Although the Nikon p520 is an older camera body, it still has a huge user base due to it being such a great little bridge camera that still holds up relatively well when it comes to image quality relative to its price point. Due to this, the p520 still has a huge core customer base of users who use it as their camera of choice for a number of popular photography niches due to its versatility. This ensures that we see a number of people reaching out with questions about the camera every single month to try and get some advice on how they are able to best improve their image quality.
One of the most frequently asked questions that we have seen over the last month or so is based around the best UV filter for Nikon p520 cameras so we have decided to make this the focus of this article. Now, we have done this for a few reasons, firstly, we see people asking for it, secondly, there is a large amount of confusion around lens filters for the p520, and thirdly, due to being a bridge camera, using a UV filter to protect that forward lens element on the camera is well worth it and a decent UV filter should be a camera accessory that every Nikon p520 user owns.
The p520 does not come with filter threads on its lens as standard but thankfully, you can pickup a decent lens Filter Ring for cheap that will let you mount UV filters to the camera to protect that forward lens element from accidental damage. This really is a god send as any damage to that forward lens element on a bridge camera can result in a hefty repair bill unfortunately so its well worth picking a filter up for the camera for the peace of mind.
When it comes to the actual UV lens filter that you are going to be mounting to your Nikon p520, we would highly recommend the Gobe 67mm uv lens filter as it is one of the best UV filters available and is very cheap considering how well it performs. Gobe are one of the newer lens filter brands to the market but their products are excellent and often cheaper than competing, established brands such as Tiffen and Hoya while offering similar or better performance.
Although there are some dedicated Nikon p520 lens filter sets, we would highly recommend that our readers go with the filter ring with a Gobe UV filter as it offers better overall protection in our opinion. The Gobe range is built to the highest possible standards to ensure that your forward lens element on your p520 is protected at all costs and if you do accidentally knock or drop your camera, we are confident in the Gobe filter being able to sacrifice itself to protect your lens element.
We are now going to be taking a more in-depth look at why this is as well as why we feel that Gobe are the obvious option for our readers with a Nikon p520 who are looking to add a UV filter to their camera accessories. The Gobe range has managed to innovate in a few different areas to push their range ahead of what the competition are able to offer you at this price bracket and we want to go over them with out readers.
Performance And Functionality
Although there are much more established lens filter brands on the market that literally have decades of experience over Gobe, the innovation and dedication that Gobe have put in to their production technique speaks volumes. They have managed to catch up and in some areas overtake the lens filter brands who have been on the market for a longer period of time due to taking advantage of various technological improvements to help offer you the best functionality and performance possible for the lowest possible price point.
One of the main advantages of going with a UV lens filter from the Gobe range for your Nikon p520 is that they offer some of the toughest possible glass for their filter elements ensuring that the forward lens element in your Nikon p520 has the best protection possible. The Gobe range actually has three different variants of each filter they offer ranging from one peak, their entry level model to three peak, their professional level model with their two peak being the intermediate option.
When it comes to the glass in the lens filters, their one and two peak options come with the highest possible Japanese glass that has been specifically developed for additional strength. Their premium three peak lens filter option comes with German Schott glass that is the best glass available and offers your p520 the best levels of protection but on the flip side of this, it also has the price tag to match too.
Gobe also add additional nano coating to all of their lenses, no matter their peak rating to help improve the performance and quality of them too. Their filters can have as many as sixteen different lens coatings on them depending on the filter type and different coats do different jobs. That said though, the majority of them are based around helping to keep the glass strong while also keeping it as clear as possible too.
Speaking of the clarity of the filters from Gobe, this really does help to set them apart from the other lens filter brands in this price bracket right now as their filters have no negative effect on the image quality that you are able to capture with your Nikon p520. Some of the other filters from competing brands in this price bracket can be a total pain and reduce sharpness or add chromatic aberration.
Gobe have also innovated with how they actually make the frames for their lens filters too and have managed to reduce the weight and cost of their filter frames while keeping them as strong as possible too. Where most of the other brands will use regular aluminium for their UV lens filter frames, Gobe use Magnalium to help improve the quality of the frame. Magnalium is an aluminium alloy that is 95% aluminium and 5% magnesium and performs very well for a lens filter frame with many of the competing brands following Gobe and switching over to Magnalium too.
They have also added reinforced threads to their filters as standard too helping to reduce the chances of you accidentally cross threading your filter with the threads on the filter ring when mounting it. Due to the Nikon p520 needing a filter ring to let you mount the lens filter to the camera, cross threading is not much of an issue as you can just remove the filter ring if your filter does cross thread and get stuck, it is nice to know that you have this added protection incase you end up using the filters with any of your other cameras too.
Gobe also offer all three of their UV lens filter variants in the 67mm thread size meaning that they will natively fit directly to the lens rings that will mount to your Nikon p520. This makes it quick and easy to source a suitable lens filter for your camera and we are really impressed with what Gobe have managed to achieve in such a short period of time. That said though, judging by all of the excellent, independent reviewsthat the Gobe UV lens filters have received from the community, it would seem that most photographers and videographers agree with us.
Filter Design
Although there is little wiggle room when it comes to camera lens filters, Gobe have managed to work their Magnalium frames so that they have an ultra slim provide to keep the filters as thin as possible. This ensures that there is absolutely no vignetting when using the Gobe UV filter range with your Nikon p520 and although this is relatively common these days, there are still some filters on the market that have wide rims and may cause vignetting during use.
Wrapping It Up
That brings our article going over why we feel that the best UV filter for Nikon p520 cameras is the Gobe UV filter to a close. As we mentioned back at the start of the article, you will need to use a filter ring when using a filter with the p520 due to the lack of filter threads on the camera but it offers some excellent protection for your forward lens element. As we have mentioned, photographers and videographers have really taken to the Gobe filter range as they have one of the best reputationsgoing when it comes to lens filters.
