Dust to Dust

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Feb 10, 2009
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I have examined my two 35mm lenses with a torch lamp. Both shows a lot of dust. I expect to get optically better results if I send the off for cleaning. Or am I just fooling myself into spending money?
 
Well... the thread title is dramatic.
Sometimes i find myself wondering over dead things that maybe is not worth spending valuable time thinking about.
 
How much is a "lot"? Unless your lenses are really very dusty, you are probably better off leaving them alone. Unlike (say) fingerprints and such, dust inside a lens is only going to result in a very slight loss of contrast due to flare, and probably unnoticeable unless you did a back-to-back comparison shooting into the sun (this is why folks who use large reflecting telescopes just use a blower to remove loose dust from the mirrors and avoid contact cleaning until absolutely necessary - the chance of damage from the cleaning itself or some mishap far outweighs any miniscule degradation of image quality from a few specks of dust).

On the other hand if you're sending a camera off for a CLA why not send the lenses along - it'll save on shipping them separately.

Who said I was indecisive? ;)

Scott
 
The dust is unlikely to cause any noticeable issues unless it's so thick that it forms a sort of film over the glass. I've seen this more in zoom lenses that tend to suck dusty air inside of themselves when changing focal length. If you can count the specks without getting bored and there isn't any haze, separation or fungus a professional cleaning is probably over cautious.

I am sending an Elmar to Focal Point tomorrow though, it DOES have some haze and the contrast seems to be suffering.
 
Or cemetery or funereal photos....

Dust isn't good, but ashes are O.K. ;)

Harry

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