topic rf 55-210 mm - speck in lens in EF & RF Lenses

rf 55-210 mm - speck in lens

JakobeFoster08 — Thu, 28 Dec 2023 00:29:46 GMT

how do i take apart my rf 55-210 mm lens, i’m somewhat new to photography and there’s a speck on the inside of my lens

Re: rf 55-210 mm - speck in lens

Tronhard — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 19:33:54 GMT

The short answer is DO NOT!
The optics and electronics of a lens are built in a clean room that is highly protected from both static electricity and dust and the lens elements are very, very precisely aligned. DIY repairs will inevitably result in the lens going to a technician to sort out the resulting mess and will not be covered by any warranty.
Getting a spec of dust inside a non-environmentally protected lens, especially one that extends to zoom in and out, is perfectly normal and should not impact your images, because the innards of the lens are well inside the minimum focusing distance and thus invisible to the lens.
What will appear on your images is dust on the image sensor, and you can reduce the risk of that by a couple of things:
1. Turn OFF the camera if changing lenses. Digital sensors are charged electrically when the camera is turned on, and left open to the world will attract dust.
2. When doing so, point the camera face downwards to avoid dust falling into the camera body.
3. If you are storing the camera without a lens attached, always replace the body cap that covers the lens mount and keep that free of dust.

Re: rf 55-210 mm - speck in lens

ebiggs1 — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 15:33:50 GMT

Just because you can see the "speck" inside the lens does not indicate it will show up in any photo. Dust and such are generally out of focus (OOF).

"how do i take apart my rf 55-210 mm lens", just the thought of you needing to ask that question solidifies the fact you are not the person to do it.

Re: rf 55-210 mm - speck in lens

jrhoffman75 — Thu, 28 Dec 2023 20:46:34 GMT

@JakobeFoster08 wrote:
how do i take apart my rf 55-210 mm lens, i’m somewhat new to photography and there’s a speck on the inside of my lens

It's more rare not to have a speck inside a lens 😀

Set the camera to Av mode and manual focus. Set the aperture to f/16. Point the lens on a white/beige room wall with something in the edge of the image that you can focus on, maybe edge of a door frame. Focus manually and take a photo. Do you see the speck?

Re: rf 55-210 mm - speck in lens

zakslm — Thu, 28 Dec 2023 21:13:08 GMT

It's more rare not to have a speck inside a lens

Very true!

Many years ago when I had an EOS film camera, I purchased an "nifty fifty" from KEH graded "Ugly" for some too low to pass up price (maybe less than $15 with caps at the time?)

When I got the lens, it looked brand new except for a couple of dust specks that were visible inside the lens. The dust specs didn't affect image quality at all and I really enjoyed using that lens. It was sharp from wide open to minimum aperture. When I sold the lens year later, I probably did so for 3X or more of what I paid for it. In fact, I wish I would have kept the lens (and 1 or 2 others) because I bought an EF50mm f1.8 STM when I got back into photography years later.

Re: rf 55-210 mm - speck in lens

Tintype_18 — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 18:59:41 GMT

A book on digital photography said to point the camera down when changing lenses. Pointing it up opens the door for any kind of dust or crud floating in the air. At home, it's dog hair. Sticks to everything but the dogs!

Re: rf 55-210 mm - speck in lens

Tronhard — Fri, 29 Dec 2023 20:21:40 GMT

Thanks for echoing my own advice on this issue below. These simple measures can save a lot of frustration and some cost if not implemented and cannot be emphasized enough!

Re: rf 55-210 mm - speck in lens

ebiggs1 — Sat, 30 Dec 2023 15:58:15 GMT

😀I know no one that does that. I never did nor do. Sometimes it can become more troublesome to use tools than fun.