Scratched front element

[Ben Egbert]

My Canon 24-70 f2.8MK2 has gotten a small scratch on the front element. First lens this has ever happened to. It's really just the coating not the glass, and I have never seen any effect in my images, but I suspect it adds a bit of flare in some situation.

I was sending my 5DSR in for cleaning anyway so I included the lens and asked for an estimate to fix the scratch. They said the whole front lens group must be replaced at a cost of $539.

I was lerry to start with as this lens is super sharp and has no issues with alignment, which could have been made worse with repair so I declined and they will ship it back.

I am supplying this just for info.

Anyone else ever had this experience?

 

[Jeffrey]

We always think it is a worse situation than the actual effect on the image, which is often negligible to zero. Soon you will forget about it and use it freely again.

 

[JimFox]

Yep, I think scratches on the front element can look worse then they really are. Unless you were focusing really close it would probably never affect the image, except as you say perhaps in some flaring if you shot the sun at just the right angle.

I also would be concerned that if the lens is super sharp now, that they might not get everything lines up as well. And not just the alignment, if they are installing a whole new set of lens elements, you don't know if this new set will be as sharp as the original.

I think you made the right choice to hold off on any repairs on it.

 

[Graeme F]

Hi Ben very late to this thread. After all this time how did the lens perform? I picked up a 2nd hand sigma 50mm art lens few months ago and noticed a tiny scratch on the glass but truth be told I've never noticed issues in pictures.

 

[Ben Egbert]

I use this lens as my primary lens on to 5DSR and have never seen an issue.