Scratches on lens

To all those pros out there, does minor scratches on SLR lenses affect the picture? Thank you.

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Shafak

check the link
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1005&thread=30201582

it is intersting..
it would seem scratches don't matter that much.
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Enjoy life and Remember the Camera

I have a 24-105 with a 2mm scratch in the middle of the lens and have never noticed anything. Because of the scratch I only paid $89 for the lens.
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A200 / KM 5D / KM100 macro / KM 28-75 / KM 28-135 / Sony 70-300G / Sigma 24 2.8 / metz 54mz-4

Thanks for the inputs.

One more doubt. How difficult would it be to take pictures with manual/older lenses with a digital SLR?

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Shafak CP4500

Shafak said:

Does minor scratches on SLR lenses affect the picture?

Click to expand...

It really depends on the conditions where you are taking the photo.

In general use you won't notice any issue, the problem could come in strong light, you could see some strange effects (Halo or flare) showing on the picture.

I wouldn't discard a lens just because of a scratch, 95% of the cases it won't be an issue.

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http://vitorfonseca.elementfx.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vitorfonseca/

Shafak said:

One more doubt. How difficult would it be to take pictures with
manual/older lenses with a digital SLR?

Click to expand...

Depends on what DSLR are you using I use the STF whith my 7D + L screen and don't find it difficult. I would be in trouble if I was using the 5D/A200/A3x0 cameras.
The A700 the same VF as the 7D so I guess it won't be an issue.
The A900 would make life easier.

Regarding older MF lens I only use them with my X-500, never used them on digital even though I have the Minolta converter.
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Fowgettabooutit
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Bill
Capturing memories, one at a time.

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Shafak CP4500

And one more thing I forgot to ask. What about fungus on lens? Do they affect or is the answer the same as above? Thank you.

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Shafak

Fungus on a lens is a kiss of death. It eventually damages the lens surface & causes flare & loss of focus. It is often on internal lens surfaces & it is not so easy to see there, you need to hold the aperture blades open & look through the lens against a moderate light source & look for cloudiness.
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Keith-C

Shafak said:

And one more thing I forgot to ask. What about fungus on lens? Do
they affect or is the answer the same as above? Thank you.

Click to expand...

as Keith said, fungus can kill a lens over time. I would recommend to not mix any infected lens with the others.
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http://vitorfonseca.elementfx.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vitorfonseca/

A few days back, I was interested in a 24-105 and being new to SLR and lenses, I've never seen fungus on lens before. The seller was asking for approx US$200 for it while the others who had them, if any, were asking US$260 for it. I never doubted this seller because he had been frank and honest to me before on several many occasions. When I asked him if there were scratches or fungus, he said no. But, when I was inspecting the lens, I saw a 2 - 3 specks in the lens which had shape of some micro flowers. When I asked if this was fungus, the seller opened the aperture manually and looked and admitted that it had fungus. Only then I saw what fungus really looked like.

But, the seller tried to assure me that it was very minor and could be cleaned. I asked a few other sellers in that area and all gave the same reply that fungus could be cleaned if it was really very minor as claimed. But, I am very skeptical of this claim and would like to know from other members their advice.

Thank you.

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Shafak

It can lead to flare as it is inevitable the coatings that are scratched off. I have a 50mm f1.4 that has scratches on the rear element. I suspect a previous owner had sat it down on the rear element too many times... Anyway in terms of image quality i can see no effect from the scratches but the lens does have a tendency to flare more than my other lenses, I have a 24 f2 from the same time frame so the coatings are comparable.