Does this Hasselblad 50mm look problematic?

anadigi2229 · Oct 19, 2023

Just received this Hasselblad CF 50mm in the mail today and while the lens is in beautiful shape, I noticed on one side of the inside of the lens what looks either like an etching or material on the edge of of of the inner elements.

Have never seen this before. Does this look like the start of fungus or maybe lens separation? Thanks for your help and input!

4season · Oct 19, 2023

That appears to be the paint on the edges of the lens elements starting to flake off. It's pretty common in older lenses, is cosmetic more than anything else, and could be repainted if need be.

btaylor · Oct 19, 2023

Very common. Schneider (bubbling black paint was a common issue with their lenses) says it does not affect the image quality and I believe them. It does affect resale value however.

Kodachromeguy · Oct 19, 2023

This looks like Schneideritis, paint coming off from the edge of the element. No problem at all.

anadigi2229 · Oct 19, 2023

btaylor said:
Very common. Schneider (bubbling black paint was a common issue with their lenses) says it does not affect the image quality and I believe them. It does affect resale value however.

Ah good to hear. I got a pretty good deal on this lens so if it doesn’t affect image quality I’ll likely keep it.

Do you know if it the issue will likely get worse to the point that it will be problematic in the future?

btaylor · Oct 19, 2023

anadigi2229 said:
Ah good to head. I got a pretty good deal on this lens so if it doesn’t affect image quality I’ll likely keep it.

Do you know if it the issue will likely get worse to the point that it will be problematic in the future?

Very much doubt it will get much worse in a hurry. I have a number of lenses “afflicted” with this issue (Schneider, Zeiss, etc) and if it gets worse it takes years. Never had an image quality problem with them. Got some great deals- it is often thought to be something far worse like separation or fungus when it’s actually harmless, at least to the degree I see it.

Sirius Glass · Oct 20, 2023

A quick call to Hasselblad in Burbank California may answer your question better.

lobitar · Oct 21, 2023

The indent for applying a tool for unscrewing the facing locking ring (with name ingravings) seem to be somewhat damaged (but picture unsharp just there); has the lens been taken apart by an amateur repairman?

Jeremy Mudd · Oct 22, 2023

lobitar said:
The indent for applying a tool for unscrewing the facing locking ring (with name ingravings) seem to be somewhat damaged (but picture unsharp just there); has the lens been taken apart by an amateur repairman?

Unless you have the "enhance" feature on your machine common to Star Trek moveies, it looks to me like a blurry, OOF area of the image rather than damage.

That said, it still may have been taken apart by amateur repairpersons.

Jeremy

Does this Hasselblad 50mm look problematic?

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