… but we all know that UV filters degrade IQ!
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[ Deleted by the author, as he realized that his sense of irony was a little too low at the moment… ]
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Now seriously, can you see any IQ change outside of lab or super-specific conditions? I’ve always wandered what do UV filters actually do…
Probably not, the sensor already has a built in UV filter so why put another in front? My X100V always has a filter on it (to protect from dust) but I use a “clear filter” instead. cheaper and works just as fine.
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I meant it more like what a lower optical quality of the glass would do, rather than the UV filtering itself
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I don’t expect so, with modern UV filters. [Just to clarify, I was making a joke.]
Protection.
That is fine too, but some manufacturers (eg K+F) don’t even make “clear” filters any more, I think the two categories just merged into UV filters.
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It’s incredibly hard to break your front element, especially if you have a lens hood. I have read that a filter for “protection” might cause more damage in case of an impact than otherwise, as the shattered glass can scratch the element, as opposed to the initial bump which only scratches it in a particular spot. A hit strong enough will break through the thin filter and hit your lens anyway.
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I am not worried about impact, but scratches.
But, to be honest, I don’t think it makes a difference either way these days. My lenses are not in pristine conditions in any case, and a few scratches would not make any difference optically.
A while ago I read a memoir of a psychologist in which she talks about how she used to make pan roast: always cut the meat in half, then put it in the pan, and in the oven. Her husband asked why she was cutting the meat in half and she said she learned to do this from her mother but could not explain. At some point she asked her mother, who told her: “When you were growing up, in our old apartment we had a smaller stove and I had to cram the roast in a smaller pan, so I cut it in half.”
Maybe I am doing something similar with the UV filters…
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Yeah exactly 
I barely even clean minor dust in the front elements, I just leave it there, it does nothing for image quality. I do clean the back element and sensor, obviously, but not much else.
I was taught UV/clear filters are super useful wherever there is a lot of blowing sand or salt water spray. So it is always on when I am in the desert or at the beach.
At the beach its really nice to unscrew the filter and run it under the tap to remove the sea spray grime
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As a general rule, I do not baby my equipment. I throw my camera in the bag or backpack, with no protection of the front element whatsoever. No hood, no cap, no filter. Just the bare lens. I carry my camera on a strap in all weather. It gets soaked, snowed, sanded, or banged against rocks. (That sounds like I do a lot of extreme hiking, which is not true. But all of the above has happened at some point.)
I accept that this might damage or break my gear. But so far, it has not. Sure, the paint shows signs of wear. But the glass is still fine. And besides, a front element replacement is usually an affordable repair.
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I can see where some kind of (theoretically) non-influencing filter could be of use in certain situations. For example, shooting in the rain or other moisture (e.g., waterfall spray). You could setup your shot with the filter on, remove, shoot, replace. Same goes for a dusty or otherwise hostile environment. Keeping the lens cap on would protect but tends to get in the way of viewing. 
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That is… hardcore. On a shooting day, I’ll use a hood and skip the cap[1], but just barebacking it in your bag is much more than I’d be comfortable with… Then again, it seems to work for you…
At the end of the day, the cap goes back on, not in the least because I don’t want to lose it. ↩︎
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Indeed, I cringe a bit inside imagining stowing away a lens without the cap on Especially without a hood
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The only way the Tamron 70-300mm will fit into my bag while mounted on the camera is by not having the front cap on. I put a microfiber cloth on the floor of the bag, but I’m still not comfortable with that 
So for now I always swap the lens to fully close the bag…
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So I use a Youtube Musicc desktop app that offers alternative providers for synced lyrics. One of them is Musixmatch and this gobbledygook is what I’ve been getting for every song, for the past week or so
Apparently it’s some Chinese white noise ASMR or something
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Yes, that’s my rationale for UV filters, much easier to clean than lenses.
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I mean, I’m not willfully cruel to my lenses. But a backpack with books and snacks and clothes won’t damage a lens.
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Bought a cheap Behringer measurement mic(25 euro), it’s apparently flat enough in <5000hz that it is good enough for Room EQ, and I have to say this is magical. Made an EQ with room eq wizard and it works great.
It’s incredible how you barely notice the issues until they are gone, but the improvements are obvious.
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And we are back again…
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