Heads up about that camera shop near Union Square in SF

I stopped by that camera repair place on Market Street last Tuesday and noticed they're storing lenses in a window display with direct sunlight hitting them all afternoon. The heat was pretty bad and I saw some haze forming on a vintage 50mm they had out. Has anyone else seen damage from shops doing this or am I overthinking it?

2 comments

2 Comments

blake69122d agoMost Upvoted

Ngl that's a huge red flag, I saw the same thing at a shop in LA where the UV rays completely yellowed a few lenses just from sitting in their front window for a week. Honestly direct sunlight is like kryptonite for vintage glass, they should know better.

wesley_martin21d ago

Man that's rough to hear, @blake691. Honestly I had a similar scare with a 50mm f/1.4 I picked up at an estate sale, it had that same yellow tint from sun damage. What finally worked for me was hitting it with a high-CRI LED lamp from about a foot away for a few hours a day over a week, it cleared up way better than I expected. Definitely not a guarantee but worth a shot if the glass is otherwise clean, beats tossing a good lens.