I have picked up one of these lenses, knowing that the front element had some light scratching. I've taken a few test shots to see if there is any impact on image quality. There doesn't seem to be, to me at least. I tried shooting with the sun behind me (with the light) and towards the sun (against the light) and have been looking for haziness around high contrast edges etc.

Any thoughts on these shots? What sort of shooting conditions should I be wary of, or is a bit of scratching nothing to worry about?

Shooting with the light: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28055843@N04/5940396010/sizes/l/in/photostream/

Shooting into the light: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28055843@N04/5940397494/sizes/l/in/photostream/

Those shots are in-camera jpegs and you can click on the original size to have a good look. I must say that for the money I paid I'm quite pleased! It's not uber-sharp but the contrast is good and the colour seems great. And it's tiny!

The first shot but with a touch of curves:




Against the light, unedited:

Hmmm the last lone looks like a filthy oil slick in some future environmental apocalypse.

Do some HSM lenses have screwdrive as backup?

Not my cup of tea at all

I'd go for the black one even if they cost the same.

Me too. I like trying to capture people in relation to their environment in particular. Especially when there's a bit of a disjunct between the subject and the context.

I also like photographing sublimely grim urban settings and discarded objects with a hint of a story etc.

(I would love to shoot beautiful misty landscapes but I am a bit rubbish at it and not a natural 'early riser'!)

A pity I've no SDM lenses to test it on. Would have raised the price if I knew it supported SDM

I know - that's why I said 'no support for AF with SDM lenses' in the description.

No, it was the plain DG one.

'Different' is one word for it HG. 'Abhorrent' would be another

Excellent macro!

The bat shots look quite challenging! I imagine catch in focus wouldn't work as they're too fast moving?