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Beginner - scratched glass should I be concerned

MRfanny

New member
Hey everyone,

Finally got my GH1 2 weeks ago and I have been having so much fun more so making video clips from it than taking photo's but that will come soon enough. Such a small little sucker.

Anyways, I just picked up a Contax Zeiss 25mm MMJ off ebay and discovered what appears to be a 2mm scratch on the inside of the rear glass that wasn't mentioned on the listing. Will this affect image quality at all? The aperture ring also has a little noticeable lateral play that is not present in my other MMJ and AEJ lenses. Is this a sign that it has been opened for cleaning or service? Should I send it back?

I may be nit picking just because the seller took a while to post, posted the lens in its original box but inside a bigger box to rattle around, the bigger box was oil soaked but was plastic wrapped so not sure if it may have been the postal service, and he left out the leather soft pouch that comes with it. Just a culmination of little things that has given me buyers remorse.

What do you all think?

Cheers.
 

Bob

Administrator
Staff member
Is it worth the price you paid?
If you don't think it was accurately represented, send it back.
-bob
 

pellicle

New member
Firstly, I agree with Bobs view

additionally:

Anyways, I just picked up a Contax Zeiss 25mm MMJ off ebay and discovered what appears to be a 2mm scratch on the inside of the rear glass that wasn't mentioned on the listing. Will this affect image quality at all?
its unlikley you will see anything, can you post an image?

The aperture ring also has a little noticeable lateral play that is not present in my other MMJ and AEJ lenses. Is this a sign that it has been opened for cleaning or service? Should I send it back?
hard to answer ... some peoples idea of lateral play is my idea of normal ...

too subjective for me to really answer
 

MRfanny

New member
I paid $450AUD which is about $412USD, some may say too much, others a decent buy. At the end of the day it's still hard earned money in my books =) Cosmetically it is in pretty good condition with the odd tiny paint chips the corners of the focus and aperture rings.

Quick test shot at the shortest and furthest focal length of the blue sky and plain white wall do not show anything obvious.

The lateral play is across the lens, not up and down the shaft if that makes sense. It's about 1mm or so more play than my other lenses but your right Pellicle, it's quite subjective.

The seller originally purchased from someone else in HK and he doesn't know whether it has been opened for service or not. What I found odd was him asking if the scratch affects the image. Kinda leads me to believe that he hasn't actually used the lens personally? I dunno, he does sound like a reasonable guy...then again it is the internet afterall...lol.

Here is a pic of the scratch. Tell me if i am being to pedantic.
 
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pellicle

New member
Hi

ok ... another Ozzie (guessin here, I hail from SE,Qld meself) ... I think I might have found the auction:

wideangle 25/2.8mm lens in C/Y mount
lens is in mint condition, like 95% new
free from any marks, scratches
glass is free from fungus, dust
lens comes with original box, soft case, f/b caps
lens is MMJ version, made in Japan
Within Australia
the postage will be free
if that's the one, then I'd take issue with the bolded components of the item and take issue with it to the seller as "item not as described", especially since you say that it didn't come with some of the other bits.

personally I don't see the point of a f2.8 'normal' for the G1 as my kit 14-45 lens dashes anything I've tried inside its focal range in every category.
* optical quality
* weight
* image stabilisation
* integration with system (focus by wire etc)

If I were you I'd do a quick side by side of that with your kit and see if you can see the differences ...

for what its worth you could get an FD 24mm f2.8 from KEH in the USA for between 40 and 69 bucks (no GST or customs for less than $1000 or something like that) which would likely be its equal and allow you to share adaptors with other cheap as chips nice FD primes (like the FD 200f4).

in reality the "size difference" between the Contax lenses and the FD lenses on camera isn't an issue ...
 

pellicle

New member
ohh ... and try searching on "Contax 25 lens" on KEH and see the prices there. I've bought from them enough times to know that they are always spot on with descriptions and prices.
 

MRfanny

New member
Yep that's the one..sigh..ha. and yep Im an aussie too.

I shoot mainly clips so the faster the lens the better for me when it comes to indoor shots and that extra DOF gives it that extra special look to me. The stock 14-140lens is slow at f4 so it really drops its game in low light.

I honestly have only played with the stock lens about 3 times and it does pretty well outdoors. I should really play with it more to know its limitations.

In hindsight i probably would have been better off getting a fast 25mm c mount instead possibly. The plan in my mind was to build up a nice set of 35mm primes for when they finally come out with a full frame dslr with super video integration in the future....though I think I may have Zeiss tunnel vision which is a bad thing.

That scratch just really bugs me...ha...just like a scratch on your new car or phone.

Thanks for the link, wish you had have shown me earlier..lol. hows their postage to Australia?
 

pellicle

New member
Hi

I shoot mainly clips so the faster the lens the better for me when it comes to indoor shots and that extra DOF gives it that extra special look to me.

well to be honest its no faster than the 24mm 2.8 I mentioned and more than double the price.

with respect to c mount

you can expect some vignetting, but a commonly available computar 12.5mm will give you looks like this:





and



have a peek at my flickr stream.


The stock 14-140lens is slow at f4 so it really drops its game in low light.
well, you know, its not really much from f2.8 to f4 (like 1 stop)

I should really play with it more to know its limitations.
testing your gear and knowing it is an important task for any serious photographer


In hindsight i probably would have been better off getting a fast 25mm c mount instead possibly.
see above images

The plan in my mind was to build up a nice set of 35mm primes for when they finally come out with a full frame dslr with super video integration in the future....though I think I may have Zeiss tunnel vision which is a bad thing.
I have a nice collection of OM lenses which work well on 5D and other full frame cameras too ... OM will work by adaptor with EOS



the image is a link to flickr where you check out what I paid for them...

Thanks for the link, wish you had have shown me earlier..lol. hows their postage to Australia?
better than postage to Finland mate ;-)
 

Audii-Dudii

Active member
As a rule, scratches rarely affect performance as much as some people think they will (although the closer the scratch is to the film/sensor, the greater its potential for having a visible effect), and if a lens is priced accordingly, this doesn't always bother me. In this case, though, it appears you paid you on the high side of the price spectrum thus have a reason to be unhappy...
 

MRfanny

New member
I ended up returning the lens. The scratch was superficial and like Audii dudii said, it didn't affect the image and was nice to shoot with. It did show signs of softening when wide open though. A combination of the price I paid and future resale value played a part.

Would just like to say that the seller was very reasonable and I had no problems raising my issues and concerns with him/her.

This has been a good lesson learned on my part. Now its time for me to be a bit more wiser with my money in choosing the right lenses. Lenses that will actually benefit me...ha

Thanks everyone.

Hi
well, you know, its not really much from f2.8 to f4 (like 1 stop)
Ha, yeah I just realised that after. Such a dud argument. As for your computar 12mm f1.4 how did you manage to get that coverage as I understand if you go lower than 25mm you get sever vignetting?

I just picked up an el cheapo Avenir 25mm f1.4 c-mount to have a play with. should be interesting as I have never heard of it before. Hope I haven't bought junk..lol
 

pellicle

New member
As for your computar 12mm f1.4 how did you manage to get that coverage as I understand if you go lower than 25mm you get sever vignetting?
I don't think its related to focal length as it is the intended coverage of the lens. They are intended to cover 16mm or 8mm which is smaller than 4/3 sensor. Essentially every lens will cover more, but its how bad the fall off is past the 'design area' that matters.

I paid only a few bucks for the computar ... try one
 

PeterB666

Member
Would just like to say that the seller was very reasonable and I had no problems raising my issues and concerns with him/her.

This has been a good lesson learned on my part. Now its time for me to be a bit more wiser with my money in choosing the right lenses. Lenses that will actually benefit me...ha
Struth mate (someone else from the land of Oz), at least a good outcome although you are no doubt disspointed. There is always a small element of risk buying on eBay but the rewards can be great.

I just picked up an el cheapo Avenir 25mm f1.4 c-mount to have a play with. should be interesting as I have never heard of it before. Hope I haven't bought junk..lol
How cheap is el cheapo? I was interested in going down the c-mount route but I must admit I am not a big fan of vignetting or the very soft edges that many of these lenses have. The novelty wears off after a while and by the time you have stopped down to get a decent image, you may have bought a slower OM, Pentax, Canon, Nikon lens et al. The more versatile c-mount lenses are just silly money now.

I am using an old Schneider Robot mount lens which I have had for almost 30 years. It is essentially c-mount but with a 28mm mount to sensor distance and as the Robot camera was a 35mm camera with a 24x24mm frame, gives more than ample coverage. The only problem is that there are no really wide lenses, about 30mm is as wide as it goes, and once you stray away from 40mm, the are quite slow lenses as were typical of glass made 50 year ago.

Cheers

Peter
 

MRfanny

New member
Struth mate (someone else from the land of Oz), at least a good outcome although you are no doubt disspointed. There is always a small element of risk buying on eBay but the rewards can be great.
Bloody oath hey....lol so aussie..ha I'll breath a final sigh when I see the money back in my account =)

How cheap is el cheapo?
I'm talking $25bucks el-cheapo! will make for a good paperweight if it's no good.

The more versatile c-mount lenses are just silly money now.
yeah I kinda gave up cause they were fetching ridiculous prices on ebay. gonna try my luck at some vintage store, swap meet/sunday market, or garage sale instead. though I have been considering visiting some CCTV businesses to see what lenses they have.
 
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