Anyone ever tried to "fill" a scratch on a lens?

I agree - I wan't seriously suggesting that as a strong proposition - though I am sure that any coatings etc could be reapplied, and in the end the lens could be almost as good as new.... after all money is no object in this repair...is it?

C'mon, you can do it at home ... just use some kind of glue and wait until it is really hard

You won't see the scratch anymore ...

Best regards,
Andy

Actually, it's easy to do if the scratches are deep! I've done it many times as a working pro and you get no loss of image quality

Here's the secret: you use a black sharpie, and wipe the excess ink off straight away, before it dries. The black ink only stays in the scratches, and stops all flare from the edge of the scratch. The loss in light from the black lines is completely invisible.

I rescued a friends 20mm Nikkor once, that she'd thrown in the bin as it has got badly (very badly!) scratched in her bag on a trip. Turned out to be a great free lens after the treatment, and I shot several double-truck magazine stories with it with no trouble

steved110 wrote in post #2756484
I agree - I wan't seriously suggesting that as a strong proposition - though I am sure that any coatings etc could be reapplied, and in the end the lens could be almost as good as new.... after all money is no object in this repair...is it?

At canon...I really think it is.

There's a tiny scratch maybe 7mm on the front element of my 85... I wonder if I should even bother to get that repaired. I hardly use the lens, but I guess it'll help if I try to sell it.

In many cases regarding many types of mechanical (and I would assume optical) devices, it is almost always less expensive to replace a part with a new one than to pay a skilled craftsman to fix the damaged part. We're a modular, throw away society.

Polymer repairs conducted on glass (be it windscreens, windows etc) are purely to prevent the crack/chip/etc getting any bigger. They do nothing to repair the "visual aspect".

MrChad wrote in post #2756136
If it's a recent EF lens of any real value, odds are Canon can repair the damaged outer lens for a fraction of the cost of a new lens anyhow.

$100-200 to repair the front element of a 24-70L.

So small scratches on lenses with smaller front elements (58mm, 67mm, etc, not 77mm or anything), that are small scratches, might only cost $50-100 to repair?
If so it might be much easier to send the lens to canon then dock a lot of $ off of it when you go to resell it.

Hossam wrote in post #2756444
for that cost does they repair the damaged outer element or replace it by a new one ?

They will always replace with new parts.

JaGWiRE wrote in post #2758272
So small scratches on lenses with smaller front elements (58mm, 67mm, etc, not 77mm or anything), that are small scratches, might only cost $50-100 to repair?
If so it might be much easier to send the lens to canon then dock a lot of $ off of it when you go to resell it.

That's correct Canon's charges for repair are usually related to value of the item being repaired.

pfogle wrote in post #2756575
you use a black sharpie, and wipe the excess ink off straight away, before it dries. The black ink only stays in the scratches, and stops all flare from the edge of the scratch.

Been there, done that

NWShooter wrote in post #2755440
We are having a discussion in another thread about scratches on front elements and if they affect IQ at all. The main thing everyone agrees on that it would affect is contrast and flare.

I'm wondering, has anyone ever tried to "fill" the scratches with glass repair stuff they have for windshields? It seems that if you could fill them they wouldn't refract as much light. My only concern would be if it would react with the multi-coating somehow and make a big mess of the front element.

Just thinking out loud. What do you guys think?

Chris

I think these products are ment to have the same refractive index as common glass. On a lens it is probably the coating that has scratched, my guess is the coating does not have the same refractive index as glass.

Skips suggesting of paiting the scratch is probably a good one as long as you have a very steady hand, myself I would leave it unless it was causing flare.

Yup, comments about protective filters well made - never needed until they are needed then it is too late.

MrChad wrote in post #2761169
That's correct Canon's charges for repair are usually related to value of the item being repaired.

My friends 70-200 has a couple marks and he wants to sell it, I wonder if it's worth it for him to just send it in, I've looked at it, not sure it's even scratches. The body has a couple nicks too (paint missing). I wonder if Canon would inspect it, clean it, and possibly remove any of the little scratches or marks, for a $100 or something. If so, it might be better then selling it at a dirt cheap price cause of a few minor things.

You might consider trying Play-Doh, or even a Sharpie to fill that gap...

Kidding, im just happy I havent gone through the horror yet of having scratched glass!

SkipD wrote in post #2755463
If there were actual scratches in a lens, it might be better to fill them with non-reflecting black material rather than leave them open. I'm thinking that the filling would reduce bouncing light rays and there would be less probability of flare or haze in the images.

This is what astronomers do with small imperfections in extremely expensive mirrors and lenses. The matte black material absorbs light, thereby eliminating refelctions that cause glare and flare. At worst, the black fill woud act as though it were a speck of dust on the glass.

The "liquid glass" for eyeglasses works (poorly)only with uncoated lenses. With coated lenses, a disaster usually results. It works because the eye is very forgiving.

Windshield-fill products also work because the windshield is uncoated and our visual perception is very tolerant of small defects. The fill turns a larger defect, a rock star (of the non-musical variety), into a small defect, a minor distortion spot.

Since all camera lenses of any quality at all are coated (usually multicoated) AND since the camera is very intolerant of even small defects, I would avoid any and all liquid-glass or other fill products.