Filters

[Colin Southern]

Isn't that what the lens hood is for?

Nope.

On a wide angle lens the hood is so shallow that the front element is very exposed.

On normal and telephoto lenses the hoods are so long that if you knock them sideways the mechanical moment is sufficient to just rip them off, and if you give them any kind of axial insult then the hoods just get pushed up the lens barrel.

In reality the only thing a lens hood protects a lens against is stray light - for anything mechanical the threads are incredibly weak.

[Manfred M]

However, a filter that breaks can damage the front element of your lens. If the glass in the filter is harder than

I have had that happen, but the small scratch does not affect the optical performance of the lens, but I suspect the resale value of it has gone down a bit.

Something else to consider is that there have been reports of cheap filters damaging the front element of the lens. Something to consider if you are looking at bargain filters; they may not be such a bargain at all. The experience and words of wisdom from LensRentals' Roger Cicala:

http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2013...th-bad-filters

[Colin Southern]

However, a filter that breaks can damage the front element of your lens. If the glass in the filter is harder than

I think at that point it just comes down to dumb luck.

I knew a guy (dead now) that refused to wear a seatbelt because he wasn't wearing one one day - had an accident on a bridge - was thrown clear - and swears he would have drowned had he have been wearing it.

I have to admit that that is a possibility - but IMO opinion it's not the most likely possibility.