Nicks,small scratches, dust...etc.

Every ad I see mentions "does not affect image"....really?
What say you?!

Yep, a miniscule scratch or two won't make any difference.
Have a read of this
http://kurtmunger.com/​dirty_lens_articleid35​.html
and this
http://www.lensrentals​.com …0/front-element-scratches

It probably won't affect anything however if it is turned at the wrong angle, auto focusing may be an issue.

depending on the light, it may introduce a bit of additional flare. scratches on the rear element however are more troublesome.

Put a piece 1/4" x 1/4" of masking tape square in the middle of your lens. You won't be able to see any hint of it in a photo. A speck of dust is never going to show up. Nor a small scratch/nick.

YashicaFX2 wrote in post #16308217
Put a piece 1/4" x 1/4" of masking tape square in the middle of your lens. You won't be able to see any hint of it in a photo. A speck of dust is never going to show up. Nor a small scratch/nick.

..on the front element. Try this on the rear element.

Small nick can be a great buy. I wouldn't have issues using scratched glass.

Moderate or heavy amounts of dust inside a lens, or on the front element, can affect an image if you are shooting directly into strong sunlight. For all other types of images, I have never seen any affect whatsoever on the images.

it affects the price more than the image quality

YashicaFX2 wrote in post #16308217
Put a piece 1/4" x 1/4" of masking tape square in the middle of your lens. You won't be able to see any hint of it in a photo. A speck of dust is never going to show up. Nor a small scratch/nick.

Please do this test on a widenagle lens - there you see the tape. Not sharp, but as a dark spot.
On tele lenses look in the bokeh, there you see the tape too.

Nicks and bigger scratches are bad when for example sun light shins on them. They reduce image contrast. Probably you will not see this. A hood will reduce the risk od contrast reduction.

I love to use lenses with scratches, and I don´t think about internal lens cleaning when I see 20 dust particles.Coating defects on the front lens are no big issue. I try to avoid nicks.

1Tanker wrote in post #16308226
..on the front element. Try this on the rear element.

Point taken.