Use a filter on your lens as protection or to achieve a desired effect. UV filters provide extra protection for the front lens and removes any color streaks caused by UV radiation. Polarizing filters are used to enhance colors and remove disturbing reflections in water and glass. ND filter or Gray filter is used to dim ambient light, create motion blur etc. To reproduce small details with high sharpness, Close-up lenses are used with the camera's image resolution maintained. IR Filters produce the light that is invisible to the eye or block infrared and ultraviolet light.
A camera filter is often used as a protective lens in front of the front lens of the camera so that dust, grains of sand, fingerprints etc cannot damage the lens. While the camera filter acts as a protection, the filter also becomes part of the lens system of the camera lens, which means that the filter glass must maintain the same optical quality as the lenses of the lens. B+W manufactures its camera filters from crystal clear optical glass from Schott and is cut to the right thickness with the utmost precision. The lenses are then polished and an effective anti-reflective coating is applied to both lens surfaces. It is not only the quality of the filter glass that determines the possible effect the camera filter has on the optical quality of the lens. Anti-reflective coating properties and how it is applied to the lens surfaces have a major impact on the image result. A poorer anti-reflective coating lowers the contrast of the image and unwanted optical phenomena can occur. B+W is the technical market leader in this area, which contributes to the fact that a B+W camera filter does not negatively affect the optical quality.
