purchased a used lens and found a "ghost" -- can it be fixed?

[Celeste Painter]

I picked up a used lens for a great price, but found a ghost in it. See black ghosty-area, top right.

https://plus.google.com/photos/100112252061720297406/albums/5926598942874911985?authkey=CLmYg87u-7_6WQ

(Sorry, I can't figure out how to hotlink images from my Google web albums anymore.)

I already returned the lens for a full refund*, but now I'm curious if it's something that could have been fixed (cleaned) ?




*a day after I returned it, I managed to find/win the same lens on Ebay listed as "new" even though the lens is no longer made (guess I'll find out if it really is new soon enough)

[Ed Cordes]

Strange that no one responded to this post. Are you sure the "ghost" is from the lens. It could have been smudge/dust on the sensor.

[John Chardine]

I would agree with Ed. Marks on or in the lens would not be in focus and would generally only act to decrease overall image contrast or maybe brightness. Note how the "ghosts" are well defined which suggests a mark on sensor. Sensor spots show up more at small apertures and are unnoticeable when the lens is used wide-open or stopped down some.

[Diane Miller]

When doing a sensor check by shooting a white card or a clear sky at f/22 (best done at moderate telephoto but you could use any lens if you want to work around a more uneven exposure) I sometimes see a larger and lighter shape that has a vague hexagonal or greater shape. It took me a while to figure it out but that is a dust spot on the back element of the lens, or even on the front with a wide angle lens.