Busted!

So I spent the last hour trying to clean shards of glass out of my 28-70mm lens.

Here's the short story: I was at church taking pictures of my daughter winning a book award at AWANA (they told me in advance she would be getting a trophy). I brought two lenses with me - my 85mm f/1.4 (for low light) and my 28-70mm f/2.8 (for low light and zoom). As I was trying out both lenses to see which would give me the most flexibility, I placed the 28-70mm lens on the table behind me; well (or so I thought) away from the edge.

As I was taking some test shots with the 85mm lens, I turned and my jacket must have somehow caught the lens behind me on the counter. It came crashing down (about 4 feet) to the floor, and I heard a sickening cracking sound. I picked up the lens and could here the bits and pieces of my filter bouncing around inside the lens cap - at least I hoped it was the filter and not the lens itself.



In this case, I am not quite sure what part of the lens struck the floor. There are no visible marks on the lens or the casing - this thing is a workhorse and very durable. The filter itself is not quite as durable, and so I imagine it was simply the shock of the lens falling 4 feet that caused it to shatter as it did.

My challenge for tomorrow? Trying to figure out how to clean off the tiny shards of glass from the filter that are still stuck to the surface of the lens. Word to the wise: NEVER take a cloth (even a microfiber) and simply run it across the lens to clean off things like this, as you will without a doubt leave small surface scratches on the lens.

-- BK