Donate a Lens for a somewhat good cause - Ends a War

So I have one lens, an Olympus mount Five Star 70-210 (I think that's what it is) that has some fungus, and is basically trash. I need another trash lens, to, well, trash.

In response to the war between protective filters or no protective filters, I want to break some glass in the name of science. I'm building a 'thing' that will allow me to hit the front element/UV filter with progressively heavier objects, and see whether or not the filter truly protects the lens.

I've been looking for a worthless lens, whether it has fungus, or maybe the mount is broken, or something else wrong with it that makes it value-less, and a perfect subject for this 'test', but haven't found one other than the one above.

So, if you have a lens that you were going to one day get around to throwing away, but would rather it go to a good cause, PM me.

Let's stop the madness!

Haha great idea, but the madness/war will never end. You can run all the tests you want, bring all the anecdotal stories you can think of, and most people will go on believing what they always have in this regard

Yeah, but I'm going to video it! It will end it I tell you! It will! IT Will! IT WILL!

Won't it?

I'm pretty sure something similar has already been done, and someone will inevitably be here soon to post the video.

I already know the answer to this one...

(Spoiler: The filter gives like a cookie and leaves delicious broken glass everywhere)

In response to the war between protective filters or no protective filters, I want to break some glass in the name of science. I'm building a 'thing' that will allow me to hit the front element/UV filter with progressively heavier objects, and see whether or not the filter truly protects the lens.

this test you propose misses the mark on why i use protective filters and i doubt that the outcome will settle what has become a holy war .

ed

"your test is flawed"

(i've not seen your test ... and it does not matter)

I expect a Higgs-boson reference any second now.

You would need at least 2 identical lenses to learn anything meaningful. What if one has a front element that is easily scratched? Also, if you use old lenses/filters, how would you know if damage wasn't from some pre-existing accident? To prove something, you'd have to buy new lenses. Likewise you would have to buy some good expensive filters to smash because the cheap ones are expected to shatter. B+W MRC and Hoya HD are 2 popular filters. This would get way too expensive unless you can somehow make money off of it.

I'd like to see those guys at DigitalRev do something a bit more scientific. They sometimes have a good budget and don't mind banging things up. I believe they also get money from Youtube views.

Go ahead and start Buying some B + W and Hoya HD filters for $90 or more a pop and hit it with some rocks

Like this - http://www.lensrentals​.com …0/front-element-scratches ?

Protection from 'high energy' impacts such as thrown rocks? A filter is going to do you more harm than good, providing nearly no protection and leaving you with shards of glass to deal with.

Protection from 'low energy' minor impacts/abrasions, such as dust, blown sand, etc? A filter is going to offer actual protection by keeping the material away from your front element, and letting you clean it easier. If it does scratch, then it is easier to replace the filter by yourself than the front element.

They had a war to end all wars...yeah that worked too.

While it obviously would not be a laboratory controlled test, I was going to try and make it as real-world as I could. I was planning on having two lenses mounted to where a pendulum with various items can be sent flying into the lenses at equal forces. I planned on starting with a 2x4, to simulate smacking into a table corner, and progress from there.

I have a 3 Hoya HMC filters, which although aren't 'top of the line' they are probably equal to or better than what most camera owners (notice I avoided the word photographer) would have on their lens. I'm sure they're better then a Quantaray, Tiffen, or other similar filter.

I know it wouldn't end the war, but I think it's an experiment that really needs to be done. Not really to sway any one in one direction or the other, but to give a real-world example of whether or not they truly protect.

My theory is the filter will break long before the front element does, and in doing so, along with broken glass everywhere, I'm expecting the front element to get scratched by the broken filter glass.

One thing that the supporters of the filter always mention is sand on the front element. Um... What's that filter made of? Glass. What's glass made of? Sand. So I really think that when that filter breaks, the likelihod of (massive) scratching of the front element increased to the power of 10 (or so). And at the same time, whatever it was that broke the filter, will have done no damage to the unfiltered lens. That's my projected outcome.

So, again, if anyone has a lens they want to toss, let me know. If not, I'm sure I'll eventually come across one at a garage sale or on fleabay. Either way, this 'test' will happen.

S.Horton wrote in post #14726552
I expect a Higgs-boson reference any second now.

I'm still working on the filter that will prevent those pesky little Higgs Bosons from passing through.

(It has been proved beyond any doubt at CERN that HBs are responsible for 73.5% of all picture failures!)