Would you buy a 300mm f/4 PRO with dust for $1300?

Greetings.
I have an opportunity to buy an Olympus 300mm f/4 PRO for CAD1800 which is about USD1300. The lens has some visible dust in it but otherwise seems to be in a great condition, very clean cosmetically.
Is dust a concern? Would you buy it for this price?
Thanks.

TheWintermute said:

Greetings.
I have an opportunity to buy an Olympus 300mm f/4 PRO for CAD1800 which is about USD1300. The lens has some visible dust in it but otherwise seems to be in a great condition, very clean cosmetically.
Is dust a concern? Would you buy it for this price?
Thanks.

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Cheap for a 300/4. Just be mindful that some of the sealing o-rings may have been damaged, which allowed dust to get inside. If you don't plan to use the lens in weather, then the only concern is seeing some dust when you're stopped down. If you do want to use the lens in rain, then I wouldn't go for it. I think CAD $2500~$2800 is the price I usually see, so you're saving around $700+ in exchange for possibly compromised weather sealing and sometimes seeing dust in photos when stopped down. The dust situation may get worse if the weather sealing is really compromised. The value of the lens will go down as it accumulates more dust. It will be harder to sell a lens like this.

If you are very limited in budget, then go for it. Otherwise, it's generally better to buy a better example that'll hold value and is easier to sell down the road.

If the lens is fine, I would not hesitate to buy it.

$1300 means less than 40% of the price of the new lens.

HicHic said:

[..] sometimes seeing dust in photos when stopped down.

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I don't see how that could happen. The 300mm doesn't protrude into the body and its rear element is positioned far enough from the sensor that dust will be completely out of focus. At worst, if there's a lot of dust, he will notice a slight loss of contrast.

if it were me I would search the Japanese market for a lens. Having bought 4 used from Japan. The quality is like new if listed as mint or near mint, and I would not hesitate .

TheWintermute said:

Greetings.
I have an opportunity to buy an Olympus 300mm f/4 PRO for CAD1800 which is about USD1300. The lens has some visible dust in it but otherwise seems to be in a great condition, very clean cosmetically.
Is dust a concern? Would you buy it for this price?
Thanks.

Click to expand...

If the lens is sharp (and it's an exceptionally sharp lens, easy to check), dust will have ZERO or let's say, near ZERO impact on the IQ. (On sharpness, ZERO).

But it'll have an impact on the resale price for sure.

The lens isn't sealed anymore for whatever reason but you can bypass that (if necessary).

Where I live the normal price is around 1500 EUR max but on mpb the minimum price is heavier, with a very poor CRM experience (my personal try).

1.300 is your choice/balance/want/need.

Only if I had the right to return it within a reasonable time if not satisfied with its performance.

My local shop advertises "light dust" or "small amount of dust" in about 80% of their used lenses.

It wouldn't worry me for that money

Owlsfan said:

My local shop advertises "light dust" or "small amount of dust" in about 80% of their used lenses.

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And that's perfectly normal. People who doubt that, should shine a flashlight through their lenses and see for themselves. They'll be in for a shock!

Thank you everyone for your responses!
Some of you expressed the opinion that the lens is no longer weather-sealed if the dust got in. This is certainly a big concern for me because I would use this lens in all kinds of weather. On the other hand, I have a 25mm f/1.2 PRO which also had dust in it when I bought it and I've used it in the rain quite a bit in the 2 years that I had it and so far it's holding up just fine against water.

I'm going to have to look into this question of whether or not weather sealing has to be compromised for the dust to get in. I've already done a quick search and so far all I found on the topic were someone's opinions.

I agree with those you who said that dust should not affect the image quality. My dusty 25mm PRO preforms great and I don't see any signs of dust in my images.

Weather sealing is my main concern at this point and then, of course, there is the matter of the resale value!

TheWintermute said:

Thank you everyone for your responses!
Some of you expressed the opinion that the lens is no longer weather-sealed if the dust got in.

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Many people on this forum have no clue what they are talking about. Weather/splash-proof lenses are not hermetically sealed. Air gets in. Dust gets in. It's normal. Shine a flashlight inside 100 weatherproof lenses and you'll see that all 100 of them have dust inside.

TheWintermute said:

Thank you everyone for your responses!
Some of you expressed the opinion that the lens is no longer weather-sealed if the dust got in. This is certainly a big concern for me because I would use this lens in all kinds of weather. On the other hand, I have a 25mm f/1.2 PRO which also had dust in it when I bought it and I've used it in the rain quite a bit in the 2 years that I had it and so far it's holding up just fine against water.
I'm going to have to look into this question of whether or not weather sealing has to be compromised for the dust to get in. I've already done a quick search and so far all I found on the topic were someone's opinions.
I agree with those you who said that dust should not affect the image quality. My dusty 25mm PRO preforms great and I don't see any signs of dust in my images.
Weather sealing is my main concern at this point and then, of course, there is the matter of the resale value!

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This is my 300/4 after 4 years of heavy use. I purchased it from an Olympus ambassador, who also used it for many years prior to me.

It's still in perfect condition, no dust inside.

I take it out in all kinds of weather too, ice, snow, bushes, etc.


This was me walking out in the frozen sea to photograph wildlife with it.



I always have the ZD77 filter on it. If the 300/4 has dust inside, it's highly likely that the sealing has been compromised. I doubt many other 300/4s out there see as much use as mine, and in such extreme conditions.

HicHic said:

It's still in perfect condition, no dust inside.

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Shine a flashlight through the other end of it.

Todd Yes said:

HicHic said:

It's still in perfect condition, no dust inside.

Click to expand...

Shine a flashlight through the other end of it.

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Lmao, not sure what you're expecting.

TheWintermute said:

Greetings.
I have an opportunity to buy an Olympus 300mm f/4 PRO for CAD1800 which is about USD1300. The lens has some visible dust in it but otherwise seems to be in a great condition, very clean cosmetically.
Is dust a concern? Would you buy it for this price?
Thanks.

Click to expand...

How much is "some" dust? While used lenses can't be expected to be 100% dust free, this is a PRO lens with internal focusing so it shouldn't inhale dust the way some lenses do. If it's very dusty then I would be concerned about its history and would probably stay clear of it. But if it's only a very small amount, it will have little if any visible effect on your images. Visible dust spots can occur with wide angle lenses stopped down, but not with a 300 mm lens and especially when shooting at f/4 or even f/8. Any loss of contrast due to veiling flare would be so slight as to be almost impossible to detect.

--
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevebalcombe/ or
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/stevebalcombe/popular-interesting/

No

TheWintermute said:

Greetings.
I have an opportunity to buy an Olympus 300mm f/4 PRO for CAD1800 which is about USD1300. The lens has some visible dust in it but otherwise seems to be in a great condition, very clean cosmetically.
Is dust a concern? Would you buy it for this price?
Thanks.

Click to expand...

Are you looking at the lens being sold by Kerrisdale Cameras in Vancouver?

It depends on where the dusts are. If it is closer near to the rear optics, then there will be a noticeable reduction in contrast when you're shooting against the light. If it's further to the front elements, then the effects will be minimal. You may also see dust spots when stopping the lens down further. You probably want to use the lens at its maximum aperture most often anyhow.

What I'm more worried about is fungus. Dust and moisture (from condensation caused by temperature change) are key ingredients for existing mold spores to grow and thrive. When you have fungus in the lens, it can easily spread to your other lenses, so you may want to have a second opinion from a lens tech to take a look at the lens before committing.

I was also tempted to buy that lens, but decided that the savings isn't much if I decide to send it in for cleaning. They had another one sold for $1600 CAD with even more dust.

I would ask OM System in Canada (Sun Camera in Canada) to see how much it is to clean the lens from dust and then you can factor in the costs. Sooner or later, you will have to clean the lens to prevent mold spores from growing and thriving inside the lens.

HicHic said:

Todd Yes said:

HicHic said:

It's still in perfect condition, no dust inside.

Click to expand...

Shine a flashlight through the other end of it.

Click to expand...

Lmao, not sure what you're expecting.

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The aperture blades needs to be fully opened and then you shine the light through the rear elements like this below. This lens is supposed to be weather sealed, but dust still gets through. The LED light needs to be super blinding bright and you need to be in a dark room to see them. Notice that my room is being lit by my LED light as well.

BudgetTraveller said:

HicHic said:

Todd Yes said:

HicHic said:

It's still in perfect condition, no dust inside.

Click to expand...

Shine a flashlight through the other end of it.

Click to expand...

Lmao, not sure what you're expecting.

Click to expand...

The aperture blades needs to be fully opened and then you shine the light through the rear elements like this below. This lens is supposed to be weather sealed, but dust still gets through. The LED light needs to be super blinding bright and you need to be in a dark room to see them. Notice that my room is being lit by my LED light as well.

Click to expand...

And how would you fully open the aperture blades on a 300mm f4 when it is off the camera. The above image of the 300mm f4 is what you see with the 300mm f4 off the camera. There is no manual aperture control.

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drj3

drj3 said:

BudgetTraveller said:

HicHic said:

Todd Yes said:

HicHic said:

It's still in perfect condition, no dust inside.

Click to expand...

Shine a flashlight through the other end of it.

Click to expand...

Lmao, not sure what you're expecting.

Click to expand...

The aperture blades needs to be fully opened and then you shine the light through the rear elements like this below. This lens is supposed to be weather sealed, but dust still gets through. The LED light needs to be super blinding bright and you need to be in a dark room to see them. Notice that my room is being lit by my LED light as well.

Click to expand...

And how would you fully open the aperture blades on a 300mm f4 when it is off the camera. The above image of the 300mm f4 is what you see with the 300mm f4 off the camera. There is no manual aperture control.

Click to expand...

Aren't they supposed to be set wide open when there's no power? Mine all does from 100-400 all the way to 7-14 Pro.

Here's a sample of my Leica 25mm. Wide open when off the camera. All my Nikkor FF Z mount and OM and Panasonic MFT mount lenses all do this. Easy to shine light through to check for dust.

If the OM-1/OM-1 mark II can not do this for you, you can override it using the trick below.