I’ve just been reading a couple of articles which address two questions that often attract much debate:

  1. Do filters protect lenses from physical damage?
  2. Does technology help to make a better photographer?

The answers to both of these questions as given by professional photographer, Vincent Laforet, are provided in the following articles:

1. Filters certainly can protect lenses from physical damage by bearing the grunt of any knocks, as can be seen here.  Excerpt:

The first “impact damage” a.k.a. my “first victim” of these Olympics.  We carry too much gear because once we’re in position there’s no running back to get the missing piece… and when I ran from one place to another, one camera body knocked into my 135mm f2 - “That’ll leave a mark” I remember thinking, with no time to actually check the lens out. When I got to the next position I saw the front filter was completely cracked… that’s why you have filters, I guess. The lens is still in pristine condition.  (We don’t use lens hoods as a courtesy to other photographers, as it can block their photographs)

2. If the definition of a better photographer is one who gets the shot then technology can make a better photographer.  Excerpt:

technology is constantly challenging us to try new things. There’s never anything as “fast enough…” You’re either first—or beat by another wire agency

And another supporting excerpt from the other post:

These day having 80%-90% of shots–if not close to 95% for the best sports photographers–is not uncommon.  The technology has become that good, and therefore the playing field has been leveled, making it more difficult than perhaps ever for the top photographers to stand out.

My own take on these two questions is:

  1. A filter that’s fixed in-between a lens and something that could damage it is, of course, going to offer some form of protection by absorbing some of the damaging force instead of letting the lens take all of it.
  2. Used correctly, the right technology gives the photographer more options than the photographer without.  How can this do anything but improve a photographer?