Dust already in my new lens?

Will James

Will James

Messages
526
Name
Will
Edit My Images
No
Hi everyone,

Bought a new Tamron SP 70-300 Di VC USD about 5 days ago on Amazon. Had it for a few days now and I just spotted that there are two specks of dust inside the lens already - I used a Giottos rocketblower and lenspen but it is definitely inside the lens.

It's really frustrating me! The specks are bang in the middle of the lens too. Is it anything to worry about? I can't seem to shift it - tried the rocketblower from the open end with the lens fully extended but no luck. How did they get in there?

Any advice will be much appreciated!

Will.
 
Unless they are huge forget them and get on with enjoying your new toy. I've got one in my L glass and it's never affected my photos.
 
As long as it doesn't affect your photos don't worry about it. You can have quite a bit of dust or damage to the front element before it can be seen on the photos it takes.
I've just had a look and I've got a tiny piece of dust in my 100-400 L and 2 smaller pieces in my 70-200 L. None of them are noticeable in my photos and my 70-200 is probably my sharpest lens and most used at the moment. I've had 3 bodies in a year and not got any dust on any of the sensors either, just a tiny piece on the mirror of my 5D2 which I cleaned off. I saw an article on the web a while ago about a lens that was seriously damaged by about 4 deep scratches and that still took photos which the scratches didn't show up. Bits of dust aren't anything to worry about to be honest, as annoying as they may be.
 
Last edited:
ChrisH said:
Unless they are huge forget them and get on with enjoying your new toy. I've got one in my L glass and it's never affected my photos.
Click to expand...

simonblue said:
It will alway get in your lens,as above try not to worry,and enjoy your lens :)
Click to expand...

modchild said:
As long as it doesn't affect your photos don't worry about it. You can have quite a bit of dust or damage to the front element before it can be seen on the photos it takes.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reassurance and advice everyone :) Fortunately, I don't think it is affecting image quality at the moment. Does it mean, though, that if a bigger bit of dust were to get in there that did affect image quality, I wouldn't be able to get it out/do anything about it?

Regards,

Will.
 
Will James said:
....if a bigger bit of dust were to get in there that did affect image quality, I wouldn't be able to get it out/do anything about it?
Click to expand...

Well, it's possible to have the lens stripped and cleaned, but I honestly wouldn't worry about it. Lenses always attract dust and zooms are more prone to this than fixed prime lenses. I have bought used lenses made back in the 1970's, one or two of which have their fair share of dust, and this hasn't made the slightest bit of difference that I can see.

Fungus, on the other hand, is more of a worry.
 
As you zoom in and out air is sucked into the lens and with it you will eventually get dust in there - all nothing to worry about normally
 
Will James said:
Hi everyone,

Bought a new Tamron SP 70-300 Di VC USD about 5 days ago on Amazon. Had it for a few days now and I just spotted that there are two specks of dust inside the lens already - I used a Giottos rocketblower and lenspen but it is definitely inside the lens.

It's really frustrating me! The specks are bang in the middle of the lens too. Is it anything to worry about? I can't seem to shift it - tried the rocketblower from the open end with the lens fully extended but no luck. How did they get in there?

Any advice will be much appreciated!

Will.
Click to expand...

If youve noticed it after a few days, just think how bad it might be after a few months or years....... No lens should be sucking dust and it it is? Its not worth paying for. :shrug:
 
Last edited:
Splog said:
If youve noticed it after a few days, just think how bad it might be after a few months or years....... No lens should be sucking dust and it it is? Its not worth paying for. :shrug:
Click to expand...

most lenses will get dust in them from time to time, you will notice it occasionally and then it dissapears after a while. No lens is completely sealed, they can be enviromentally resitant wilth seals and filters but not totally. I dont think any lens maker can be 100% on this. Granted some are better than others.

I have several lenses that i have had for several years the odd particle will be there when i clean them and the next time i come to clean them there is nothing.

Its not worth worrying about at all.
 
Sorry but this is after 5 days, does this mean that when you buy a lens your warranty, sale of goods, whatever, doesn't cover you for dust in the lens ?

Plus if in the future you want to sell it, why is it that everyone asks about any dust issues.
 
Last edited:
you could probably return it, however it might happen with another lens, maybe not in 5 days, maybe 5 months or 5 years. A shop could argue that its acceptable asany lens maker doesnt gurantee dust free usage.

dust specks should not cause any probelm selling the lens. unless its to someone somewhat anal about the lens condition that rather locks it away in a glass cupboard, stares at it rather than using it! They just dont cause any effect on images!
 
33L said:
you could probably return it, however it might happen with another lens, maybe not in 5 days, maybe 5 months or 5 years. A shop could argue that its acceptable asany lens maker doesnt gurantee dust free usage.

dust specks should not cause any probelm selling the lens. unless its to someone somewhat anal about the lens condition that rather locks it away in a glass cupboard, stares at it rather than using it! They just dont cause any effect on images!
Click to expand...
I would agree that dust can be an issue but if I received a NEW lens and it had dust in it, I would want it changing, if after 5 years it had, then that would be different.

Also given the choice between two lenses I think most people would want the one without dust :thumbs:
 
33L said:
most lenses will get dust in them from time to time, you will notice it occasionally and then it dissapears after a while. No lens is completely sealed, they can be enviromentally resitant wilth seals and filters but not totally. I dont think any lens maker can be 100% on this. Granted some are better than others.

I have several lenses that i have had for several years the odd particle will be there when i clean them and the next time i come to clean them there is nothing.

Its not worth worrying about at all.
Click to expand...

An odd spec of dust isn't going to be a problem I agree but a new lens suffering dust is an issue.

I seriously doubt that any manufacturer of optical devices including lenses considers the ingress of dust to be a non issue!
 
One question no one has asked is where have you been using it?

Guessing if its somewhere that is, wait for it now, dusty that could have a bearing on the issue
 
tijuana taxi said:
One question no one has asked is where have you been using it?

Guessing if its somewhere that is, wait for it now, dusty that could have a bearing on the issue
Click to expand...

It shouldn't matter where it's used within reason! if a lens isn't reasonably dust proof then it's not worth buying.
 
if a lens isn't reasonably dust proof then it's not worth buying
Click to expand...

What's reasonable though, zoom lenses can hardly work as a virtual vacuum otherwise they wouldn't move. Has been rather windy of late and could have been used somewhere with a high particle content.

Not a great lover of filters, but I do keep one for use in certain environments, alternatively this lens could just be just a crock of crap
 
Unfortunately it sounds as though the dust was not there on purchase - in other words, the lens did not come with dust in. Lenses can get dust in, and whether it gets in within days or within months is probably a matter of chance (mean time before dust etc). I suppose there is a chance that it's more prone to dust, and I'd be peeved myself, but unless the dust was there on arrival I don't think they'd accept a return because of it.
 
Thanks for all the feedback and advice everyone.

When I had posted this yesterday, I had only used the lens indoors at home on two occasions to test it out and get used to it. Hadn't been anywhere particularly dusty or windy which is why I was a bit surprised. I've had a Hoya PRO1 UV filter on it since I got it out of the box, too.

I've had my 18-55 kit lens for a year now and no dust has managed to get inside the front element at all.

I went out today and took a good 200 photos and you cannot notice the bit of dust on any of the images, it is not affecting anything IQ wise.

However my concern was with selling it on. Yes I agree it is anal that people may not accept a lens with some dust in it, but people tend to be anal when they spend the amount of money that they do on lenses, don't you think? I'm not saying I approve of it but that just seems to be the case.

Anyhow I'm not sure whether it is worth the hassle of sending back and replacing or if the dust will go away over the next few months....

Thanks again for your help,

Will.
 
Just to add - I just looked at my lens again under the light and there are three specks of dust. THe strange thing is that they are all quite shiny (obviously I can't see them very closely as they are so small but they seem to be very reflective for bits of dust. Could it be something to do with the manufacturing of the lens?

I absolutely love this lens, took some shots today and it's exactly how I expected it to be. Bit of a shame that I may have to send it back and get another though.
 
Will James said:
.................I went out today and took a good 200 photos and you cannot notice the bit of dust on any of the images, it is not affecting anything IQ wise.

Anyhow I'm not sure whether it is worth the hassle of sending back and replacing or if the dust will go away over the next few months.....
Click to expand...

Will James said:
Just to add - I just looked at my lens again under the light and there are three specks of dust. THe strange thing is that they are all quite shiny (obviously I can't see them very closely as they are so small but they seem to be very reflective for bits of dust. Could it be something to do with the manufacturing of the lens?

I absolutely love this lens, took some shots today and it's exactly how I expected it to be. Bit of a shame that I may have to send it back and get another though.
Click to expand...


Hi Will

As you said and others have posted it's not going to effect your image quality. But obviously and understandably, it's a niggle for you especially after a few days. Only you can decide if you are happy with it or not, if you're not happy with it, look to return it for a new lens, otherwise it's going to bug you ...
 
Will James said:
However my concern was with selling it on. Yes I agree it is anal that people may not accept a lens with some dust in it, but people tend to be anal when they spend the amount of money that they do on lenses, don't you think? I'm not saying I approve of it but that just seems to be the case..
Click to expand...

Will, you've only had it a few days and you're thinking about / worried about selling it on already ...

I do agree people can be very picky, but even if you do swap it, how can you be sure by the time you come to sell it, you won't have any dust particles in it, any slight marks on the barrel etc etc.

I wouldn't be worrying about something like this at this stage, just make sure you are happy with the lens and enjoy it :thumbs:
 
Last edited:
I noticed that I had dust getting inside my sigma 50-500 OS after having it for two months and at the time was quite dissapointed after spending nearly £1200. so I emailed sigma uk and this was the reply..

.............................................................................................................................
Dear Steve,



Thank you for your E-mail.



As the zoom works off air intake you will bring in a certain amount of dust dependant on your surroundings. This will not affect the image quality of the lens, it would only affect this if there was a thick film of dust on one of the rear optics. It is dust you would have to watch out for on the image sensor really.



Hope this helps.

..........................................................................................................................

And after thinking about it the guy from sigma was probably right, as my siggy 70-200 os focuses internally (not moving the lens in and out ) and doesnt seem to be dusty inside..Any way I long stopped worrying about it and it hasn't affected my images, and the guy from sigma told me over the phone if it was cleaned out it would only get back in again...To be honest I get more worried about getting crap on the sensor and not noticing it untill after the event..

Steve.
 
Thanks for the replies. If it was just a speck of dust I would put it past me and not worry about it, based on the feedback from you guys and that link provided above. But I just looked at it closer up with a magnifying glass and they aren't specks of dust after all - they're tiny bits of metal. I spoke to Tamron and they said that this shouldn't happen, and confirmed the same as you all have regarding dust. Contacted Amazon and they've ordered another one for me so getting a replacement.

andyred said:
Will, you've only had it a few days and you're thinking about / worried about selling it on already ...
Click to expand...

Exactly my point, I shouldn't be worried about this already, but metal inside the lens, to me, is unacceptable. I'm not worried about my other lenses and I've had them for a year.

andyred said:
I do agree people can be very picky, but even if you do swap it, how can you be sure by the time you come to sell it, you won't have any dust particles in it, any slight marks on the barrel etc etc.
Click to expand...

This is a fair point, as above if it was just dust I wouldn't worry about it anymore as I now realise it's not a big issue. But the fact they are tiny bits of metal concerns me.

Thanks for the advice, though, as I will no longer worry about dust being in the lens :)
 
Hi. I sold a Nikkor 35-70 2.8 zoom on this forum. I had the lens from new "25years" and it was a cracker. I had not noticed any dust at all, but really all that interested me were the results which as always were without fault.
Nice guy came to my house to collect said lens and pulled out his powerful torch and magnifying glass. He then pointed out to me that if you looked at a certain angle with torch and glass you could see dust! I had to agree and he refused the lens.
Put the lens on eBay and got a good price for it. It sold to a uni prof who later contacted me to say that of the "six" similar lenses he had bought for a project mine was by far the best and said how pleased he was,

Enough said I think!
 
Will James said:
But I just looked at it closer up with a magnifying glass and they aren't specks of dust after all - they're tiny bits of metal. I spoke to Tamron and they said that this shouldn't happen, and confirmed the same as you all have regarding dust.............. but metal inside the lens, to me, is unacceptable
Click to expand...

this is totally different from dust and you're absolutely right it shouldn't happen. Seems Tamron have been good customer service as well to you.

Glad you've another on order, hopefully no problems with your new one
 
andyred said:
this is totally different from dust and you're absolutely right it shouldn't happen. Seems Tamron have been good customer service as well to you.

Glad you've another on order, hopefully no problems with your new one
Click to expand...

Thanks Andy, I hope so too! Thanks very much for the advice :thumbs:.
 
*UPDATE*

Just received my replacement - everything looks absolutely fine and focusing/performance is spot on as expected.

Can't fault Amazon.co.uk or Tamron for their top class customer service!

Thanks everyone for the great help and advice.

Happy new year!

Will.
 
Will James said:
*UPDATE*

Just received my replacement - everything looks absolutely fine and focusing/performance is spot on as expected.

Can't fault Amazon.co.uk or Tamron for their top class customer service!

Thanks everyone for the great help and advice.

Happy new year!

Will.
Click to expand...

Excellent news.

Now go enjoy it :-)

All the best for the New Year
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top