Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board UV filter required for high altitude photography?

Hi everyone,

I'm doing a day hike the second week of August and will be bring my digital camera with me to record the adventure. I want to make sure that I get good shots. I'm a complete amateur when it comes to photography, but I'd heard that having a UV filter a high altitude is very important to keep the pictures from being washed out. Is this true for digital pics too? If it matters, my camera is a Cannon PowerShot G5.

Thanks in advance for your input!

-end

I would recommend a UV filter, but mostly to protect your lens from scratches. The optical chip in your digital camera has much less UV sensitivity than old-fashioned film does.

I'd say save your money. I was worried about the same thing, and also how a digital camera does with or without a polarizing filter, as well. I got a filter set, with UV, polarizer, and Sepia, all are a waste of money. The computer inside the camera resets the image so it results in no effect in the LCD. I use all of these filters extensively with my film camera, but digital is so different.

I use a UV filter to protect the glass on all my lenses, but the sky comes out about the same (I can't tell) on my main digital camera with filter, and my back-up digital camera (which has no filter).

Most of what a filter will do on a digital camera can be set by photo software. While you can't darken just the sky by a polarizer, you can adjust contrast and brightness to "clear up" a hazy view. Besides, using a polarizer on a film camera makes the image look sort of phony or weird (to some). I need a clear image, first, since I record rock walls and routes up peaks, as well as the summit views.

Then, I have a Nikon Coolpix with Adobe software.

I agree with 4X...UV filter is unnecessary on digital cameras. Used to be important in the days of real film, but digital has different characteristics.

I've never given up on film, though...I still carry my old Nikon on most trips, and there is a UV filter on the 24~120 zoom I carry on the 8008.