Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-08-22)

http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk 31

GuyEdwardes

Basedin hishomecountyof Dorset,Guy

Edwardeshasbeena professional

landscapeandnaturephotographerfor

over 25 years.Herunsa seriesof popular

photographicworkshopsallovertheworld.

Visitwww.guyedwardes.com.

Dawnoverthe

SomersetLevels

Canon EOS 1Ds, Zeiss 21mm

f2.8 Distagon via adapter,

1/15sec at f/11, ISO 100

ne w lease of life

Zeiss Distagon

21mm f/2.8

I tracked down this lens

in a classic camera shop

back in 2003, and a year

later sold it for more

than I had bought it for

I’VE ALWAYS been rather wary of buying second-

hand digital cameras, but over the years have

bought many second-hand lenses. These have been

purchased from various sources including private

sellers, well-known camera shops and eBay.

Occasionally I will need a specific lens for a project

and, rather than hiring one, I will buy a used lens

and then sell it once the project is complete. I’ve

usually been able to sell it for close to the price I paid

for it, and sometimes more! When I switched from

film to digital back in 2003 I had no wideangle

lenses that performed well on the original full-frame

Canon EOS 1Ds. After much research I discovered

that some old Zeiss manual focus lenses were

capable of delivering very good results on this

camera via an adapter, but they were not made any

more and were in very short supply second-hand.

Eventually I tracked down a Zeiss Distagon 21mm

f/2.8 in a classic camera shop for £600, and it was

certainly capable of producing very sharp images.

However, 12 months later when an updated Canon

wideangle zoom became available I sold the Zeiss. By

that time other photographers had cottoned onto

the benefits of the Zeiss lenses and they had become

even scarcer. I managed to sell mine on eBay for over

£2,000, which easily funded my new Canon lens!

Apart from the obvious scratches, damaged

coatings and internal fungus, the main thing I look

out for in second-hand lenses is internal dust. As I

like to shoot into the light, any dust inside the lens

will cause problems with flare. It wouldn’t put me

off buying a lens, but I would need to get the lens

cleaned and serviced before using it. This possible

additional expense should be taken into account

whenever buying second-hand lenses.