Front element chip: How bad is this?

[johnasavoia]

Obviously at some level, it doesn't matter what the end result on image making is, if the fact of the chip bothers you, and the lens is seen as an investment as much as a photographic tool, you should probably cut your losses and either return it or sell it on towards a lens that won't leave you with these questions. If you are less interested in lens as investment, and only care about it as a tool for making work, I have serious doubts that such a chip will have much effect on image quality outside of some severe light edge cases.

This is a 35mm lens, but I recently purchased this m-mount 28mm lens with severe cracks, chips, and damage to the front two elements (with full knowledge of the damage) and even on a high resolution digital camera I can't see any evidence, even shooting into the late day sun.

[Jody_S]

Heartbreaking. In my experience, insurance only covers loss of the parcel, not damage to the item from poor packaging.