> Hi. I recently purchased a 80-200L with fairly badly scratched front glass. > The scratches are all tiny, but there are lots of them. I got the lens of > Ebay for $500, and I can return it, but I would be limited to getting an off > brand lens because of my budget. My question is, is the L lens w/ some > front element damage going to be as good as say a Sigma 70-210 f/2.8? Also, > can light scratches be polished out in some way (or does the multicoating > make this impossible)? Thanks. With the amount of careful design, expensive glass and manufacturing process, let alone any coatings, there is ABSOLUTELY no way you should even considering polishing the front element. Some lenses have a flat optical element in the front, if so you may be able to get Canon to replace it for you rather inexpensively, but before you do anything, you should just take some photos (prints would do), and get a shot with good details enlarged to say 8 x 10 or 16x20 size and see if you can notice the scratches. If you can't see any effect on the enlargement from the scratches, then keep the lens provided there are no other defects with it, $500 is pretty cheap for this lens. Regards, Ken * **** ******* *********************************************************** * For list instructions, including unsubscribe, see: * http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/eos_list.htm ***********************************************************
