector for your phone.. buy it and protect ur front element... degrade or not, only sifu level can tell..

for me as long as nice composition, lightning and can tell story is enough.. most of us LR anyway, so it doesn't matter..

Those are specific filters for specific needs. What TS is asking is that should he invest in a UV filter to protect his kit lens. Now if you buy ND or CPL for kit lens you might find that your ND or CPL will not fit your next lens once you graduate from your kit lens. Then wouldn't that be a waste of money?

Like myself. I now have 2 lenses with filter size of 72 and one with filter size of 55 which is same as my kitlens. I had a CPL earlier with a filter size of 62 that is now collecting dust.

Well back to the question : if you had a RM 400 phone would you buy a RM 150 screen protector for it? You would probably find a screen protector around RM 20 and be done with it. As the case for TS, I say just go with a hood or go naked.

I had a sony xperia Rm600 budget phone, I still go for tempered class with spigen casing. Why? Because I care about my investment, is not about how high amount of your investment vs your willingness to invest on protection, is about taking care of your gear.

Back to filter case, I have 3 Lens. So I should go naked on Kit lens, cheap filter on my 35mm f.18, and a better lens for my 17-55? Does that means DX lens doesn't worth B+W filter? Only FF worth better protection?

Just my 2 cents, every gear should get protected if you care..

Not to say I don't care. Unless you are a total klutz then nothing disastrous will happen to your kit lens. Unless you drop it from high or bang it against every surface you encounter, the lens will not be severely degraded through normal wear and tear.

You could buy a B+W filter for it but the filter would cost as much as a second hand kit lens. Going by that logic, wouldn't it be better to buy a second hand kit lens than to buy that filter should your kit lens be a total loss? Furthermore the filter size of a kit lens is not shared by many other lenses. More often than not you are going to have an expensive filter lying around with no use after you decide to ditch the kit lens so if that happens, wouldn't buying an expensive filter for your kit lens be a bad investment move?

I am not saying don't buy filter for your lenses. I am saying your filter price should be proportionate to the cost of your lens. If your lens costs RM 4k then buying a RM 300+ filter for it is justified but not when your lens costs about RM 300.

A UV filter is basically to protect the front element of the lens. If you are careful, not many things will come in contact with your front element.

B+W multi-coated UV filter priced at RM160!??
Warning: That could be a fake one!

I searched bhphotovideo (reputable us shop) 58mm b+w filter uv is rm148 on conversion.

maybe you were cheated into paying for more.

just because your local shop listed it at 300+ doesn't mean that's the lowest price they can offer.

Now that is an interesting way of putting it.
Forgive me if I am wrong, but I don't think you can compare it that way. There are other factors like Tax, import charges and such.
Also, there are plenty of other things that are cheaper in the US compared to here, and I am talking about cost price.


But it is true that it may not be the lowest price a shop can offer. I don't think a camera shop in MV would be selling fakes.

Just my opinion

eh i saw lazada one also around that price.

good point there.

but i got mine around the same price, and i dont think it is fake either. or maybe it is a good quality fake, so good i am impressed with it - the coatings make it look like the "glass not there" (just like the previous poster said).

anyways i got it online, but the shop dont list it anymore, so i pulled the price quote it from a more site more familiar to you guys.

oh ya btw some lenses need filter to be weather sealed.