Lynx w/ a problem

[Bill58]

I've had two CLAs done on my old Lynx and still the same problem. There is a pronounced "ghost effect" on some of my images:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wrs111445/2606453570/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wrs111445/2606468732/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wrs111445/2606468740/

As you can see, "it" moves around and takes different shapes. Is this haze on the lens? Though I've CLAs done, the lens has never been taken apart and cleaned. Is this the problem?

Any advice is appreciated.

Bill

 

[btgc]

Hi Bill, last time I shot in midday, got something similar - sun were from front-side; no lens hood. I have reworked mine myself, cleaned also internal surfaces w/ lens cleaning tissue. No visible fog or haze inside.
That's why I'm going to purchase hood - hope it's what (or rather absence of it) makes this side-effect.

 

[Bill58]

Hi Bill, last time I shot in midday, got something similar - sun were from front-side; no lens hood. I have reworked mine myself, cleaned also internal surfaces w/ lens cleaning tissue. No visible fog or haze inside.
That's why I'm going to purchase hood - hope it's what (or rather absence of it) makes this side-effect.

Sorry, I didn't mention I WAS using a generic, 58mm metal hood, but also had the same problem w/ a previous, rubber one. The day I shot those, it was very sunny.

So- you haven't tried your Lynx out after the lens cleaning and w/ a hood?

 

[btgc]

mhm...58mm hood tells me we are talking about different Lynxes...you should be using 14 while I though 5000.
So far I have used 5000 outdoors (after I reworked it) without hood and this were first time I noticed this issue. So far I have read that lens on 14' is flare prone, very prone. Can you remember where sun stood when pics were taken ?
My 14 is waiting while I finish work on it...

 

[Bill58]

mhm...58mm hood tells me we are talking about different Lynxes...you should be using 14 while I though 5000.
So far I have used 5000 outdoors (after I reworked it) without hood and this were first time I noticed this issue. So far I have read that lens on 14' is flare prone, very prone. Can you remember where sun stood when pics were taken ?
My 14 is waiting while I finish work on it...

Is that flare? I thought flare was like bright dots. The afternoon sun was about 10 or 11:00 to me when I took those.

 

[btgc]

Not dead sure. I think this is initial stage of flare. Maybe it has special term for it.

upd: I've inspected my shots with sun behind shoulder and no, there are no traces of this "light phenomena".

 

[JeffGreene]

Bill:

That's flare. The 1.4 is a great lens, but it is subject to flare. I have the same camera and the same issue until I started using a lens hood with it regularly. Even then you need to be careful. There were a number of threads a few years ago on this issue.

 

[Bill58]

OK--I'm convinced. It just didn't look like any flare I've seen before. That's what I get for using the Lynx on such a sunny day or maybe I'll just have to make sure the sun is at 6:00 to me in the future.

Many thanks

 

[ully]

First and Second rules of photography:

Shoot with sun behind you
Use a hood.

 

[FallisPhoto]

I've had two CLAs done on my old Lynx and still the same problem. There is a pronounced "ghost effect" on some of my images:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wrs111445/2606453570/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wrs111445/2606468732/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wrs111445/2606468740/

As you can see, "it" moves around and takes different shapes. Is this haze on the lens? Though I've CLAs done, the lens has never been taken apart and cleaned. Is this the problem?

Any advice is appreciated.

Bill

I've seen this sort of thing before and it is not lens flare. What it is is some sort of crud deposited between the lens elements.

 

[btgc]

crud deposited between the lens elements.

you mean - on front elements rear surface and rear elements front surface - or even between sealed elements ?

 

[Bill58]

I've seen this sort of thing before and it is not lens flare. What it is is some sort of crud deposited between the lens elements.

Uh oh. Did a thorough cleaning of the lens elements eliminate the problem?

I've seen the same effect on one of my Oly SPs also. I guess I gotta get the lenses cleaned inside after all.

Thanks,
Bill

 

[FallisPhoto]

you mean - on front elements rear surface and rear elements front surface - or even between sealed elements ?

Yes. Any of the above. The smudge effect on the first photo is very suspicious, but the inset washed out square in the third photo is an absolutely classic sign and it's a dead giveaway. When I saw that I knew for sure. I coulden't tell you why it does that, but it nearly always does. Logically, it seems to me that the inset should be round. Anyway, you have some deposited oil or something else in there. Clean the glass on the inside of the lens with naptha (to dissolve the oil) and then with distilled water (to remove any oil that the naptha may have hydrolized -- basically some of it may turn to soap during cleaning if the naptha is old and has become base -- you'll get a haze forming as the naptha dries). Lens fungus is also a (rather remote) possibility, and for that the best cleaning agent is a 50/50 mix of ammonia and hydrogen peroxide.

 

[FallisPhoto]

Uh oh. Did a thorough cleaning of the lens elements eliminate the problem?

I've seen the same effect on one of my Oly SPs also. I guess I gotta get the lenses cleaned inside after all.

Thanks,
Bill

If it looks like the first and third photos. That is almost certainly what it is. The usual culprit is deposited gasses from old oil. Naptha is the best solvent for cleaning this, followed by distilled water.

 

[btgc]

Naptha is the best solvent for cleaning this, followed by distilled water.

I have wondered if naphtha doesn't eat coatings (I know how dumb it sounds) but seems that it's safe, at least for short cleaning.

 

[Bill58]

If it looks like the first and third photos. That is almost certainly what it is. The usual culprit is deposited gasses from old oil. Naptha is the best solvent for cleaning this, followed by distilled water.

I guess then the reason for the "ghosting" moving around from frame to frame is that the light hits it from differant angles?

Thanks,
Bill

 

[FallisPhoto]

I have wondered if naphtha doesn't eat coatings (I know how dumb it sounds) but seems that it's safe, at least for short cleaning.

Naptha is pretty much benign. Isopropyl alcohol is much more likely to harm lenses (because it is much more agressive at dissolving canadian balsam cements and can turn clear plastics white -- you should see what it can do to a plastic fresnel lens focusing screen) and ammonia is even more harmful (it can loosen the coatings from soft coated lenses and will eat the coating from naturally bloomed lenses).

Note: If you have naturally bloomed lenses or soft coated (pre-1965) lenses, then instead of using a 50/50 solution of ammonia and hydrogen peroxide to remove lens fungus, you use Ponds cold cream. It is a lot messier, and you have one hell of a cleanup later, but it works and it won't eat your coatings. Hard coated lenses (every lens made after 1975) are safe to clean with ammonia and hydrogen peroxide. With those, the lens coatings are not just lying on top of the glass, but are fused to it, during a baking process.

 

[FallisPhoto]

I guess then the reason for the "ghosting" moving around from frame to frame is that the light hits it from differant angles?

Thanks,
Bill

Yep. That's it.

 

[Bill58]

Yep. That's it.

If I can't find Naptha (Coleman fuel or charcoal lighter fluid) in Korea, can I use Acetone or Lacquer Thinner, followed by distilled water?

Thanks,

Bill

p.s. I hope the J.B. Weld is holding up fine.

 

[FallisPhoto]

If I can't find Naptha (Coleman fuel or charcoal lighter fluid) in Korea, can I use Acetone or Lacquer Thinner, followed by distilled water?

Thanks,

Bill

p.s. I hope the J.B. Weld is holding up fine.

Naptha, outside of hardware stores, is also sold as lighter fluid. They don't have cigarette lighters in Korea?