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The E39 UVA filter is another fine offering from Leica, a well-respected German photography company. These accessories offer two benefits to the camera enthusiast — they filter UV light and protect the front element of the camera. If you enjoy photography, a Leica UV filter can help ensure that your pictures are clear and have true-to-life colors.Leica’s E39 model has a 39-millimeter diameter. The lens is held in a black ring with white engraving. This accessory can be left permanently attached to your front element, or you can carry it along separately in your gear bag. Leica UV filter accessories are ground with precision to yield high-quality, optically pure glass. They are then single-coated to further enhance their light transmission qualities and provide a protective layer to the surface.UV filters are particularly important if you are using film cameras with color stock. Although the filters can be used with digital cameras, digital technology is much less susceptible to the effects of UV light. This Leica E39 type filter is intended for outdoor photography and specifically filters out UVA rays from 400 to 315nm. What you are trying to avoid with this type of filter is the hazy, bluish tone that can mar the quality of a photo. Not only can the color be off, but you can lose much of the detail at longer ranges.There are a few outdoor lighting situations in particular that call for a UVA filter. If you enjoy photographing scenes with water or snow, you know that both of these substances strongly reflect sunlight. This increases the UV radiation that will be picked up by your color film and increase the chances of a poor-quality picture. The glass and metal of an urban landscape have a very similar effect, so a Leica UV filter can also help you achieve better results in this environment. Finally, if you take photographs at high altitudes, the thinner atmosphere filters less of the UV radiation. This means more of it reaches your lens and you will want a filter to lessen its effect. In any of these settings, a Leica UVA filter will improve the detail, increase the contrast, and maximize the color fidelity of your photographs.The second function of these Leica filters is to protect the lenses of cameras, which is why many photographers leave them on all the time. They can prevent the infiltration of contaminants like moisture and dust. They also take all the smears and scratches that would otherwise mar your lens. Because the filters are much less expensive than lenses, it makes sense to let the accessories get scratched and broken while the lenses are protected. The Leica E39 filters also simply screw on and off of cameras, needing no adapter. This means they are very easy to clean when you are on the go. If you get caught in the rain, you can wipe the filter while the lens stays dry and clean. You can even carry more than one and swap them out if one becomes wet or soiled.