Filters on Single coated lenses

[zwarte_kat]

Possibly very beginner's question:
I have a Nokton 40mm 1.4 SC for my CLE/Bessa, and love the soft look it gives, especially wide open.
Will adding filters defeat the purpose of having a single coated lens? What about just a protection/IR filter.

And any difference between shooting color or BW?

And how many people shoot without filters in general (regardless of the lens)? I don't really like messing with filters, but was wondering if they are important to get to a certain quality of images.

 

[maddoc]

I always thought that the main difference between single coated and multi-coated lenses are the flare-resistance and the transferred contrast. Single coated = lower transferred contrast = more differentiated tones in the mid-range but less vibrant colors = preferred for BW.

 

[Pirate]

From Ansel Adams, the coating on an element allows light to pass through the glass. More coating, more light passing through. Less coating, more light will start bouncing around between elements instead of passing through them.

That's what the coatings do.

The type of glass is what effects your image. A plain glass filter, coated, will protect your lens while allowing as much light to pass through as it can, thereby protecting the lens and should not be effecting the picture at all.

 

[Coldkennels]

...plus, of course, if you're shooting film, filters can be thought of as essential in some situations. When I first started shooting slide, I couldn't understand why some slides were coming out blue. Turns out slide film + area in shadow under a blue sky = blue colour cast, which is only really correctable with a straw-coloured or strong warming filter.

And then, of course, there's the classic black & white yellow or yellow/green filter for darkening skies and increasing contrast.

And some people might find an ND filter important if they like using fast film, so that's possibly another one for the bag.

Anyway, I think the benefits of using these far outweigh the perceived negatives. And if you're worried about light bouncing around where it shouldn't be, get a lens hood. Job done.