A "Well used" Minolta 600mm at KEH

I liked the part where they didn't give any indication of the condition of the glass itself.

I skipped right over that, obviously :)

It looks tempting. Pity they do not ship to Canada.   

They had one on their website for a while that listed Fungus as a problem. I'd be a little concerned that this is it.

Did someone from Dyxum get this one ?

Thanks for all the fungus speculation AFTER THE ITEM WAS SOLD.

I won it, so we'll see whether it was a bargain or no.

I'll provide the news in a few days.

Any hints on how to best view the condition of the inner elements (e.g., looking for erosion from fungus!)?

Thanks

rsjaffe wrote: ...we'll see whether it was a bargain or no.

KEH has an excellent return policy. Just send it back if you don't like. No questions asked.

rsjaffe wrote: Any hints on how to best view the condition of the inner elements (e.g., looking for erosion from fungus!)?

Two ways... Take lens outside and look through front with directly light shining down through it. Take the rear lens cap off so the aperture closes down fully. You'll be able to see fungus, dirt, dust, and spotting of element cement separation against the black of the closed aperture. You can also look for oil on the aperture and nearby lens elements. Flick the rear aperture lever and make sure the mechanism is quick and snappy.

Make sure to turn the focus ring during inspection. You'll see the middle glass elements of the lens rotate while turning ring. This will allow you to see anomalies better. Repeat the procedure from the rear of the lens, but here you don't have to turn the focus ring. Take rear filter tray out and make sure it has a filter. Inspect rear of lens with filter tray out.

Second way, do the same thing with a pen flashlight. But I don't think that's as good for seeing fungus or lens separation. The pen flashlight shows scratches, dust and coating marks better though.
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You can shoot the lens with or without the rear filter. I find the lens to be a little bit sharper without the rear filter. But surprisingly, the micro adjust on the a900 requires a completely different setting depending upon if the rear filter is installed or not. If you have a camera that doesn't have micro adjust, try some with and without the rear filter and see which is sharper for you.

You can also shoot without the front filter. Photos are the same, but removing it will decrease lens flare a little when using wide open aperture. The lens super sharp wide open at f4, but has a little CA and a little loss of contrast. Best sharpest and contrasty images are f5.6 and f8. No CA at those apertures either.

Congrats on the lens. Good luck with it. Now all you need is a Gimbal Head to use it efficiently. I like the style which mounts to the side. This allows your focus hand underneath the lens much better than the center mount units.

Edited by Photosopher - 27 February 2012 at 03:35