[robski]

Originally Posted by Christine

Interesting reading.I have a basic Hoya filter on my 400 lens,mainly to protect the lens from sand grit etc,so does this mean I would have sharper images if the filter was removed?.It is only the basic filter.

I think it's a case of trying it Christine. I don't use a fitler on my 300 or 24-70 as they both have lens hoods. I am not near the coast so no great worries about sand grit. I did bash a lens some time back and the filter broke and scratched the lens front element. Since then I've not seen filters as a life saver.

I have a cheapo Polarising filter which gets used once in a while but there have been one or two occassion when I wondered if the filter was responsible for some soft shots. I never gave it too much thought. I tend to begrudge paying top Dollar price for a filter I hardly use.