Streaks in bokeh

[Andrew17856]

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

[Andrew17856]

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

[cm_mtb]

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.

[Trevor Ash]

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.

[Canuck935]

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.