What is this in my lens? 50mm summicron v4

[danielericweiss]

Just got this lens from everyones favorite auction site, it is perfectly smooth (aperture and focus) and looks crystal clear to the eye- but when you shine a light through it, one of the elements in the back has this on it.

Is this reason enough to return it? it looks like some kind of discoloration of the coating rather than something floating in the lens (such as haze or fungus). And yes, no matter how you shine the light it is that portion of the glass which looks like the the following pictures. Usually I'd not worry about this kinda stuff but I did just drop some good money on this lens.

thanks guys.

 

[lam]

YES return that. That's awful.

 

[danielericweiss]

oh well, thanks guys.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Looks like fungus too.

 

[Livesteamer]

That's why I hesitate to buy expensive lenses from an auction site. I value a good dealer like KEH or Tamarkin. Joe

 

[cosmonaut]

Can it not be CLAed? Make the buyer pay for a CLA. If it's fixable.

 

[Rob-F]

That's terrible! Send it back.

 

[danielericweiss]

yeah i'll be sending it back.

 

[splitimageview]

Looks like haze to me, but it's really difficult to tell in photos. The blobs are usually just out of focus dust, that looks a lot worse than they really are. Don't see any fungus but it really needs direct visual inspection to properly evaluate. If it is haze, it could be cleaned up pretty easily. Unlikely this would affect photos at all, however. After examining thousands of lenses, you might be surprised how much can be inside a lens without it having any effect.

 

[Travis L.]

Looks like a Hubble telescope image.. Yikes

 

[splitimageview]

Take a flashlight to your old lenses, and many will look just like this.

 

[farlymac]

Pixie dust and meteor trails. Looks worse since you are shaking the lens. Lots of reflections from the light, too. Shoot a roll first. I've got got a Sonnar f2 that looks similar, but you can't tell on the negatives or scans.

PF

 

[danielericweiss]

I'm not concerned about the dust pictured or clarity, those are better than fine. Its just that discolored part - pictured in most of the photos on the top right and surrounding area, that I haven't come across before. Chances are it wont effect the pictures, but for a lens that was listed as clean and clear glass I don't think I'm going to let it slide.

 

[splitimageview]

Haze. It will probably wipe clean. Serious haze can reduce contrast, but that doesn't look bad enough to do much, compared to other lenses I've inspected. It really depends more on how much you paid for the lens and how it was described in the auction.