Lens Specks Advice, please?

[FONT=&quot]Can anyone tell me if[/FONT][FONT=&quot] these blemishes are something to worry about? The two nearest right side of the lens (or the bottom of the picture) proved themselves to be dust particles, thankfully, but those nearest the left aren't budging. They seem to be dents or chips of some sort that are reflecting light differently. I don't seem to see them when I'm taking pictures but I haven't had a chance to use it fully yet either either.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]For reference, this camera is used and I really do not want to return it since it was a bargain, and it will only be used for a hobby. Still, I'm just wondering if anyone has these on their camera lens, what they might be, and if they might cause problems in the future and if it would be enough to grab the camera's focus?[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Thanks to anyone who can help![/FONT]

That could be why it was such a bargain.

You might want to take it to a shop and have them look at it, in person.

Welcome aboard. Enjoy the ride.

Agree with Rob. If you want to try a test, shoot some pictures of a clear blue sky or plain white ceiling at minimum, medium, and maximum zoom at both wide open (lowest f-stop number) and closed down (highest 5 stop number), six pictures total. If everything appears normal, you are good to go. If not, you need to make the call if the low price is worth the issues.

lefays said:

Can anyone tell me if these blemishes are something to worry about? The two nearest right side of the lens (or the bottom of the picture) proved themselves to be dust particles, thankfully, but those nearest the left aren't budging. They seem to be dents or chips of some sort that are reflecting light differently. I don't seem to see them when I'm taking pictures but I haven't had a chance to use it fully yet either either.

For reference, this camera is used and I really do not want to return it since it was a bargain, and it will only be used for a hobby. Still, I'm just wondering if anyone has these on their camera lens, what they might be, and if they might cause problems in the future and if it would be enough to grab the camera's focus?

Thanks to anyone who can help!

Click to expand...

Most likely the small chips will only affect the resale value. With bad luck in extreme cases you might see some light reflections or lens flare, but typically nothing to worry about.

See here: https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2008/10/front-element-scratches/

Usually with issues on the front glass, if they are going to show up in photos, it will be when the lens is stopped down to a small aperture. Try a few test shots at f/11 or f/16 and see if anything shows up. And as others have said, having a light source in your images might cause some lens flare. Be sure to use a hood whenever possible.

So specifically test it with small apertures as well as having the sun in your photos and see how the images look. If anything shows up with small apertures, then keep testing with wider apertures. If any spots show up from the marks on the front glass, there might be a point where a wider aperture won't show anything. You'd need to take some test shots and see which apertures work the best.

Thank you everyone for your responses! I had a very brief chance to take some of the test photos suggested this weekend and it seems to come up clear to my relief. There was indeed one instance out of about a dozen where there was a visible light reflection but I had to actively seek out a really rubbish shot with the sun shining juuust right - and I can't imagine that happening too often in normal circumstances.


pforsell, thank you especially for the article you linked me to - it was a very good (and comforting) read. hark, thank you as well. Your directions and advice helped immensely.


Now I just have to decide if I want to say anything against the seller I snagged it from. It was listed as unscratched and blemish free. To someone who doesn't care, I could understand how it was missed - but still.

What model is it?
How much did you pay for it?
Maybe you got such a steal, a warning to future buyers, rather than an admonishment would be in order.

I wonder how much it would cost to replace the front element?

I wonder how much this camera cost new?

RobV, it's just a Coolpix B500. Nothing fancy, but it had been a well bundled lot in terms of everything included (carrying case, rechargeable batteries and charger, 32 gb memory card, cleaning cloth, and all the original packaging, cords, guide), and only $160 with free shipping. On Amazon, the certified refurbished is $229, and brand new is $256. There's a decent bundle on there with a refurb for $249, too.

I'm not entirely sure about the cost of replacing the front element. Someone on another board mentioned getting a lens replaced and it costing $125 but they didn't provide very much info about what happened otherwise.

Even though it's still a pretty penny to not be more informed over, I might let them go with a message and a warning. The rest of it is in flawless condition. They took amazing care of it - and with having the lens cap very much included, I just have to wonder how they managed to not take care of this part as well. Ha.