Wildlife Photography across the Water: Front filter for big lenses?

Monday, 3 August 2009

Front filter for big lenses?

We spend a fortune to get a big lens-300mm+ yet we cant get a protection filter to fit on the front why? well firstly they would be huge and secondly most big lenses have one already built in-yes that right, The front glass on big lenses is a protective filter pure and simple and not part of the actual focusing/image quality glass, Look at this diagram of a Canon 600F4

Note that the front element is a flat piece of glass but all the others are curved, Now i am not saying that its not an optically perfect piece of glass as it would be on a quality filter for a smaller lens,all i am saying is that the only part it plays is to protect the inner lens elements and thats the reason we cant fit other filters to the front and filters are generally drop in's, Check out the block diagrams for your lens to see if yours has a filter built in-i believe even Canons 300mmF4 has

Dave

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Bio's

David Courtenay, a self taught wildlife and nature photographer, has been capturing images for over 30 years. He has had a passion for wildlife since early childhood and remembers being glued to the television whenever Survival, Wildlife on One and other natural history documentaries were shown. In the 2006 he swapped his established career for the life of a wildlife photographer, such a move demands a measure of uncompromising passion and commitment.

David has travelled extensively throughout Europe as well as spending more than 7 months in India working with local guides and trackers in search of Bengal Tiger, Asian One horned Rhino and Asian Elephant. He has also photographed Wildlife in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sumatra, Africa, Canada and America. Working closely with Conservation companies he tries to raise funds to help Wildlife that has been put on the endangered list by poaching and habitation loss

Martin Dyer has had a passion for avian wildlife since childhood, particularly raptors. Photography was also another keen interest and it was with the specific availability and control of the whole process that digital offers that Martin was then able to combine the two in 2003. Based in the UK, Martin is a regular visitor to Scotland, specifically the Isle of Mull to watch the Eagles resident there. Other trips to Europe and around the UK are usually part of Martin’s agenda in a typical year.

However, as a firm believer on making the most of the local patch, Martin has spent a lot of time and hard work creating a wildlife garden which is reaping the rewards with many new species and varieties of wildlife. A keen member of a number of wildlife photographic groups, Martin is keen to expand his portfolio into other areas of wildlife, and has already established a wide portfolio of images of fungi.