Interesting to see the comparison. I always read stories that scratches in the front element are no big deal at all. Only with wider lenses and straylight but nothing a lens hood wouldn't take care of or maybe some black paint to fill the scratch. Scratched rear elements seem to be more of a problem. And no, I didn't see a difference. Thanks for the video!
Thanks a lot Martin. For that kind of work I am doing, there will be not much difference. The smaller the lens gets, the more it will affect it. For sure scratches on the back of the lens can be a bigger issue. And that's why I was surprised ut was not. What some people may not realise, the wood I used is very shiny and silvery. So it's a bit like shooting directly into a light source. I thought it would produce a really bad result. But it did not.
great video my friend and glad that i could be of some help there. i think its fascinating what kind of hands on knowledge and experience the opticians had back then. they made lenses that were tack sharp and are still tack sharp, even compared to nowadays standards. and those lenses can take quite a beating too. its always a nice moment, when i find a new user for an old lens that was stored somewhere completly forgotten for the last 80-90 years. and its even better, if i finally see some images done with it again. thats something that keept me going during the hard years lately.
I may back up all you're both mentioning about damaged lenses. Dennis you may remember a certain lens I bought from you with not a simple scratch but a huge crack several cm long in the front element. I've been shooting with this lens for several years now. It's sharp, I love it, and I've taken my best images with it.
You know what. My first large format lens was a fujinon 210mm that was sold as-is because it was billed as “dirty fungus scratched not working” paid like $70 for it and the lens board it came on. Needed both for my Cambo SC. Turned out it was stored with no lens caps. It was just dusty and The low speed escapement was stuck. Cleaned and serviced had me a good lens to do a lot of my large format firsts. Repair cameras had a video on the low speed escapement on their UA-cam channel. I got a lens for cheap and learned a little about my gear and how it worked. I have since bought 4 other lenses that needed work. All work and are in my bag.
There are enough examples where even really cracked/shattered lens elements can be almost unnoticeable stopped down, might become a problem with backlight though.. :)
For large format film photography it often doesn't make a lot of difference, even less so with wet plate where the small, expected visual imperfections (glow, minor sharpness differences) aren't going to interfere with the result. For digital photography with harsh light situations it can definitely make a difference, especially when the scratches are on the rear element. A damaged front element can still deliver excellent results as long as you don't stop down, the rest of the optical path often times "corrects" minor issues. But then again you're limited to using these lenses to certain situations otherwise the results will be questionable.
That’s what we discussed. The damage on my canon lens is only on the front and for sure, the high engineered digital lenses with lots of additional coatings/glass elements will easily show more differences with a scratch on the front lens.
@@mhaustria Well sort of, Denis mentioned not seeing a difference wide open - but when you close down the aperture a large damage to the front element could show up as a dark "shadow" and other problems like halos/glow/haze/loss of contrast would become apparent. And with a digital sensor being so much smaller, even minor imperfections of a lenses rendition will be much more noticeable, especially when you have another lens to compare it to. I'm taking macro photos with older reversed enlarger lenses the results have been very pleasing. However it has only been in direct comparison with more modern lenses that the actual issues with the older lenses have become apparent (low contrast, really bad edge and corner sharpness,...) and I'm pretty sure it's a similar situation with your Canon EF 24 2.8 (which was released in 1988) as this lens was never that sharp to begin with, especially outside the center area. Still, it's always worth considering getting a lens with some wear for a lower price, as long as it doesn't impact your work.
If 1% is scratched and you have some bright light source which is very bright then it will affect the picture more than 1%. You will see some strange flares. Think about the sun and taking photos of some dark areas.
The more right you look the more sharp it gets. Better visible on the highness scabs on my blog. Videos are always hard to judge based on what device you watch it:
Exactly, doesn’t mean it will be an issue under specific conditions. But this lens had lots of damage. If there is only a tiny scratch, there will be no issue from my point of view
Photographers apply different filters and how this affects the lens is already known. For example, the fake anamorphic Streak Filter has even bigger obstacles than a scratch and this does not affect the image quality much. However, the scratched rear glass on the lens has a significant impact on image quality. Besides, your example is from a controlled environment and really doesn't cover all the situations in which the lens is used. Many of us who love blurred backgrounds and nice bokeh balls will notice scratches if there are any on the front glass of the lens, and that's something that can ruin a shot. Interesting topic but poorly handled on your part, I was expecting some advice from someone who knows a lot more.
We are covered the part for wet plate photographers who mostly shoot in controlled environment and have lenses that mostly anyway can not take any lens flares. But even my 24mm Canon lens with all it scratches wouldn't show much on my Eos 5 and 5d mkIV. But you are right, there is much more to cover, like wide angle lenses that show scratches sooner or as you mentioned bokeh. This lens was a super extreme example who hopefully nobody will buy for big money. The initial idea was to get more awareness that scratches are not the end. When even a scratched lens like this can work under certain conditions, tiny scratches will do most likely nothing. You are also right that this was a controlled environment, but the wood was silver shiny, a little mirror like. With that I got direct light reflections into the lens and it still worked out with all the scratches on the back glass element. I will try to make a broader video/article about that topic. Not sure if it would be the right fit for my channel, because its analog/wet plate focused. But I can imagine doing it for a (digital) photography magazine or blog.
Interesting to see the comparison. I always read stories that scratches in the front element are no big deal at all. Only with wider lenses and straylight but nothing a lens hood wouldn't take care of or maybe some black paint to fill the scratch. Scratched rear elements seem to be more of a problem. And no, I didn't see a difference. Thanks for the video!
Thanks a lot Martin. For that kind of work I am doing, there will be not much difference. The smaller the lens gets, the more it will affect it. For sure scratches on the back of the lens can be a bigger issue. And that's why I was surprised ut was not. What some people may not realise, the wood I used is very shiny and silvery. So it's a bit like shooting directly into a light source. I thought it would produce a really bad result. But it did not.
great video my friend and glad that i could be of some help there.
i think its fascinating what kind of hands on knowledge and experience the opticians had back then. they made lenses that were tack sharp and are still tack sharp, even compared to nowadays standards. and those lenses can take quite a beating too. its always a nice moment, when i find a new user for an old lens that was stored somewhere completly forgotten for the last 80-90 years. and its even better, if i finally see some images done with it again. thats something that keept me going during the hard years lately.
beautifully said. Soon I will create a portrait with the lens mentioned in the video.
I may back up all you're both mentioning about damaged lenses. Dennis you may remember a certain lens I bought from you with not a simple scratch but a huge crack several cm long in the front element. I've been shooting with this lens for several years now. It's sharp, I love it, and I've taken my best images with it.
A great video Markus. Thanks for the mention and glad you can find a use for the lens.
Thanks again - it was a fun project
You know what. My first large format lens was a fujinon 210mm that was sold as-is because it was billed as “dirty fungus scratched not working” paid like $70 for it and the lens board it came on. Needed both for my Cambo SC. Turned out it was stored with no lens caps. It was just dusty and The low speed escapement was stuck. Cleaned and serviced had me a good lens to do a lot of my large format firsts. Repair cameras had a video on the low speed escapement on their UA-cam channel. I got a lens for cheap and learned a little about my gear and how it worked. I have since bought 4 other lenses that needed work. All work and are in my bag.
This is such a rewarding task to bring something back to life and use it afterwards. It's also eco friendly :)
@@mhaustria I have such a feeling of accomplishment after I get one working again. Yes it is eco friendly. It’s also Skyy’s pocket book friendly 😂.
Great interview and review of scratched lenses. Love this channel!
Thank you so much!
There are enough examples where even really cracked/shattered lens elements can be almost unnoticeable stopped down, might become a problem with backlight though.. :)
For large format film photography it often doesn't make a lot of difference, even less so with wet plate where the small, expected visual imperfections (glow, minor sharpness differences) aren't going to interfere with the result. For digital photography with harsh light situations it can definitely make a difference, especially when the scratches are on the rear element.
A damaged front element can still deliver excellent results as long as you don't stop down, the rest of the optical path often times "corrects" minor issues. But then again you're limited to using these lenses to certain situations otherwise the results will be questionable.
That’s what we discussed. The damage on my canon lens is only on the front and for sure, the high engineered digital lenses with lots of additional coatings/glass elements will easily show more differences with a scratch on the front lens.
@@mhaustria Well sort of, Denis mentioned not seeing a difference wide open - but when you close down the aperture a large damage to the front element could show up as a dark "shadow" and other problems like halos/glow/haze/loss of contrast would become apparent. And with a digital sensor being so much smaller, even minor imperfections of a lenses rendition will be much more noticeable, especially when you have another lens to compare it to. I'm taking macro photos with older reversed enlarger lenses the results have been very pleasing. However it has only been in direct comparison with more modern lenses that the actual issues with the older lenses have become apparent (low contrast, really bad edge and corner sharpness,...) and I'm pretty sure it's a similar situation with your Canon EF 24 2.8 (which was released in 1988) as this lens was never that sharp to begin with, especially outside the center area.
Still, it's always worth considering getting a lens with some wear for a lower price, as long as it doesn't impact your work.
Video 💯
Topic 💯
Result 💯
Thank you, keep the videos coming 📷
Thanks a lot Andi!
If 1% is scratched and you have some bright light source which is very bright then it will affect the picture more than 1%. You will see some strange flares. Think about the sun and taking photos of some dark areas.
Amazing video!
@@blackbeans8096 thanks a lot
Will scratches or marks on the rear element make more of a difference that scratches or marks on the front elements?
On the rear it can be more of an issue. But I don’t think cleaning marks or anything in that size will be visible
I chose B largely based on the fact that the focus was slightly less sharp.
The more right you look the more sharp it gets. Better visible on the highness scabs on my blog. Videos are always hard to judge based on what device you watch it:
15 mins of Markus👍
15:15 to be exactly :)
thanks
Welcome!
Really interesting, don't judge a book by its cover i guess lol
Exactly, doesn’t mean it will be an issue under specific conditions. But this lens had lots of damage. If there is only a tiny scratch, there will be no issue from my point of view
Photographers apply different filters and how this affects the lens is already known. For example, the fake anamorphic Streak Filter has even bigger obstacles than a scratch and this does not affect the image quality much.
However, the scratched rear glass on the lens has a significant impact on image quality.
Besides, your example is from a controlled environment and really doesn't cover all the situations in which the lens is used. Many of us who love blurred backgrounds and nice bokeh balls will notice scratches if there are any on the front glass of the lens, and that's something that can ruin a shot.
Interesting topic but poorly handled on your part, I was expecting some advice from someone who knows a lot more.
We are covered the part for wet plate photographers who mostly shoot in controlled environment and have lenses that mostly anyway can not take any lens flares. But even my 24mm Canon lens with all it scratches wouldn't show much on my Eos 5 and 5d mkIV. But you are right, there is much more to cover, like wide angle lenses that show scratches sooner or as you mentioned bokeh.
This lens was a super extreme example who hopefully nobody will buy for big money. The initial idea was to get more awareness that scratches are not the end. When even a scratched lens like this can work under certain conditions, tiny scratches will do most likely nothing.
You are also right that this was a controlled environment, but the wood was silver shiny, a little mirror like. With that I got direct light reflections into the lens and it still worked out with all the scratches on the back glass element.
I will try to make a broader video/article about that topic. Not sure if it would be the right fit for my channel, because its analog/wet plate focused. But I can imagine doing it for a (digital) photography magazine or blog.
@@mhaustria I'm sorry, I didn't know that the channel is analog/wet plate focused, that changes everything significantly. Greeting.
@@ivandj707
no worries, I appreciate the input. There is always something new to consider