Globs of glue? on enlarging lens

[jrong]

This is annoying.

After a few run-arounds and false leads, I finally won a bid on a Rodenstock Rodagon 80mm enlarging lens from eBay. The seller stated that it was in pristine, mint condition and sent it over from the US. I was away on holiday when it arrived, and did not collect it until a week ago upon my return.

The interior glass of the lens looked like someone had dropped two small globs of glue on it. There's a hardened, clear substance on the lens, both on the edges... but the rest of the lens appears new with hardly a scratch on it. I don't know what to do. I tried some lens cleaning fluid but the gobs would not budge. I fear that trying any other solvents might just ruin the lens coating as well.

I could demand my money back from the seller, but it has gone beyond the 7 day return period as I was away on holiday, and I don't really want to incur the costs of postage etc. yet again.

I still don't know what the clear substance is, but it may well be something like superglue.

Does anyone know if something like this could be "repaired"?

Jin

 

[Claire Senft]

It might be repairable but more expense than it is worth. Mount the lens on your enlarger and make a test print stopped down 1 and 2 stops. If the gobs are at the edge it may make no difference whatsoever.

 

[John Koehrer]

If you can get access to the globs, they should scrape off with a razor blade or hobby knife. Even the cement used to cement elements together could be scraped off once it's dry.

 

[Clueless]

Is that 7 day return option of the seller, or is that eBay? I have wondered about eBay's support of contentious deals.

 

[Foto Ludens]

I'd try enlarging with it, at your usual enlarging size and see what happens. When enlarging 6x6 I'm rarely any wider than f/16 myself, so I suspect that you may be ok.

André

 

[gwatson]

Yeah, reckon you should be OK stopped down, but globs of anything on a lens doesn't sound right. You could enquire about a return despite it is past the stipulated date. A good seller will agree.

Having said that, if the glass is v. good and it is not affected by the globs, I wouldn't try to fix it. I've made many a reasonable lens worse by trying to make it better. one day I will learn.

Geoff