From the start of my career, the photography press recommended using a filter on the front of all my lenses, and my peers always used a filter on the front of all their lenses. This filter was usually an ultra-violet (UV) blocking filter, but once in a while, especially early in my career, a “skylight” filter.

As digital photography grew, most imaging sensors were already filtering our color contamination, so the filters used these days are often sold as “lens protectors,” though they usually block UV light anyway.

This was particularly relevant to me because I don’t use lens caps. Most professional photographers don’t, since lens caps add an obstacle to making pictures in a stressful situation; grab camera, go to shoot, oops, the lens cap is on. Then you have to find a place to put it.

But the main reason I don’t use lens caps is that the act of removing and replacing them is often the source of smudges on the front of the lens from your fingers, doing away with the purpose of a lens cap in the first place.

But for many years, I was in the habit of keeping a UV filter on the front of all my lenses. This paid off once when someone opened a door behind me and the doorknob crunched directly into my lens, shattering the UV filter. Half an hour later, I rummaged through my junk boxes and found another UV filter.

In recent years, however, I got out of the habit of using these filters, mostly because the advances in digital imaging sensors has advanced so far, I can shoot in absolutely impossible light that I couldn’t touch in the film era. A perfect example is the annual Parade of Lights in Ada, which once required a tripod and the patience of a saint, but now is simple and very fun to work hand-held at ISO settings that seemed like science fiction in 1995.

Okay, Richard, why does that equal no longer using filters? Well, most of my lenses are large-maximum-aperture lenses, and at night with bright light sources like headlights or Christmas lights, the filter creates flare and ghosting under those conditions. I got into the habit of removing the filters before those events, and gradually stopped putting them back on.

This move has, so far, not resulted in any consequences, even in wretched conditions like last year’s tornadoes. At one point, it was raining so hard on me that it killed the camera, but the unfiltered lens did just fine.

So basically, I got out of the habit. If you use filters, I would love to hear if they help keep your lenses clean, or if they are a problem.