Hi. I came across a second hand Olympus 40-150 f1.8 pro lens on a reputable camera store here in the uk. The description described it as "well used with scratch on outer glass". The price was £429.00 (U.K. Ponds) that is about half of what I normally see second hand lenses listed for. Now I listen to a lot of photography podcast and a common question that crops up is "should I fit a filter to protect the glass" and the answer is always not and that even if you get a scratch on the lense you won't see it. I have been hankering after this lens for a while and thought this is a really good price if what I have heard several times over is true. So I rang the shop and spoke to someone and they were honest with me and said that although the image quality is unlikely to be affected there is an increased possibility in certain circumstances that it would suffer from flair. They said that they offer a 7 day return policy if I wanted to try it but stressed that in that time I might not be able to creat a circumstance that would show this problem.
Any way I thought I would buy it and give it a go so my question is what do people on here think and how best to test it.
I'm not sure if this helps. But I'm with Sharon Lee @sugarmuser. Test it with a small aperture near and far, and also test it against artificial and natural light. (Having the light source in one corner, and the subject in the middle for example. Sunset, Streetlamp) The scratch could lead in unclear starbursts, strange flairs over your subject, etc. Probably you can live with it, as you know it is there.
I would do as Sharon and Mona suggest then decide (a) whether or not you can live with the result and (b) Is it worth to you the £429?
The "to you" in 'b' is important as everyone will have their own opinion on this and in the end it boils down to knowing what you want to do with the lens. Ask yourself if it is likely to be used a lot or just be in your bag "just in case". (pun intended!)
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The "to you" in 'b' is important as everyone will have their own opinion on this and in the end it boils down to knowing what you want to do with the lens. Ask yourself if it is likely to be used a lot or just be in your bag "just in case". (pun intended!)