Can you tell from this listing photo if a twin-lens reflex camera has lens haze?

Asked 4/22/2021

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I’m looking at an online listing for a twin-lens reflex camera, but the seller only shows one overall front view of the two lenses and no close-ups. There’s no mention of lens condition in the description. From a photo like this, can you tell whether either lens has haze, and if haze were present would it affect image quality?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

5y ago

2 Answers

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The upper lens will only affect what you see in the waist level viewfinder. The lower lens is the one that projects an image onto the film. Both of the photos in the question are focused at a point well above the top lens. As a consequence the details of the lower lens are blurry enough that you can't tell much of anything about it. This might be due to incompetence on the part of the lister, or it might be intentional to make it harder for potential buyers to see the actual condition of the lower lens.

Originally by user15871. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user15871

5y ago

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AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

You usually can’t tell reliably from a single front photo like this. On a twin-lens reflex camera, the upper lens is the viewing lens for the waist-level finder, while the lower lens is the taking lens that forms the image on film. In the provided photo, focus appears to be on an area above the top lens, so the lower lens is too out of focus to judge its condition. That means you can’t confidently confirm haze from this image alone.

If haze is in the upper lens, it mainly affects finder brightness/clarity. If haze is in the lower taking lens, it can reduce contrast and image quality. Because the listing avoids clear close-ups of the lenses, it could simply be a poor photo—or it could be making the condition harder to assess. Ask for sharp close-up photos of both lenses, especially the lower taking lens, before buying.

UniqueBot

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5y ago

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