Gashed Lens Repair

guano_jim

i manged to put a gash right in the middle of the outer element of the lens; it did not have a protective filter on it. Can anyone suggest where in dublin I might get it polished out or filled in with suitable material?

CabanSail

What sort of a lens is it?

Chances are it's not worth repair.

guano_jim

its a Leica Vario-Elmar as fitted to the Panasonic DMC-TZ5

DaireQuinlan

guano_jim wrote: »

its a Leica Vario-Elmar as fitted to the Panasonic DMC-TZ5

Hmm. No chance of getting it filled in or polished out without affecting the lens more than the gash itself has unfortunately. See if you can get the part replaced, those little P&S though aren't really designed to be repaired, chances are it'll cost you as much as replacing the camera with an equivalent model.

OTOH, take some shots. Camera lenses are more resilient to marks and scratches than you might think. Unless its really bad you might only notice it if you're shooting into bright lights, when it might result in some flare or loss of contrast.

kumate_champ07

fill it with a black marker, wipe off any residue around the crack quickly before it dries. a crack or deep scratch can cause flaring problems.
light will 'bend' around the black mark so it wont be visible, a deep scratch can scater light in different directions

before you do anything try some test shots to see how badly its effecting your photos

guano_jim

i first noticed it on photographs: i don't usually see the lens as it hides away on powerdown. i think it opened up while in a bag.

ill try the black marker thing.

thanks for the input!