Where to get a lens cleaned?

Daz

Senior Member
I have some dust on the inside front glass, where would I look to get the lens cleaned ? UK Based :)

Its my 24-85 Nikon ED non VR so still worth £200 so I dont really want to put it aside and not use it,
 
Last edited:

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
I have some dust on the inside front glass, where would I look to get the lens cleaned ? UK Based :)

Its my 24-85 Nikon ED non VR so still worth £200 so I dont really want to put it aside and not use it,

Normally dust has no or very little effect,has your lens shown that to be different,loads of lenses have dust in them.
 

480sparky

Senior Member
It's usually not worth it (money-wise) to have a lens disassembled just for a bit of dust. I've got lenses I swear I could plant crops in 'em if I could get a tractor and seeds inside of them. But they're still sharp.

My advice is to fuggeddabowdit and leave a little dust in the lens and go out to shoot something instead.
 

pforsell

Senior Member
Dust will not show in photos and is really not worth worrying about. See this:
LensRentals.com - Front Element Scratches

Disassembling, cleaning and re-assembling a cheap plastic zoom is usually not cost effective. Furthermore the effect won't last, since the zooming action causes airflow in and out of the lens sucking more dust in.

If you had something like AIS 58mm f/1.2 Noct or a rare AF 28mm f/1.4D, and the lens really was dirty - or maybe fungus or insects inside - then definitely a few hundred's worth of clean and lube would make sense.

In your case the best course of action is to keep on shooting and quit worrying.
 

pforsell

Senior Member
I would agree but in all long exposures it is very prominent and needs a decent amount of retouching at the moment

Exposure time cannot have anything to do with it. My guess is you are using small aperture, in which case the culprit most likely is sensor dust. Try with the smallest aperture with several lenses and compare the location of the dust spots. If they stay in one place, clean the sensor.
 

Daz

Senior Member
Exposure time cannot have anything to do with it. My guess is you are using small aperture, in which case the culprit most likely is sensor dust. Try with the smallest aperture with several lenses and compare the location of the dust spots. If they stay in one place, clean the sensor.

Its certainly not sensor dust (clean it myself ;) ) and the fact I can see the dust in the front element of the lens and it tallies up to where it is on the picture tells me it is the lens dust showing up, psst only have this issue on one lens hence asking where I would go to get it cleaned ;)
 

pforsell

Senior Member
Its certainly not sensor dust (clean it myself ;) ) and the fact I can see the dust in the front element of the lens and it tallies up to where it is on the picture tells me it is the lens dust showing up, psst only have this issue on one lens hence asking where I would go to get it cleaned ;)

Okay. I wasn't trying to be argumentative, I was trying to be helpful. But I take your word for the lens dust, no problem. The reason why I posted that your dust has to be really unique kind since never in the 30+ years and 50+ lenses I own have I witnessed such a thing, nor have I ever heard of such a thing. I was trying to open the door to a possibility of another source, but since you already have eliminated other possibilities, I was a nuisance. Sorry.

But as I said the most cost effective way might be to replace the offending lens. Maybe with something of higher quality build as to decrease the risk of more dust in the future. The plastic zooms are the worst there are, but something like a lightly used AF-S 28-70/2.8 ED has better sealing, almost non-extending barrel when zooming (less suction), internal focusing (even less suction) and full metal build.

Sorry to have bothered you. Best of luck.
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
If the lens is no longer under warranty, why not contact Nikon to get an estimate? That should give you an idea of cost. From there, you might contact some local camera shops to see if they have alternative suggestions on where to get it cleaned.

I did a quick Google search for UK lens repairs, and came up with the following. Perhaps contact some of these to get estimates. Then maybe you can decide whether it is worth getting repaired or invest in another lens.

https://www.google.com/webhp?source...v=2&ie=UTF-8#q=uk+nikon+lens+cleaning+service

One company is called Fixation which claims to repair Nikon products (but you should look into reviews for them to see how they are rated).
 

Daz

Senior Member
The reason why I posted that your dust has to be really unique kind since never in the 30+ years and 50+ lenses I own have I witnessed such a thing, nor have I ever heard of such a thing. I was trying to open the door to a possibility of another source, but since you already have eliminated other possibilities, I was a nuisance. Sorry.

I would very much like to see an unedited image where this front-element dust is showing up.

Here is the dust :

nikon (1 of 1)-2 by Darren Fellows, on Flickr

As you can see there is quite a bit in there! Now I brought this second hand :)

Here is an unedited version out of the camera, only edits were to temp as it was shot with an ND filter

Severn Bridge (1 of 1) by Darren Fellows, on Flickr

And here are some of the spots showing up.

Severn Bridge (1 of 1) - Copy by Darren Fellows, on Flickr


Now as I said, I had cleaned the sensor before I went out to do this shoot, with my 50mm prime I had no dirt on the sensor when looking at it on a white background.


I did a quick Google search for UK lens repairs, and came up with the following. Perhaps contact some of these to get estimates. Then maybe you can decide whether it is worth getting repaired or invest in another lens.

https://www.google.com/webhp?source...v=2&ie=UTF-8#q=uk+nikon+lens+cleaning+service

One company is called Fixation which claims to repair Nikon products (but you should look into reviews for them to see how they are rated).

Thanks Hark that is great help !
 

480sparky

Senior Member
Here is the dust :

nikon (1 of 1)-2 by Darren Fellows, on Flickr

As you can see there is quite a bit in there! Now I brought this second hand :)

Here is an unedited version out of the camera, only edits were to temp as it was shot with an ND filter

Severn Bridge (1 of 1) by Darren Fellows, on Flickr

And here are some of the spots showing up.

Severn Bridge (1 of 1) - Copy by Darren Fellows, on Flickr


Now as I said, I had cleaned the sensor before I went out to do this shoot, with my 50mm prime I had no dirt on the sensor when looking at it on a white background.




Thanks Hark that is great help !

Sorry, but that is sensor dust, pure and simple.

What method did you use to clean the sensor? The camera's internal cleaning mechanism? A blower? A brush? Wet cleaning?

Regardless, not every cleaning method is perfect, and even after employed the best method(s), one can still have dust on the sensor. I've had cases where I've used all four, and ended up doing a wet cleaning 4 or 5 times before I got a clean sensor.
 

Daz

Senior Member
Sorry, but that is sensor dust, pure and simple.

What method did you use to clean the sensor? The camera's internal cleaning mechanism? A blower? A brush? Wet cleaning?

Well I guess I know nothing then hey ... I mean how a sensor can show no dust with one lens, then another put on and this shot taken and all of a sudden I got ALL that dust on the sensor .....

I have a Gel stick and as stated there was no dust with my Prime lens left on the sensor
 

480sparky

Senior Member
Well I guess I know nothing then hey ... I mean how a sensor can show no dust with one lens, then another put on and this shot taken and all of a sudden I got ALL that dust on the sensor .....

I have a Gel stick and as stated there was no dust with my Prime lens left on the sensor

Were both lenses shot using the same aperture? Dust becomes more visible when you shoot at smaller apertures.
Also, are you shooting the same scene? Large, blank areas like the blue sky make dust spots stand out, while busy, complicated areas tend to hide the dust. I noticed you didn't circle the spots on the concrete walkway in the lower left portion of the image. If you examine the original image, I'll wager you find spots all over it.
 
Last edited:

Daz

Senior Member
Were both lenses shot using the same aperture? Dust becomes more visible when you shoot at smaller apertures.
Also, are you shooting the same scene? Large, blank areas like the blue sky make dust spots stand out, while busy, complicated areas tend to hide the dust. I noticed you didn't circle the spots on the concrete walkway in the lower left portion of the image. If you examine the original image, I'll wager you find spots all over it.

I dont want to get into an argument :)

I only circled some as an example, I know there were more that I didnt get to (there is even more around the bits I circled :) When I lean my lens I always check them at the smallest and widest apertures on a brand new out of packet a4 piece of paper

I have just done another lens clean and there was a couple spots (bare in mind hat ive used the camera for a week since the bridge as shot, but nothing in comparison to whats in the image, that is why im led to believe the dust in the lens is showing up, to the naked eye there is a lot of dust in the lens that I can see :)
 

480sparky

Senior Member
I dont want to get into an argument :)
.........
I'm not trying to start an argument...... I'm trying to save you the anguish of ponying up good money to have a lens disassembled, cleaned, reassembled only to find you still have the same problem.

If you honestly believe it's dust in the lens, then try this simple experiment. Set the camera on a tripod and aim it at a well-let blank wall. Move the tripod/camera as close to the wall as possible. Focus the lens manually to infinity and stop it all the way down. Take a shot, using whatever ISO and shutter speed you like. Do you still see the spots?

Now, use a depth of field calculator for the lens you just used and punch in the focal length, focus distance and aperture. Does it tell you what the minimum focus is? If so, does that minimum focus distance allow the wall to be in focus? If not, you have sensor dust. If the lens, focused at infinity, cannot extend DOF to the wall in front of it, there's absolutely no way it can focus within the lens itself. Honestly, I doubt it ever could. Yes, it is possible that a lens can have a depth of field deep enough that it extends into the lens, but this is rare. If focusing on infinity with the lens cannot get the wall into focus, it's physically impossible for anything closer (even if it's inside the lens) to be in focus.

Now on to step two. Remove the lens, and put a different lens on. Use the same aperture you used with your dusty lens and repeat the above process. Do the spots still show up? I got a nickel that says they will, and in the exact same places. That's what dust on the sensor looks like.... the same spots in the same places no matter what lens you use (even if you don't have a lens on the camera).
 

pforsell

Senior Member
Where are the pieces of tape?

I took out my trusty 85/1.4D. It has some dust and fingerprints on the front glass, but as that wasn't nearly enough I added four pieces of masking tape. Then I shot at f/1.4, f/5.6 and f/16 (minimum aperture). Where's the masking tape? Fingerprints? Dust specs?

The dark corner in the last one could be a shadow cast by one of the tape pieces, but since there's only one I have to hazard a guess that it is my finger instead.


24418030586_ba9a3cda8c_o.jpg



24418030246_4ecfb90e03_o.jpg



24335958222_8c7e3f27b9_o.jpg



24444242785_df4be75ccd_o.jpg



But now I am out of this thread. There's nothing more I can say.
 
Last edited:

D200freak

Senior Member
Dust on the lens can NOT be in focus. If you have well defined dust dots, then that dust is in a focal plane, period. It literally can NOT be any other way.

Is there an internal focal plane inside the lens that the dust could be present in? Yes, that is possible. But it's not possible for you to get dust on the front lens that you can focus on. People have shot good photos with front lens elements that were cracked and broken and held in place only by the locking ring in the front of the lens, and you couldn't see it in the pictures.

I myself would disassemble a lens for cleaning if it did have serious dust and dirt issues, but I've learned how to work on lenses, although I am self taught. You could be, too, if you wanted to. You could buy a few busted 18-55s off ebay along with a lens spanner wrench and a small jeweler's screwdriver kit and learn on busted lenses. That's pretty much what I did.

It'd cost you less for the tools and a busted learner lens than it'd cost you to have the lens sent out for a professional cleaning.
 
Top