Originally posted by Tomzee93 I have a UV filter on my lens simply to protect it from getting scratched or damaged in any other way. Should I worry about this, or does it compromise IQ so much that I should keep my lens bare?
One place the UV will help you as regards scratches is resale. People just like to see that pristine glass. I usually rely on good rigid hoods, but lenses with vulnerable elements (like wides) will often get UV's, especially if I intend to resell. (A lens I in fact traded up got a pretty nice skylight filter for just that reason)
There's kind of a cost-benefit curve, where maybe it should be proportional to how nice the lens is. Sometimes they're useful to people, depending on their handling-habits: either if they're careless or clumsy or on the other hand, obsessive lens-cleaners. In which case a filter may as well suck up the abuse.
I do like to have 'beater' filters around for lousy conditions. If your UV or polarizer is too precious to want to take out on that windswept sandy beach, you aren't getting photos, either.
To be quite honest, if one's there, you may as well use it until you're used to handling your equipment. People who are starting out tend to either excessively-baby their gear or sometimes just be totally heedless/forgetful. For people who walk around with cameras every day, there's a certain casual familiarity that is not the same thing as heedlessness: it's just something that becomes second nature. There's certainly no shame in using a UV on your glass until you're comfortable with not needing it.
Hoods, though. Hoods.
Use em, love em. They aren't an add-on, they're a removable part of your lens.