Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Cameras, Lenses and Shooting gear => Topic started by: fike on November 13, 2014, 12:08:02 pm
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So I was in the Utah desert last month and I decided to grind some sand between a lenscap and the front element of my fine Zuiko 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5. The photo attached below is not for the faint of heart. It makes me cringe.
So I am trying to decide whether this will be a significant impediment to taking good pics with it. My brief and superficial tests have not revealed any image quality impact, but I don't know if that will be true for something like a clear blue sky.
Can this be repaired? I paid $800 for it used a year ago. Is it worth bothering to fix? I have never damaged any of my lenses like this. I understand that small scratches won't typically have a dramatic impact on image quality, but this is no small scratch.
Advice? Suggestions? Snide remarks?
Thanks
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...Snide remarks?
Hi there... have not seen you posting in a while. Welcome back! To get real snide remarks from me, you'll have to post more ;)
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Hi there... have not seen you posting in a while. Welcome back! To get real snide remarks from me, you'll have to post more ;)
I took a break from the LuLa forum scrum. Took some pics on a one month cross country roadtrip. Life is good...except for that scratched 50-200 thing.
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You will probably not see any effect on optical resolution, but you might see increased flare. Try looking at the live view image at night, while shining a narrow flashlight beam on the scratch from different angles. If you see flare, fill the scratch with a small dab of vaseline and repeat the experiment. Since the scratch is toward the edge of the lens, stopping down should reduce any effect, so you might try that also.
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Looks like a Nike logo
Might see if they would want rights to that shot :(
Sorry for the misfortune.
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I once put my favorite rangefinder lens in my coat pocket in the desert…then picked up rocks and put them in the same pocket… The lens was toast. Your's looks much better than mine did!
I used to tear-up my rear elements with my wide MF lenses regularly and then it was simply a matter of sending them in for repair, wait a few weeks for a new element to be shipped from Japan and then I'd be as good as new. It may be worth calling Olympus to see what they think. Some of the big telephotos from N & C are designed for quick and easy replacement, though I don't know about the cost.
I'd say keep using it until you find an issue.
One person told me years ago in the days of film that putting a little matt black paint in a lens gouge may help reduce issues with flare.
To the contrary about stopping down, that may make the spot more distinct, especially when you shoot closely.
I would say before you do anything else, go out and do some testing--shoot at different focal lengths and different apertures at each length then take a look at the files. Try the lens toward the sun, away from the sun, shoot the sky, shoot the landscape, shoot what you normally shoot.
If you don't see problems with the files, then you are OK. If you find certain situations that show the scratch, then you may have a problem you can deal with.
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I once had a Leica R lens, either a 24 or 28 (can't remember anymore), that had a nasty deep scratch right smack dab in the middle of the lens. I was shocked the damage never showed in my pictures.
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See -- "Even with the busted front element, the images aren't all that bad…" (http://kurtmunger.com/dirty_lens_articleid35.html)
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See -- "Even with the busted front element, the images aren't all that bad…" (http://kurtmunger.com/dirty_lens_articleid35.html)
And: http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2008/10/front-element-scratches
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Paint with matte black.
A telescope works with an entire mirror in the light path. A small scratch will never show.
Besides a front element cost about the same as a good filter. Better change one once in a while than pay to degrade every image you ever take.
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I was wading a creek in Southeast Alaska a few years ago. The rocks in the creek bed were covered with very slick mossy growth. I'm a fly fisherman so I'm used to wading, but I lost my footing and went under with a video camera. I was able to dry everything out and it worked fine after drying. However a very small spot of mold grew behind the front lens element. I was able to continue to use the camera as long as the scenes I shot were not backlit to any degree and I could open up the aperture. Any backlight would illuminate the spot and ruin the image and stopping down made it bad. Out of sheer frustration with it I've stopped using the camera and replaced it.
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That hurts :(
I think Olympus might be the only place to tell you if it's worth it, but you could see if a local repair guy can get access to new OM front elements and replace it for less, or maybe do it yourself. Find a way to email them so that you can upload the image.
I dropped a mint copy of the Contax 35-70 Vario Sonnar on the deck (concrete) many years ago. Zeiss wanted $600 to replace the barrel (no damage to the optics) so of course I still have it in the same condition as when I picked it up and it takes great photos.
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I have no idea about this outfit, but there's a phone number you can call...
http://www.unitedcamera.com/OLYMPUS-ZUIKO-DIGITAL-ED-50-200MM-F/2.8-3.5-SWD/
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Just test the heck out of it, shoot blue sky, shoot into the sun, etc. It may be perfectly usable. Just avoid looking at the front element too much until you have tested it and decided whether or not you like the results still. My condolences. Ouch. We take good care of our tools and object greatly to the occasional accident, even if the results are more cosmetic than functionally damaging.
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Thanks for all the comments. Flare is, indeed, my biggest concern. This is a telephoto lens that I sometimes use to shoot wildlife...you can't exactly tell a bald eagle to get out of the sun because of flare...haha. I guess more tests are in order. vaseline, eh? maybe. Black paint, eh? probably not. Replace it myself...that is a novel idea, if I could get the new front element. I wonder where I could get that?
When everything is right, this lens is delightfully sharp:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/trailpixie/15160417390/in/photostream/
(https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3868/15160417390_4e7d39f767_c.jpg)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/trailpixie/15160417700/in/photostream/
(https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2944/15160417700_f3e86341bf_c.jpg)