Looking through the eyepiece, the scratch on the lens is only about 1/2 on the picture, will the pictures have a blur on them, or will part of the picture be scratched, what will this do to the pictures, I haven't had any developed yet??? Please give me an educated guess. Would the scratch be on the mirror or where???
2007-11-14 11:18:32 · 5 answers · asked by ? 5 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Visual Arts ➔ Photography
1/2 inch* on the lens
2007-11-14 11:19:15 · update #1
Under good light carefully examine the front of the lens. If there is a scratch you'll see it. If there isn't one, then it could be a hair or piece of thread on the mirror. Remove the lens and examine the mirror. If you see something on it DON'T touch the mirror. With a blower brush - NOT compressed air - blow off the hair or whatever is on the mirror while holding the camera with the lens opening pointing down.
A scratch on the mirror or dust on the viewfinder will not affect picture quality. If its really really annoying then you should think about sending it in for a CLA (Clean Lubricate Adjust). I've used Garrys Camera Repair (garryscamera.com) many times. His usual charge is $45 + $8 for shipping.
A scratch on the lens will affect picture quality. If the lens is indeed scratched then your only option is to replace it. If its a 50mm lens you should find one cheap on ebay. While you're shopping on ebay, buy a UV filter for your "new" lens and keep it on 24/7 unless you're using a polarizer or colored filters for B&W. Its cheaper to replace a filter than a lens.
I recommend Hoya, B+W and Tiffen brand filters.
2007-11-14 11:51:10 · answer #1 · answered by EDWIN 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
If you can see the scratch through the eyepiece, it's definitely not on the lens.
A scratch on the front of the lens is like, in effect, holding a thin piece of wire right in front of the lens. It will be there, but it will be so out of focus you won't be able to tell it's there by looking through the eyepiece(try it yourself if you don't believe me).
My guess would be that you're dealing with a hair or piece of dust either on the mirror or on the focusing screen, but most likely on the focusing screen.
If that's the case, I'd suggest that you just leave well enough alone. If it is on the mirror or focusing screen, it won't show up in your pictures at all.
If there is indeed a scratch on the lens, it more than likely won't have any noticeable effect anyway. As a general rule, scratches tend to reduce contrast and promote flair. It takes a really big scratch to do this noticeably, though. Very rarely does a scratch reduce sharpness. Most of the ill effects of a scratch can be completely reversed by very, very carefully filling the scratch in with black paint.
2007-11-14 22:58:42 · answer #2 · answered by Ben H 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Contrary to some answers here, I will say that you might not have a problem, even if the scratch is on the lens. My dad had a Leica in Belgium in WW2 and I have seen many prints of his images. There is no evidence of the scratches on the lens. He said that he found the camera and the lens looked like it had been dragged across the street. He was sure the lens was trash, but he ran a few shots through the camera to *** if it was still functioning. Much to his surprise, not only did the camera work, but the images were fine! One of his biggest regrets about the whole story is that he decided to leave the Leica as a gift to the family in Antwerp that had billeted him for a year.
Try a roll and see. Try to vary your subjects and the angle of incidence of the light.
Now... If the scratch is on the mirror, it will not affect your images at all. See the answers above, though, for how to deal with this.
2007-11-14 22:59:06 · answer #3 · answered by Picture Taker 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Extremely rare to damage the mirror or focus screen, it's probably on the lens, and if so, yes it will effect image quality. As in the other answer, it could be dust inside or other debris, the piece of foam that the mirror slaps up against may be old and disintegrating. A CLA is a good idea annually, and a great place in the N.east is Alan's Classic Camera, in Biddeford ME. He did a CLA and rear film door seal, mirror bumper, and viewfinder gasket on an old Minolta I had, grand total was 75, less shipping.
G'Luck
2007-11-14 20:30:45 · answer #4 · answered by J-MaN 4 · 1⤊ 3⤋
theres only one way to know for sure, get back the film from development and look at it
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2007-11-14 20:20:57 · answer #5 · answered by Antoni 7 · 4⤊ 1⤋