nick in protective glass on 200-400mm

[david_simon]

<p><img src="http://s1296.photobucket.com/user/dms1954x/media/DSC_1524_DxO_zpslbewwywy.jpg.html?filters[user]=142383582&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=1" alt="" />Somehow I managed to get a small nick in the protective outer filter on my 200-400 mm. It shows up in some photos as a round 'blemish" . See attached photo. <br /> Is there any way to fix it? Some sort of filler like they do with nicks on windshields?<br>

http://s1296.photobucket.com/user/dms1954x/media/DSC_1524_DxO_zpslbewwywy.jpg.html?filters[user]=142383582&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=1</p>

<p><img src="http://s1296.photobucket.com/user/dms1954x/media/DSC_1524_DxO_zpslbewwywy.jpg.html?filters[user]=142383582&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=1" alt="" /></p>

[John Seaman]

<p>David, this looks like dust on the sensor to me. A small nick on the front of a long telephoto wouldn't cause that (or anything, for that matter).</p>

[rodeo_joe1]

I agree it looks like sensor dust. But beware of

clicking that link. I was redirected to some spurious

web page warning of a false virus infection!

[JosvanEekelen]

<p>A small damage of a lens (front element?) will not show as a speck in a picture. See if you have the same spot with other lenses and if they get smaller at higher f-values. If so it's probably dust on the sensor. </p>

[paul_k1664875007]

<p>Definitely dirt on the sensor, probably just a/some grain(s) of sand.<br>

Obsessionally ran into the same issue back in my Nikon D2X (which had no built in sensor shaker/cleaner) surf shooting days.</p>

<p>Try blowing the sensor clean with eg a Giotto Rocket Air blaster type blower, otherwise a wet sensor cleaning might be necessary<br>

I rarely need the latter since I upgraded to bodies with a built in sensor shaker/cleaner, only have it done by by local NPS as part of the free yearly CLA, so can't give you any DIY recommendations on that one</p>

<p>If it were small nick in the front element (I have my 200-400 VR well over 10 years now, never ran into anything similar to that, guess also due to always using the HK-30 lens hood) I'm afraid only solution would be to replace it.<br>

Although from an optical point of view, it's not part of the design and only is intended as a protective front element, so shooting without it would have no influence on the IQ</p>

[Richard Williams]

<blockquote>

<p>I agree it looks like sensor dust. But beware of clicking that link. I was redirected to some spurious web page warning of a false virus infection!</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I'm just seeing a standard photobucket link, but previously I've noticed photo.net using a link skimming service to generate revenue - perhaps there was an issue with that? Otherwise, it might be a good idea to scan your system for malware.</p>

<p>Yes, that looks like sensor dust. Though I doubt it's affecting the pictures, is this one of the lenses where the protective front 'filter' is user-replaceable?</p>

[alan_olander1664878205]

<p>It's sensor dust. You would never see any evidence in an image of a small front element nick on a telephoto lens.</p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>The 200-400mm/f4 AF-S VR automatically comes with a front screw-on filter. You can always replace that, but I would imagine that Nikon will charge you an arm and a leg for a replacement filter that big.</p>

<center><img src="http://static.photo.net/attachments/bboard/00X/00XX1K-293045584.jpg" alt="" /></center>

[Ed_Ingold]

<p>It's unlikely that a chip in the protective element of a long lens would be visible in the image. Anything that close would be completely out of focus. At worst, it might cause flare if light were to strike the lens directly. The best repair for such a blemish, short of replacement, is to apply a small drop of matte black paint to the flaw.</p>

<p>Sensor dust is easily removed.</p>

[Richard Williams]

Is the protective glass a custom fit filter, or would it be possible to use a Hoya or something?

[rodeo_joe1]

Surely the easiest test is to simply remove the filter

and take a shot of blank sky at a mid aperture? If the spot is still there, then it's sensor dust. Or

simply partly unscrew the filter and see if the spot

changes position.

<p>

 

It's definitely a scam site. I clicked on a linked picture and got the same virus infection message. That's despite using an Android device - so beware! No bona-fide website to my knowledge does an instant scan of your device and warns of a virus infection.

[robert_bouknight1]

<p>I would take a fine artist brush and dab a little flat black paint on the nick - then almost no impact on an image, not that a little front element nick would make much difference, anyway.</p>

[Richard Williams]

<blockquote>

<p>It's definitely a scam site. I clicked on a linked picture and got the same virus infection message. That's despite using an Android device - so beware! No bona-fide website to my knowledge does an instant scan of your device and warns of a virus infection.</p>

</blockquote>

<p><br />That would certainly be malware behaviour, but I'm not seeing it. On Windows, the link just goes straight to a page on Photobucket, which is a well-known image hosting site. If you're seeing something different, and can rule out malware on your device, I might suspect photo.net itself is inadvertently causing the problem - I've previously seen links on the forums redirected via a domain owned by a link skimming service (I think it was Skimlinks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skimlinks ), and this has triggered a warning from Web of Trust.<br /><br />If you copy the link rather than clicking on it, then paste it into a new browser window or tab (checking to make sure it points to photobucket.com), do you still get this behaviour? <br /><br /></p>

[paul_k1664875007]

<p>With regards to the possible 'scam' site and virus warning, FWIW, I'm not having any alarmbells going of on my Macbook, the Flickrpage loads without any problems</p>

[rodeo_joe1]

I just risked clicking on one of the linked pictures

again and got no redirection this time. Hmmm! Pretty sure my Android phone isn't infected. It was definitely a scam webpage that popped up previously. Not directly from the photobucket site, but from "clicking" one of the images shown on it while trying to magnify it.

 

Other web surfing has shown no odd behaviour on my device. Only those photobucket images - twice taking me to a "virus warning" message about two hours apart. No coincidence I'm thinking.

 

David, the OP, is a long time member of Pnet and I'm sure is an innocent party to whatever is/was happening on his Photobucket page.

[Richard Williams]

<p>That does sound suspicious - if the malware link is on Photobucket rather than the link directly posted here, perhaps someone has been running a 'malvertising' campaign on Photobucket? This has apparently happened before:<br>

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/malware-infested-ads,news-19408.html<br>

Anyone who saw anything suspicious should run a malware scan.</p>

[sebastianmoran]

<p>Image: Sure looks like sensor dust to me.</p>

<p>Redirect/Malware: Photo.net, please do not use link skimming services. Period. Another malware cesspool. </p>

[dave_wilson1]

I got the "you're today's winnng iPad"

Geeeez !!

Either way, agree, not the lens. There's no way that would show up lol ke that spot.