Ask Jim

Every month, Jim will answer a question from his online students, from people who participate in his tours and workshops, or from subscribers to this magazine. If you have a question you’d like Jim to answer, please drop him a note at photos@jimzuckerman.com. Q: Jim . . . I know some photographers who always use UV filters on their lenses. I never have. What is your opinion of using them?

Alene Driggers, Marietta, Georgia A: UV filters do essentially nothing to your photographs. They are supposed to eliminate ultraviolet radiation from scenes, and this helps (only slightly) to eliminate a possible bluish cast. Color can be adjusted and tweaked so easily now in Photoshop that I think UV filters don’t make sense . . . with one caveat. They do protect the front glass element of your lens should you have a mishap. For example, a friend of mine picked up his camera bag and forgot it wasn’t zipped shut. His 70-200mm fell onto the concrete sidewalk front end down with no lens shade. His protective UV filter was shattered, but his lens was amazingly unscathed.

I took the picture below on one of my photo tours. A client’s camera was mounted on a tripod and he inadvertently knocked it over. The lens fell face down on rocks. The filter shattered while the lens functioned for the rest of the trip. The filter took the brunt of the impact.