On Fri, 31 Jan 2003 11:04:47 -0600, Mike Marty <mikem@cs.NOSPAMwisc.edu> wrote:

><snip>

>> In real life, with a few exceptions like a windy sandy beach or a

>> photographer who over-cleans his lenses, few photographers need the

>> protection of a filter. But then again, even a good one does not cost all

>> that much* and they are easy to use. The down side is they will very

>> slightly reduce sharpness and very slightly increase flare. It is a wash,

>> little gain and little loss.

There is no indication of sharpness loss with good filters,

in my experience...

>How often is "over-cleaning" a lens? There is always dust on my front

>lens element that I often breath on, and then wipe off with a "lens" cloth

>(which seems to be made of a ribbon-like material). I should probably

>just ignore dust and do this only when there is really a lot of crap on

>it, huh?

I suggest getting a good large hand air-syringe - this is

safer and more convenient to use and more easily packed

than environment-unfriendly "canned air", and it is

effective in removing dust from optical surfaces. I would

minimize rubbing glass surfaces (especially if done before

removing loose dust), and it is generally not needed

except to remove oil-based marks such as fingerprints...