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The flash light test...

BradS

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Sep 28, 2004
Messages
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Location
Soulsbyville, California
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35mm
I made the mistake of submitting a few of my "known good" lenses to the flash light test last night. I don't know what came over me. These are lenses that have consistently produced good results for me. Glass that is clean....except for the usual internal dust.

Oh, The Horror!

What compelled me to this tragic error, I cannot say.

Save yourself!

Keep that dammed flashlight away from the optics with which you are well pleased.
 
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The next time you get an urge like that there are three options:
  1. Walk away and take a strong drink.
  2. Go on the internet and shop for yet another lens.
  3. Both of the above.
 
Once seen, can't be unseen...

Just don't look!
 
The Topcor 4.4cm on my Topcon rangefinder would give nightmares to grain peepers. When you shine a light, it’s as if the Devil had pressed his thumb against the front glass. It produces sharp pictures nonetheless..
 

I am lost! What is the flash light test?
 
Chan Tran said:
I am lost! What is the flash light test?
Click to expand...

Don't ask, lest you be tempted to do it.
You shine a small flashlight through the lens to look for haze, internal dust, fungus or whatever. It highlights whatever flaws are there better than just looking through it without the light.

Most lenses will show up something, most somethings you might see don't have any real effect, especially various specs of dust, or small bubbles or similar imperfections in the glass. But it all looks scary. It's a good way to bargain down the on the price of a lens you might be buying.
 
Flash light test is good way to give yourself a heart attack. Don't do it!!!

In my house, the flashlight is at maximum possible distance from the Camera Room.

Have considered keeping the flashlight outside!
 
I’ll never forget the first time I did that... scarred me for life. I’ve never touched a shutter speed tester because I know I couldn’t handle that!
 
Maybe I'm just weird, but I enjoy seeing all the 'weirdness' and anomalies that can show up in a lens while still projecting a decent image.

However I'm also geeky enough to enjoy signal processing and such. [I like telescopes and such for astronomy, but I'm the kind of person who doesn't actually care all that much about what's up there or what's going on that far out, I just enjoy finding ways to get a better image of it...]
 
My lenses aren't pretty, but they pass the flashlight test much better than I pass the mirror test.
 

Oh that I do it all the time. Doesn't do anything to the lens or to me.
 
BrianShaw said:
I’ll never forget the first time I did that... scarred me for life. I’ve never touched a shutter speed tester because I know I couldn’t handle that!
Click to expand...

I test the shutter often. Doesn't hurt anything.
 
I fire all my shutter every three months. It is on my schedule.
 
I bought a Voigtlander 50 3.5 from B&H. The flash light test showed a freakin bug in the lens! As in an insect. Sent that lens back..
Thank u flash light test!
 
BrianShaw said:
I’ll never forget the first time I did that... scarred me for life. I’ve never touched a shutter speed tester because I know I couldn’t handle that!
Click to expand...

Within tolerances, within tolerances, within tolerances *cross fingers lolll
 
don't fix or test what ain;t broken.
 
I always used a 60W bulb for the purpose, but I suppose it doesn't matter. But if a lens can't pass the test, and my standards are indeed very strict, the lens doesn't go on my camera. i either open it up for cleaning, or scrap it if there are scratches or etching.
 

Next time, please, drop it in our freebies section. Whatever the lens, I'm sure someone need screws, aperture blades or a rear element.
 
I have an old Petzval with a big chip near the center of the rear element. The photos it takes look great.

Since experiencing that, dust doesn't bother me.
 
I could care less about dust. Fog and haze on the other hand destroys contrast.
 
Easy remedy, switch to pinhole photography.
 
jim10219 said:
I have an old Petzval with a big chip near the center of the rear element. The photos it takes look great.

Since experiencing that, dust doesn't bother me.
Click to expand...
"Pops" Whitesell, who had a studio in the "French Quarter" of New Orleans, preferred allowing spider-webs to exist inside his lenses to a clean, razor-sharp lens. Used a Packard shutter also. I think he became a Fellow of the Photographic Society of America for his work, even after F64 was organized in California. Later, after losing a leg to diabetes, he still made pictures as well as traveled, lectureng to professionals and advanced amateurs. Could it be that too much weight is being given to the value of "ultra-sharp" lenses in the making of "creative" photographs? I wonder. I have even heard of Hasselblad/Zeiss lenses criticized as being to "too sharp". Mine are NOT for sale......Regards!
 
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