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View Full Version : Show off your busted or defected lenses!



mentalcrisis00
7-Dec-2010, 16:26
I just noticed 2 small defects on the front element of my 90mm F8 Schneider S/A. This is the older model all black single coated. I bought this off ebay a month or so ago and didn't notice them at first. However under closer inspection while I was cleaning my gear tonight I noticed these 2 pin hole sized discolorations on the lens. They react to light, if i'm looking at the lens head on they become invisible. However if I view the element from a 45 degree angle they show up. Could this be early onset of lens separation? Or are they simply tiny nicks in the glass? There doesn't appear to be glass chipped away indicative of nicks, it seems like something on the coating of the lens.

I've cleaned the lens a couple times, once when I first got it and once for salt exposure at the beach. I'm not rough when cleaning, used a rocket air to blow the particles away and then eclipse electronics/lens cleaner on a microfiber cloth. Pretty much the same way I clean all my photo lenses.

Should I be concerned about this? Obviously it has no impact on my images at this point in time, that I know of. I've shot over a dozen exposures with this lens without flaring or anything out of the ordinary.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/rpringle2003/IMG_6332.jpg

Robert A. Zeichner
7-Dec-2010, 17:01
Small defects on the surface of the front element are many times thought to be more serious than they actually are. If these are pits in the glass, there might be the possibility of flare being caused by sunlight glancing off the defect. This can be remedied by dropping an ever so small bit of flat black lacquer into the pit with a sharp toothpick. The small number of light rays that would have normally passed through that area will never be missed. If this is a defect in the coating, you have less to worry about. Shade the lens properly and keep it clean rather than keep cleaning it and you will be good to go.

mentalcrisis00
7-Dec-2010, 17:09
I do tend to over-clean, kind of an OCD thing I think. However I think these were here when I bought the lens I simply didn't notice them. They don't seem to be pits, like a chunk of the glass is missing. They're flush with the surface and almost seem like water spray, but they don't come off.

Like I said I only cleaned this lens twice cause I mostly have an NC filter on it to protect the front glass. I guess I won't worry too much about it than.

Jack Dahlgren
7-Dec-2010, 17:13
Nothing to worry about really. Here is an example of a photo taken with a lens with a couple of problems on the front element:
http://www.pbase.com/rcicala/image/105268571.jpg

and it looks a little soft.







but that is not surprising given that this is what the lens looks like









http://www.pbase.com/rcicala/image/105268537.jpg

mentalcrisis00
7-Dec-2010, 17:27
HAHA perhaps this thread could turn into a "show off your broken lenses" thread. Thats a pretty sad looking lens how did it happen? No wait lemme guess, you unlocked the lensboard by accident and the lens went falling on a rock?

I was actually using a new tripod a few weeks ago and almost did something similar. It has a friction ball head on it and I forgot to lock it. As soon as I let go of the camera on the tripod it pivoted 90 degrees downward and nearly knocked the tripod over which would have sent the camera smashing against a huge rock. Most embarrassing because one of my photo buddies was with me. :rolleyes:

dsphotog
7-Dec-2010, 17:29
That darn gravity!

Jon Wilson
7-Dec-2010, 18:14
Nothing to worry about really. Here is an example of a photo taken with a lens with a couple of problems on the front element:
http://www.pbase.com/rcicala/image/105268571.jpg

and it looks a little soft.







but that is not surprising given that this is what the lens looks like









http://www.pbase.com/rcicala/image/105268537.jpg

It probably would be easier to purchase a Petzval than to go such extremes to get the "soft look". I am amazed what your lens does given its extreme condition. I know I have been close on more than one occasion and just caught the lens or the tipping tripod. It was only by the Grace of God I was fortunate enough to catch them.

Jon

Jack Dahlgren
7-Dec-2010, 18:51
It probably would be easier to purchase a Petzval than to go such extremes to get the "soft look". I am amazed what your lens does given its extreme condition. I know I have been close on more than one occasion and just caught the lens or the tipping tripod. It was only by the Grace of God I was fortunate enough to catch them.

Jon

Fortunately it was not my lens, the story is from a lens rental house.

I've only dropped 35mm lenses and have only experienced bent front threads. I probably shouldn't tempt fate by saying that...

Emil Schildt
8-Dec-2010, 08:37
my defected Dallmeyer....

I am NOT going to fix it!:D

Paul Fitzgerald
8-Dec-2010, 08:40
That really should be in the Christmas card thread :D

Emil Schildt
8-Dec-2010, 08:43
That really should be in the Christmas card thread

:D ;) :p :)

domaz
8-Dec-2010, 09:31
Wow that should be in a flora and fauna guide under "lens fungus".

Emil Schildt
8-Dec-2010, 09:49
Wow that should be in a flora and fauna guide under "lens fungus".

except it isn't fungus.....

Jason Greenberg Motamedi
8-Dec-2010, 10:05
I have had two other Dallmeyer lenses which have had very similar "snowflake" balsam failure, but yours wins the prize for beauty.

Toyon
8-Dec-2010, 11:34
The word you want is "defective". Defected means to desert a cause or country for another.

Peter Gomena
8-Dec-2010, 12:05
Fascinating how balsam crystallization forms a leaf-like pattern. Nature works in mysterious ways.

Peter Gomena

mentalcrisis00
11-Dec-2010, 08:11
The word you want is "defective". Defected means to desert a cause or country for another.

There are no communist lenses on the forum? :p

Brian C. Miller
11-Dec-2010, 12:20
Well, there is a Soviet lens on the forum (thread link (http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=67475&highlight=soviet)). But it makes very good images regardless of that.

Mark Sawyer
11-Dec-2010, 12:48
Emil, how do the images from that Dallmeyer look?

I've always been impressed by how well my scratched-and-pitted 12-inch
Dagor works!

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g139/Owen21k/IMG_6114.jpg

An old image from it; hard to appreciate here, but the print
is as sharp as the naked eye can resolve, and then some:
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g139/Owen21k/Woodshopwindow.jpg

eddie
11-Dec-2010, 14:33
here is one of mine:

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=58632&highlight=repair

E. von Hoegh
11-Dec-2010, 14:54
Emil, how do the images from that Dallmeyer look?

I've always been impressed by how well my scratched-and-pitted 12-inch
Dagor works!

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g139/Owen21k/IMG_6114.jpg

An old image from it; hard to appreciate here, but the print
is as sharp as the naked eye can resolve, and then some:
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g139/Owen21k/Woodshopwindow.jpg

I was upset when I realised my 16 1/2" Artar had some marks on it; it's pristine compared to your Dagor - and razor sharp.