How can you tell if lens is scratched?

B

Bryanpic114

Messages
58
Edit My Images
No
Hi

I accidentally touched the front element of my canon 50mm 1.4 and got two fingerprints on it. Since I had no cleaning supplies at hand I used my eyeglasses cleaning cloth and gently cleaned the lens. I am worried now that I scratched the lens. I checked under the light but I still am not sure. Can anyone offer their knowledge?
Also, is it bad to store the lens with dust on the front element? Or is it a must to blow the dust off and keep it dust and smudge free at ALL times? Thanks in advance for the responses.
 
An eyeglass cleaning cloth is exactly what you need to clean your lens. If its good enough for glasses it'll be good enough for your lens. In fact the lens will probably be better protected from scratches than glasses will be.

Don't worry about a bit of dust either.:)
 
I haven't tried taking photos with it yet so I don't know how it looks through the lens. Do you mean if I can't see anything on the front element itself? Or on a photo?

P.s. That's crazy how that cracked lens on that Website took those photos. But obviously there was a loss in contrast.
 
I didn't blow any dust off or anything before applying the eyeglass cloth. I just went straight for the front element.

And thanks for the response regarding the dust jerry
 
You can come down of DEFCON 4 Bryan, it sounds just fine.

If you can't see a scratch, it's not scratched and any dust sat on the glass will do no harm at all.

It's always good to look after your kit but it's more important to be comfortable enough with it being used to be able to relax and enjoy using it.

Most of my kit sees daily use and gets abused in ways that would no doubt make your toes curl. I've never yet had a problem, failure or any impact on the images I shoot. :)
 
dazzajl said:
You can come down of DEFCON 4 Bryan, it sounds just fine.

If you can't see a scratch, it's not scratched and any dust sat on the glass will do no harm at all.

It's always good to look after your kit but it's more important to be comfortable enough with it being used to be able to relax and enjoy using it.

Most of my kit sees daily use and gets abused in ways that would no doubt make your toes curl. I've never yet had a problem, failure or any impact on the images I shoot. :)
Click to expand...

Yes, if you're paranoid about your kit being damaged you'll never take it out the bag!
 
I definitely agree with you two but my concern is/was about the way I went about trying to remove the smudges. I don't feel that I did it the right way and that's why I'm a little paranoid as it is a brand new lens.
 
Bryanpic114 said:
I definitely agree with you two but my concern is/was about the way I went about trying to remove the smudges. I don't feel that I did it the right way and that's why I'm a little paranoid as it is a brand new lens.
Click to expand...

It's understandable...

But it'll be fine.
 
Bryanpic114 said:
I definitely agree with you two but my concern is/was about the way I went about trying to remove the smudges. I don't feel that I did it the right way and that's why I'm a little paranoid as it is a brand new lens.
Click to expand...

The method employed was perfectly fine.
I have used much worse methods before now (should I be admitting this?) but felt it was necessary, like my camera/lens got soaked by sea water and I used tissue paper - not the gentlest - soaked in tap water to wash it all down. Don't want salt water sitting there too long.
In fact my favourite lens has a visible scratch about 4mm long on the front element, no doubt from another sea water cleaning episode with added grit and I see no evidence of this in any pictures at all.

Chill, your pictures will be just fine and as there is nothing visible the resale value is also fine :)
 
If you have'nt got a blower, just gently flick the lens with your cleaning cloth, this will get rid of any dust/grit without rubbing it in. I'm sure it will be fine! :thumbs:
 
Thanks a lot everyone. I'll be ordering a blower and a cleaning kit soon so this never happens again!
 
dont worry about it so much.

I put my camera and lens through hell and back at times and it's all fine...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top