Thomas Van Dyke wrote:
That said, in the past I've always used a UV filter for studio work, that is until recently... after very careful testing in controlled studio setups I'm definitely seeing a significant degradation on my high end 200mm micro lens which I've recently switched over to for beauty work... a UV filter is no longer an option for beauty genre... albeit for lower resolution capture devices and budget glass it's probably a non issue... You'll have to test your glass carefully to get your head around image quality issues...

Yeah - for me I don't put UV filters on my lenses - I do use protection, but it's clear optical glass - I don't find degradation, but it's not the cheapest route either.

I'm guessing one doesn't read about it in the photography forums much, because it's just considered base best-practice for artists. As a photographer I don't want to have to think about those kind of things honestly. I'm going to choose artists carefully, but in the end I need to trust my artist and be confident they're implementing best practice and I don't have to think about this kind of "makeup minutia" within a project.