I'm looking to buy a Skylight filter leave permanently attached to a lens for the primary purpose of protecting it. I don't really understand the difference between Skylight 1A and Skylight 1B filters. So, which of the two is the better choice for a general and always on filter?
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The difference is that Skylight 1B has a slight pink tint, to add some warmth to the images. If you have a digital camera and use automatic white balance, there will be no practical difference at all between the filters as the white balancing compensates for the color tint. I would choose 1A as it has no tint, so it affects the incoming light less. |
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The value of any UV filter for a dSLR is questionable. On the lens protection front, a filter that is broken, as noted, can scratch the lens, thus undoing any protection it may have offered in the first place. The other downside is that the filter can cause unexpected ghosting of light sources in your image as a result of reflection, something that will annoy the heck out of you. In any case, cameras and lenses are not as delicate as some make them out to be. Photographers have been running around with these in everything ranging from extreme weather to extreme violence without destruction of their gear, so unless you're extraordinarily clumsy and likely to bounce your camera and lens off of hard surfaces on a regular basis, I wouldn't worry about it. Buy your filters for photographic effect, not protection. |
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1A is clearer than 1B, which will tint and add warmth. Best filter to always have on is none. |
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