Or if it was on an extreme wide angle at high apertures and close focusing, it might even be visible as a blurred/highlighted area. It depends on how close the depth of field area comes to the front of the lens element. It is pretty rare that a scratch would be visible though, especially on a midrange lens or a tele.
The old advice is to just take some black paint and coat only the scratch area so it doesn't show up as a highlight. Mike Lars Michael wrote: > > > I occasionally see ads for lenses that say "small scratch on the front > > element but doesn't affect picture quality." Can someone discuss that > > proposition. It must affect picture quality to a degree, otherwise > > manufacturers sell them pre-scratched. :-) What is the effect of a > > scratch? If I'm really picky what will I see? > > A scratch might cause flare and/or reduced contrast. > > Lars -- Michael Shupe M.J.Shupe Photography Michigan Tech University www.northernlightsgallery.com * **** ******* *********************************************************** * For list instructions, including unsubscribe, see: * http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/eos_list.htm ***********************************************************
