Well I am on the other side of the fence...I believe a UV filter is a wise choice
However something about $30.00 should be fine. I have this one on my FZ20.
It is Multicoated and will pass 99.7% of the light so there will be no loss of quality.
Even if we do have "point and shoot cameras" there is nothing wrong with taking care of it.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...ughType=search
Now about the wide angle lens you can almost never use a WA lens with a step ring and never on top of a filter. But there is only one way to find out buy the stepup ring and try it.