Are imperfections normal?

[lawnpotter]

I received a lens yesterday by mail . And I noticed that on the bottom element on the inside of the lens there is a tiny tiny scratch barely noticeable. You have to work hard to see it in front of the light turning it at the correct angle for a few minutes. I called the dealer today and he said he would take it back but he says that every new lens has little imperfections if you scrutinize them with a magnifying glass. Is he right, This scratch is so small that most people wouldnt see it if they werent looking for it. He said he will take it back but he basicly said that little imperfections are normal and I need to relax a bit (my words) He said the image will not be effected what so ever. So my question is, Are tiny imperfections normal for even new lenses? I dont want to keep buying lenses and returning them because none of them are perfect. Thanks for your help

 

[uhligfd]

Quick reply: A BMW buyer in Alabama once got a million $s from a dealership (tort law case!) , because the new car was not in perfect condition. Somewhere on its body was a tenth of an inch of paint repair; just a hair, sort of; you needed to have the sun shine just right to ever notice it. But that dentist (?) felt he was given second hand goods and if he wanted a perfect car (or the perfect wife, so to say) he had to have it.

Never mind our imperfections; I just look at the mirror every morning: the same goes for me, my friend. I have blemishes and i still live. But I cannot return myself, I have to live with myself after all. I am real, warts and all ... How about you?

So: my advice to you: live only in virtual space, do not ever use crumbly $ bills, but do everything virtually on-line, in numbers. Do not eat any over/undercooked food ever, or your gut will be entered by imperfect nutrition, keep you eyes closed as you move around town or you will see filth etc.

And do give up photography since it deals with reality which, -- heaven forbid --, is never perfect - in gear, in execution, as in everything in arts.

Sorry, i am obviously wrong in what I said: your sight is perfect. Congratulations on that!

 

[PaulDalex]

I remember when I was young I had a 50/2 Nikkor H and my brother had the 1,4.
The 1,4 had some small bubbles in the glass. In the manual Nikon explained that they were normal and would not inpair the quality.
However it never happened to me subsequently to see something similar.
What brand is the lens and what is the year of production?
This seems to me a quality control problem.
Either there was a faulty quality control, in which case the lens should be returned, or that brand in that specific year of production allowed that amount of imperfection, in which case the lens is regular.
Bear in mind that, for example, in LCD screens they pass a few dead pixels (how I hate this!). Only more expensive LCD are guaranted to hane no faulty pixel.
That's, I think, is how industry works

 

[icebear]

if you search long enough....

if you search long enough....

If you search long enough you WILL find something to start complaining about. I guess the dealer is right (or yourself), just relax a bit. This is totally cosmetic and if someone inspecting it for a minute doesn't pick it up, it nothing to worry about. It will definately not affect optical performance.

 

[Al Kaplan]

They used to tell us that one sign of high quality optical glass was the fact that there were a few bubbles it. I woul;dn't worry about that miniscule scratch.

 

[MikeCassidy]

shoot a roll or two of film through it enlarge to 16x20 full neg and see.

 

[lawnpotter]

Thanks for the replies, they are very helpful

 

[Todd Frederick]

Lawnpotter,

Prince Gautma, The Buddha, was protected from worldly imperfection within the protection of his palace by his father. He once escaped that false world to see the world as it truly is, and realized that nothing is perfect or permanent.

There is a Buddhist saying: "See Your Glass Already Broken"...meaning to visualize your precious object already flawed or destroyed, and, that way you won't be overly attached to it. When you buy a new car, you should put the first scratch on it and then you can truly enjoy it without worry.

Your lens is fine. Enjoy it, make fine images with it, and accept that someday it will return to dust as we all will. Your lens is not an object of adoration.

 

[Al Kaplan]

Todd, Prince Gautma would feel right at home using my Leica kit and other assorted photo gear. Dings, dents, brassed edges, and lenses with a stray scratch or a few cleaning marks? Not worth worrying about. Lately I've been trying something new with my everyday carry around, the Bessa L with the 15mm Heliar. I never keep a cap on it and I haven't cleaned the glass in months...LOL The photos look just fine!

 

[lawnpotter]

Crap,

Crap,

I just washed my truck, I wished you posted this earlier about the budha and I could have saved $7.00

 

[Al Kaplan]

Lawnpotter, every time you wash your car or truck the rag or sponge picks up grit and puts fine scratches in the paint. The same thing if you use a chamois to get the beads of water off, and then again as you apply wax and polish the wax. There's only one time that you should ever wash and wax your vehicle: immediately before you drive it over to the dealership to trade it in on a new one. Another advantage to this is that people will be less likely to steal that ugly piece of crap truck of yours.

 

[Todd Frederick]

A "washed truck"? Isn't that is oxymoron. (^o^) Why have a truck if you need to wash it?

Seriously, I used to (and often still do) fret about tiny flaws and I do understand your torment...you spend a lot of money on something and you want it perfect. That's Ok, but such is not realistic. I have had to overcome that. With cameras, IMO, it's the function (what you produce) that is most important, not the appearance of the tool, unless the tool is an object of worship, decoration and/or status.

I usually only buy used items nowadays with the understanding that they will never be flawless. That helps.

 

[Doug]

Several years ago I bought from KEH a used Zeiss Biogon-G 2.8/21mm in "Bargain" condition. When it arrived I could not find a single flaw; it was as new. So I took it to my friend the camera repair guy for examination, and he found - under magnification - a tiny scratch on the rear element. Enough to drop it into KEH's Bargain category. Maybe about like yours... and I've never seen any sign of degradation in the images.

But if your lens was offered as a new one, then the scratch reduces value and I think it should be replaced with an undamaged lens. Your choice to accept it as-is of course, perhaps if you intend to keep it "forever" and the resale value is immaterial.

 

[bigdog]

When my son was born we decided it was time to buy my wife a brand new car to replace the old broken down car with a car with air bags, anti-lock brakes and all the safety features of newer cars. So I go to the hospital to bring my wife and our baby home and I decide it would be nice to take the new car. I park it under an acorn tree, even though I had seen my buddies brand new Mercedes hood all dinged up by parking under a tree in his driveway (yes an acorn falling from a tree can put some nice little dimples in your hood)

So I get out of the car and do that move where you look back to admire the big shiny hunk of metal and glass and I see this projectile hurl down and bounce a few feet off the hood where it left a perfect little dimple viewable from every possible angle. So I start to go through the thought process of why oh why did I park here...I knew this might happen...I should have parked just a few spots down...you idiot! ...my wife's brand new perfect car now has a glaring imperfection. Obviously I had much more on my mind and finding something to obsess about was easy with all the stress of a first baby. Then I took a deep breath and decided that every time I look at that ding in the hood, rather than reminding me of my stupid decision to park under that tree, it would remind me of the day I brought my son home from the hospital and immediately I felt better...I even liked the fact that this event was now marked in time on the hood of our new car.

I have an Industar lens that looks like the front element was rubbed up nicely with a medium grit sandpaper and it's amazing that it does not seem to appear in the images. It actually produces some nice portrait shots.

If the lens is brand new and I paid the full pop, then I would also expect that the glass is is flawless. It's your time and money so it's your call ...but hey, life is short!

 

[lawnpotter]

Big dog, thanks for the advice, next time I buy a lens I will make a baby that way even if the lens is a bad one it will make me smile. Al, how have you seen my truck you know it so well, actually this is the first time I washed it in a long long time and it looks worse now, cause more paint has peeled where the bird crap was. It makes me feel closer to budha.

 

[ChrisN]

I can't contribute any warm stories about buddha or babies, but I can say that one of my Leica lenses had a small bubble in the glass of the front element, another has some light marks across the rear element, and a third even had some big chips knocked out of an element. They all make perfectly good images. If that's your intention (making good images) don't worry about the lens.

 

[lawnpotter]

Thanks Chris.