UV Filter in Digital Photography

UV Filter was quite popular in old Film SLR cameras. In this article, we will logically represent the fact, whether UV Filter today in Digital Photography is just a transparent lens cover or does has some role.  As we already said in our previously published article on Polarizing Filter in Digital Photography, this article on UV Filter is also a part of the main article Filter in Digital Photography.

Basics of using UV Filter

UV filter is a photography special filter that is added usually with screw mechanism in front of a DSLR or SLR camera Lens for blocking the ultraviolet rays in sunlight. These glass look very pale yellow or colorless. As old Films were basically a slide on which light sensitive chemicals were added, UV Filter was of probable necessity for certain conditions.

Role and Usage of UV Filter in Digital Photography

Certain type of sensors of digital cameras like CCD are not sensitive to visible spectrum of light, but also the ultraviolet rays. So, UV Filter in Digital Photography does have role, depending upon various factors of the shooting condition and settings used for taking images.

Conventional camera lenses are only suitable for correcting  a certain range of visible light, a high percentage of UV light can result chromatic aberration. Sunlight is scattered by the molecules of air, the maximum intensity of the scattered light in the UV range.

Using these UV Filter, these effects are effectively suppressed, the photographs get more contrast and sharpness and get rid of chromatic errors. Correction for lighting is not required for UV Filter.

In modern camera Lens, some lenses are already coated, so the use of this UV Filter is not required because the thick glass of the lenses already sufficiently block the UV rays.

Many photographers still see the main usage of an UV Filter in protecting the lens against mechanical damage, especially scratches, since it is also much cheaper. However, to protect the front of lens, therefore lens protectors are more suitable than UV Filter.