protection - filters...polorizer?

[gazedd]

[S1]noobie alert[/S1]
Sorry!

I think i may pop along to our local - competly expensive jessops tomorrow for a spare battery for my 400D. while i'm there i may look at picking some nice filters up but what ones do i require?
i want to protect the camera's lens,
Can a poloriser lens do this? poloirizer being the one that makes sky's look bright and clean?

 

[vecsri]

Any filter will act as a protector really, anything that takes the chance of damage to the element away is protection.
You'll pay well over the odds for a filter at jessops though. ESP on batteries.

 

[Si240]

You won't want a polariser on all the time, the purpose is to saturate the colours more, especially greens and blues, and to cut reflections from glass, water etc. BUT, you lose some light, can be 2 stops IIRC. best ones, IMHO, will be a screw on so you need to know your filter thread size, which is normally printed on the inside of the lens cap. get a circular polariser, not a linear polariser.

as for protection, a UV is probably best. Some people say why put more glass on the front of your lens, as it's more glass for the light to pass through and may degrade your image. Personally I've always used UV filters to protect the end as if I knock it I'll damage a £xx filter not a £xxx lens. However, today I received two new primes to replace some zooms and other gear I just sold, neither of which has a filter and for which i don't intent to get ay. I'm just going to be careful. If you have a hood attached there's less chance of knocking the lens and if no hood you replace the cap when you're not shooting.
a matter of choice really, I've probably only added confusion!

EDIT : having had a read on this forum in the last few mins there are two or three other threads which discss the topic of protection filters, probably good for you to have a search

 

[gazedd]

i always carry the lens cap, and when i finish a shot i will aways put it back on, I guess this is better then any glass put in front of it. I wonder if i shoiuld look at filters for there actual purpose's then rather then looking at protecting the lens further...