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Is this true? (85mm and prime lenses)

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mcv

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I have seen an 85mm 1.8D lens for sale and it looks in a decent condition. However, the seller has the following lines in his description:

'Optics are scratch free, with very few dust specks inside, which came with the lens when it was bought new. This is very common with Nikon prime lenses, I actually have not seen any perfectly dust-free Nikon primes!'

Can anyone confirm or dismiss this? Do Nikon primes really 'suffer' from dust specks inside the lens? And if they do, will it really be noticeable on photos?

Any help appreciated.
Thanks,
MCV
 
If you look hard enough, you will find dust in everything. It doen't seem to affect images....
--
'Once in a while, you get shown the light
in the strangest of places if you look at it right...'
 
I just read your question so I thought I would go look at my lenses. I have 9 lenses, all Nikon primes - none of them have any dust inside that I can see in any light.
mcv said:
I have seen an 85mm 1.8D lens for sale and it looks in a decent
condition. However, the seller has the following lines in his
description:

'Optics are scratch free, with very few dust specks inside, which
came with the lens when it was bought new. This is very common with
Nikon prime lenses, I actually have not seen any perfectly
dust-free Nikon primes!'

Can anyone confirm or dismiss this? Do Nikon primes really 'suffer'
from dust specks inside the lens? And if they do, will it really be
noticeable on photos?

Any help appreciated.
Thanks,
MCV
Click to expand...
--
Edward

Lenses listed in profile

 
Thanks for your replies, guys.
edwardneal said:
I just read your question so I thought I would go look at my
lenses. I have 9 lenses, all Nikon primes - none of them have any
dust inside that I can see in any light.
Click to expand...
Crikey, just looked at the list of your lenses! That's a mighty arsenal!

I didn't think this would be true either, I'm sure quality control would be quite stringent, especially with the price of some of these lenses.

Koanut, I tend to think you are right so long as the specks are very small and few.

I think I will have to take a closer look at this lens in person.
Thanks again.
MCV
 
mcv said:
Can anyone confirm or dismiss this? Do Nikon primes really 'suffer'
from dust specks inside the lens? And if they do, will it really be
noticeable on photos?
Click to expand...
Of course, if you look closely enough, you can find some dust specks. You can rest assured that any specks you don't see on casual observation will not affect your images. Specks in the lens are nothing like specks on your imager, which do produce dark spots.

If a lens accumulates a large amount of dust inside (i.e., it's very obvious without even having to look closely), there can be a slight impact on the contrast of the lens, especially when a bright light source is shining on the lens. It won't affect the sharpness, but can in severe cases be a small contributor to flare.

A possible exception is extreme wide-angle lenses, which when focused closely, can sometimes image dust on the surface of the front element.
 
My 18-200VR has dust specks near the rear element. When at 18mm (where the rear element makes it's closest approach to the sensor) and stopped down to f16 I can see faint large blobs in blue sky photos (much larger but fainter than sensor dust bunnies). And stopped down all the way, they are easily visible in images. Good thing is I never use my 18-200VR stopped down that far. I discovered this actually while checking for dust on the sensor. I've tested very carefully with a pristine sensor as verified with blue sky f22 shots with the same lens at 35mm or longer, as well as other lenses. This is the only lens I have that does this.
 
Thanks for expanding on this, Marianne, that's a very clear explanation that makes my decision easier.

I think I'll get this lens as is as I don't really want to travel 80 miles just to have a better look at some dust!

Once again. thanks to all those who replied.
Kind regards,
MCV
 
edwardneal said:
I just read your question so I thought I would go look at my
lenses. I have 9 lenses, all Nikon primes - none of them have any
dust inside that I can see in any light.
Click to expand...
Edward, didn't you recently re-buy all your lenses, dropping your zooms? They must be pretty new. Did you try looking through the lunmounted ens toward a bright window, aperture wide open? You don't see anything?? Nothing?? :)

Over time, most lenses will accumulate some amount of dust, IMO. I think the small amount many people see will not affect their images.
 
yes all of the lenses were unmounted and I did open the aperture and look through them. As to the newness of my lenses 4 were purchased used and my 300 f/4 and 35mm f/2 are both the older versions, the 35 being a non-d lens and the 300 is the older non-afs version. all of the used ones were bought in EX or EX+ condition and it is possible that KEH cleaned them but I don't know. I did think the 20 had a spec, but then I realized that it had a UV filter on it I took off the filter and the spec went away.
Mark53 said:
edwardneal said:
I just read your question so I thought I would go look at my
lenses. I have 9 lenses, all Nikon primes - none of them have any
dust inside that I can see in any light.
Click to expand...
Edward, didn't you recently re-buy all your lenses, dropping your
zooms? They must be pretty new. Did you try looking through the
lunmounted ens toward a bright window, aperture wide open? You
don't see anything?? Nothing?? :)

Over time, most lenses will accumulate some amount of dust, IMO. I
think the small amount many people see will not affect their images.
Click to expand...
--
Edward

Lenses listed in profile

 
I had to re-think my set. only 3 were purchased used, 4 were new grey market and 2 new USA

--
Edward

Lenses listed in profile

 
Hi MCV, I'm the seller of this lens, if you win the auction and are not happy with it upon receiving it, you are welcome to return it within 7 days, happy bidding!
 
Ah, you caught me! Didn't want to give the game away as it's such a good offer and plenty of days left!

Thanks for the reply though, good of you to clear this up. I will have to wait a few days to bid yet as I'm waiting for some funds to clear first. It may be that by then it is out of my humble reach.....fingers crossed.

Kind regards,
MCV

PS. Always nice to bump into someone on this side of the pond, as I am not familiar with the excellent locations and shops sometimes mentioned in here.
 
mcv said:
I have seen an 85mm 1.8D lens for sale and it looks in a decent
condition. However, the seller has the following lines in his
description:

'Optics are scratch free, with very few dust specks inside, which
came with the lens when it was bought new. This is very common with
Nikon prime lenses, I actually have not seen any perfectly
dust-free Nikon primes!'

Can anyone confirm or dismiss this? Do Nikon primes really 'suffer'
from dust specks inside the lens? And if they do, will it really be
noticeable on photos?

Any help appreciated.
Thanks,
MCV
Click to expand...
Dont think small dust specks inside will matter much, but look out for small scratches at the back lens element, which can look like dust. Those can ruin the lens (makes it soft and dreamy).
--

http://www.pbase.com/interactive
http://tri-xstories.blogspot.com
 
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