I have convinced myself that it does't make sense to put a cheap piece of glass in front of an expensive piece of glass. Instead, I always make sure I have a lens hood in place and let my lens live "naked."
Thoughts?
But you've convinced yourself...
I shoot in two environments that have a lot of crap in the air, the ocean and the desert. I have had salt air fog my filter in a matter of minutes and last weekend, off road vehicles raised huge amounts of dust that I couldn't see through. Trying to clean a lens in the field is much harder than wiping off a filter.
If you look at the practical side, there are times you really need a filter and you should have at least one of every size to cover all your lenses. Same thing goes for hoods. But now your buying hoods to do a job that you already have covered by the filters.
For me, hoods have an inconvenience factor when you pack your gear. They take up more space in the bag if they are on the lens doing their job. Gotta take them off to pack, then put them back on to use. A filter just stays on.
