Overheard a guy at the camera store say stacking filters ruins image sharpness

I was picking up a new tripod head last Saturday and some older dude told the clerk he'd rather shoot through a dirty window than stack a UV and a polarizer. Made me think about all the times I've stacked two or three filters on my telescope setup for moon shots. Has anyone done a side-by-side test with stacked versus single filters to see how much detail you actually lose?

2 comments

2 Comments

olivia_murphy1mo ago

Tried it once with a polarizer and a UV stacked on a 50mm lens, shot a brick wall and saw a tiny bit of softness in the corners but it was barely noticeable. Honestly unless you're pixel peeping at 400% you probably won't see a difference with good quality filters.

benk261mo ago

Yo same here, right? I stacked a UV and a CPL on my 85mm once and shot some trees and honestly couldn't tell the difference even zoomed in a bunch on my computer. I freaked out at first cause everyone online says stacking kills sharpness but it was basically the same shot without any filter. I think people just repeat what they heard without actually testing it themselves. Good glass is good glass, cheap junk is what causes issues not the stacking itself. Just grab decent brands and you're golden.