My lens bench got a surprise visitor last Thursday

A spider had built a web inside my 50mm f/1.4 and I only noticed after I ran 4 rolls of film through it, so now I'm trying to figure out if I need to clean the whole lens or just blow it out with air.

2 comments

2 Comments

jessicaw543d ago

Peek through that viewfinder and you'll probably see a faint shadow on the edges of your shots, especially if it's a sunny day and you're stopped down. Honestly, that surprises me more than it should how much little stuff ends up inside lenses without you noticing. Blow it out with air first, that's usually fine for dust and spider webs, but if the spider left a mess you might need to take the front or rear element off to get at it. It's just one of those annoying reminders that even expensive gear is still just a box of glass with a tiny crack for the world to sneak into.

wesleypatel2d ago

Dude @jessicaw54 you hit the nail on the head with that box of glass line. I had a similar shock last year when I bought a used 24-70mm and found a tiny dead ant stuck to the inner glass. No shadow in the viewfinder but it showed up as a weird blur on every shot at f/16. I tried air first but that ant was not going anywhere. Ended up having to take the whole front off with one of those rubber lens wrenches just to get at it. Its wild how much junk gets in there even with the caps on. Makes you wonder how many other people are walking around with spiders living in their lenses lol.