I'm
really sorry to hear about your lens - however no system provides 100% protection for your lens, it just so happens that hoods provide better protection than UV filters due to the increased possibility of the filters themselves (which are no-where near as tough as your front element) causing damage which hoods can't.
I never use UV filters and as a birder am constantly crawling through spiky trees and bushes, down ditches, have fallen over countless times, banged the camera/lens on tree trunks and so on and so on.
All remain in pristine condition.
I understand your frustration - but don't see how you can blame it on not using a UV filter. You have a slight nick now - had yo uhad a UV filter on then it is likely it would have shattered (if you can nick the front element that would most likely have had a shattering effect on your filter) possibly causing irreparable damage to your lens. The slight nick won't affect your IQ
at all . Maybe you should be considering yourself lucky you
didn't have a filter on !
Originally posted by rawr My experience - which I concede may not be universally relevant - is that a good hood can often provide adequate day-to-day lens protection, whilst not impacting image quality like UV filters can.
To cite an example of my own with UV filters, I had an experience some years ago where a bad bump caused fragments of a UV filter to shatter and several bits were driven into the lens front element causing bit lateral scratches, and permanently denting the filter thread of the lens too, after an encounter with an angry car door handle. A deep plastic hood would have probably provided better sacrificial protection in that case, but even a lens hood AND a UV filter may still have seen the lens get damaged.
The problem is that there are so many situations where as a lens protection device a UV filter may do good, or may do more harm than good, or may make no difference at all. Ditto for hoods as well. It's a personal risk assessment one must make.
THIS
Originally posted by séamuis The simple fact is, anything can indeed happen at anytime. Which means filter or no filter your lens can get scratched, broken, etc. Theres no way to say really that its absolutely good or bad to always have a filter. Youre taking a risk either way.
THIS
Originally posted by Jonathan Mac The solution to the problem is taking more care and using a hood, not using a filter and degrading the IQ. You could protect your lenses even further by never taking them out of the house or bag, but what would be the point? I think the same applies for shots degraded by a UV filter.
Bear in mind that loss of resolution is not the only impact - there's also decreased contrast and increased chance of flare.
And THIS.