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Lens condition pics

saulsaul

I am Jim Jannard...
2,638
2,043
Tokyo
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Pics that are taken looking through the lens are very valuable in helping verify lens condition. More sellers and traders should include these as standard.

Rankings like '8/10' and adjectives like 'excellent', 'flawless', 'mint' are usually subjective and relative. We all have different lens damage tolerance thresholds depending on whether we are buying to wear or display, severity of our OCD, how much we have to spend, and so on.

These pics against the light are only useful when taken against a white (or yellow at a stretch) light. If the background is 'noisy' it's impossible to assess all but the most horrific damage. Minor blemishes and marks can't be seen. So street scenes, forests, patterned material and so on are problematic. Yet I receive these kind of images all the time.

The pics of the Romeo lenses above give me a good sense of the condition. Full lens against a white ceiling light. Close-ups under a spot to capture surface marks. These pics take time and effort but, provided alongside a written description, provide essential detail.

Here are a couple I've received recently that weren't quite as useful. No offence intended to the picture takers. The images are either too dark, too busy, or both.

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Again, no offence intended as the providers of the above were able to give a detailed and reliable description and provide a range of other images. Just isolated examples to make a point.

I understand that not everyone has the right kind of lights. I also wonder if there are ways I could take better lens images myself.

Please share your methods / tips / techniques for everyone's benefit. Photos of good and bad will be useful.

[Mods: sorry if this has been covered before - I couldn't find a specifically lens related thread. And move out of Xmetals if useful for others.]
 
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Nice posting. The problem people have when taking pics is selecting a focus point. The last picture picks out the bark on the tree superbly!!
Even a smart phone camera has a focus lock (on an iphone tap and hold the screen until the ae/af lock message appears). You can then move the camera in/out until you achieve the sharpest focus.


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I narrow it down to 2 categories. New or Used, used are typically destined to replacement, unless I am pleasently surprised.

You are correct, lens condition is very subejct and It's often difficult to capture true lens condition in a picture imo.
On the forum lenses are typically better described than ebay or classifieds. Outside if this forum its unreal what people describe as mint.

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Agreed that's useful. If there were also pics against a light it would provide a really detailed portrait.

So here's an interesting one I just saw. I'm not sure about it. At first glance it looks like it's going to be useful. But then I realised the bright square is too bright to verify condition and all parts of the lens in darkness aren't verifiable. Perhaps simply moving the lens closer to the light would have helped - I don't know.

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