Shot 20 rolls before realizing my lens was fogged up inside

I picked up this old Canon AE-1 from a thrift store for $40 and ran through 20 rolls over like 3 months. Everything came back super soft and hazy but I thought it was just my shaky hands or cheap film or whatever. Then last week I was at a meetup with some other film folks in Portland and one guy looked through my viewfinder and asked if I knew my lens had internal fog. I held it up to the light and sure enough there was this weird cloudy patch inside the front element. The guy said it was probably from moisture getting in or maybe old lubricant haze. I spent hours researching and finally cleaned it with basic lens tools and now my shots actually have contrast and sharpness. Has anyone else dealt with hidden lens issues that took way too long to figure out?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_derek28d ago

honestly I used to be one of those people who was like "eh a lens is a lens, it'll still take pictures" but this totally changed my mind. I had a similar thing happen with an old Pentax 50mm I got at a garage sale, thought the softness was just character or whatever. turns out it was haze from the smoker who owned it before, after I cleaned it the difference was night and day. now I check every lens I buy with a flashlight like a weirdo but at least my shots actually look sharp.

eric_murphy3628d ago

Exactly! Flashlight test saved my vintage glass too. Night and day difference.