Every lens I’ve ever owned that accepts a filter has had a filter. Always has and always will ’cause life is tough on glass. When you come back from an A2A, stand a lens front element down, and you come back and find a puddle of oil, you thank your lucky stars you had a filter attached! In the field when goober hits that front, I fog it with my breath, hit it with the cleanest part of my shirt, and keep on going. Those filters give their life so I can keep on going!
It’s time to replace four of them on the Z400f4.5, Z70-200f2.8, Z50f1.2, and Z24-70f2.8. It just so happens that the new Arcrest II filters literally just started shipping (reached out to my friends at Bedfords!). One cannot miss that gold box, it’s a standout. I love what they have done to the filter ring. What Nikon did, I haven’t a clue but it feels so robust though it is a tad slimmer than the stand NC filter. According to the User’s Manual, the ARCREST II uses “Nikon’s proprietary “Flat plane system” technology for mounting to frames, loads on the glass has been significantly reduced minimizing glass distortion.” That translates to me as just Nikon magic (or great engineering).
It’s the glass that makes these the gold standard (couldn’t help myself). This is how Nikon explains the glass, “ARCREST II Protection Filters are crafted by Nikon utilizing high-performance glass, to protect your Nikon lenses. The filters are designed with a “Zero-One AR Coating” for ultra-low reflections and easy cleaning of water or oil residue. An anti-static coating reduces the adhesion of dust and dirt onto the filter’s surface. The ARCREST II high-performance protection filters preserve as much of the lens’s imaging power as possible, improving optical performance with attention to detail in every area.”
Arcrest II, the Gold Standard!