Streaks in bokeh

Hi. Does anyone know what's causing these streaks in the bokeh on my Olympus 70-300mm Zuiko Digital lens on my Olympus E-410 please?

I've only just bought the lens and am sure it's not supposed to be doing that (particularly as others have complimented the bokeh on it during reviews). Do I have a defective lens?

Any help appreciated.

Andrew

I think I might have answered my own question. It seems to be the cheap Massa UV filter that I put on the end of the lens. Without that, the bokeh are fine.

Any ideas why the filter should be doing this? Is it just a characteristic of cheap filters, or do all UV filters do this?

Andrew

The subject of placing more glass (a UV filter) in front of your expensive lens has been debated to death, so I won't get into that. But for a quality filter, look at B+W and Hoya filters. There might me others, but these are the ones I am familiar with.

I stopped using filters a long time ago, for reasons I don't wish to get into or debate. But back in the day when I used to use filters, they were always the best quality available and I don't recall noticing this type of characteristic before.

Cheap filters are a no-no.. They can cause bokeh anomalies (like you experienced), ghosting, flare, etc. The more expensive quality multi-coated filters do a good job at avoiding these issues.