"Bubbles" in Zeiss - Ercona lens ?

i received an Ercona folder from a reputable source on eBay,

sold on consignment for a camera buff--but i notice lens issues.

 

this camera is a version of the Zeiss Ikonta 534 or C, it seems,

and has the touted Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 3.5/105 T lens.

 

what i thought i was seeing on the front lens was a chip,

visible from the front as it catches light from the side....

 

the seller consulted the owner who said these Zeiss lenses

early on had bubbles in the front lens sometimes--

but that these seldom affected the picture made.

 

does this make any sense?

 

on closer inspection i notice three of these "bubbles"

(i had noticed the more prominent one first)...

it is true they look like bubbles.

 

looking from inside through the bellows to the rear lens--

with the lens open on bulb setting--i notice a bit of dust

and at least one larger dark spot of debris in the image path.

 

so the seller asked me to shoot film and see if any

imperfections would show up on the photographs--

but i am in general a newbie, and this is my first folder/ 120,

so i'm unsure if i could even discern a picture problem.

 

bottom line:

should i try shooting film and looking for issues?

(is it worth the time/ effort with the lens as described?)

...or should i send this $125 camera back?

(apparently a bargain as erconas or esp. ikontas go.)

 

thank you for any advice!

Yup, some older lenses had bubbles, right from the factory.

Its sort of like *discovering* your lawnmower has some grass clippings on it; or your lover has freckle; or your muffer a scratch; or your garbage can a dent; **STUFF TO WORRY ABOUT ** if you are a worry wart; stuff to toss and turn over and loose sleep; to multiply by a trillion trillion times. Maybe the mower will die since it has blade dead grass on it; maybe one will find another freckle; maybe it will void the Muffler warranty; maybe the neighbors will talk about your dented flawed trash can since its about to fail and any moment. :) To a collecter at dent or bubble causes a MASSIVE drop in worth; ie its worthless since not mint!:) To an actual user of a tool; buying a pooper scooper or shovel with a ding for a penny is a great thing; or a lens with a bubble for next to nothing is great. The mania over quality loss due to things that do not matter causes great values; thus myths help creat values. A used mower with a blade of dead grass is worthless; so is a lens with a bubble! :)

I've always heard that bubbles in lens glass was once a sign of quality, or so they say:

 

http://forums.popphoto.com/camera/board/message?board.id=112112&thread.id=7928

 

I wouldn't worry about the bubbles.

FOLLOW-UP: may i assume that the large dark piece

of debris in the lens chamber is also of negligible concern,

since it too, like the bubbles, is far away from the focal point??

 

VP--thanks for the link.

interesting & informative!

 

MA--ok, thanks.

 

KF--??

got a lot of time on your hands. :)

"FOLLOW-UP: may i assume that the large dark piece of debris in the lens chamber is also of negligible concern, since it too, like the bubbles, is far away from the focal point??"

 

I think it's a matter of relativity. I have a zoom lens that has, in my opinion, a very large piece of "dust" (or debris) on one of the lens elements. It doesn't show up in my photos, so I don't worry about it.

VP--thank you. (i know this is newbie stuff) OK--ercona-zeiss, here we go. :)

Shoot a roll and see if it's sharp and well exposed. Try to take pictures of scenes where everything should be in focus (no real near-far relationships) and then see if the exposure and focus look consistent in the whole picture.

 

"Large debris" could mean anything when we, strangers, are not accustomed to how you think about things -- just an observation. Something "large" could look like next to nothing to me -- or, I might say, "That's not large, that's gigantic!" So, if you could give an idea as to how large, then we might be able to advise to clean it out, or leave it alone.

 

As for bubbles, the only time you'd have to worry about a bubble is if it "breaks" at the surface of the lens, in which case it would form a "pit" in the lens which could reflect light around. But you're totally safe to ignore a few bubbles in the glass of a lens.