Cannot identify problem within lens

[guardian]

Seller is promising no surface damage to either front or rear element of this lens. He is describing the radial line you see as a "scratch" or "crack" on one of the elements INSIDE the lens. I've never seen damage like this INSIDE a lens. Does anyone have any thoughts as to what that radial line might be, if we take the seller at his word that the damage is inside and not on the front or rear surfaces? I'm trying to decide whether this lens is repairable or not. It that's a scratch or crack, the lens is not repairable.

[Pancolart]

Bottom bluish dark part of the glass could be separation. Separation repair only makes sense with very expensive lenses.

[mo]

I have seen single strands of fungus look like that....but with out the lens in hand, hard to say what it is.

[Lightshow]

I suppose it could be a scratch or cleaning mark, it could be a coating issue, hard to say with it not in front of me, different angles help to sort it out.
The bottom isn't seperation but the inside of the lens.

[Gerald]

A crack has depth; a scratch is superficial.

[guardian]

The photo in the OP shows the lens from the rear. Here is a photo of the same flaw, as viewed from the front:



Remember, the promise is that the problem is within the lens, not on either the front or rear surfaces.

[calvin83]

Damage inside the lens is not very uncommon. For example, my Vivitar CF 2/28 have a small nick in one of the element inside although it has never been opened.

[guardian]

Thanks, calvin83, and everyone for your opinions. I certainly agree if the lens has been opened all bets are off and anything is possible.

But I've not seen interior scratching on any lens which never was opened. That's not to say such a thing is impossible, but I have trouble conjuring how it would occur.

I have seen, I guess we all have seen, lubricant smeared onto interior elements of a lens. And I can envision how that happens, especially over a long period of time. I suppose an interior element could be cracked if the lens is dropped. But how an interior surface could be scratched, without opening the lens, is beyond me.

[luisalegria]

Most likely has been opened and inadvertently scratched.
Should make no difference in performance though of course will reduce collectors value.

[Lightshow]

What lens is this from? if it's a common lens, I'd look elsewhere.

[sceptic]

That's a Konica lens, looks like a 50/1.7 or perhaps a 100/2.8? Of all the Konica lenses I've taken apart (roughly 8 to 10 different ones) the only ones with cemented elements were 135 mm lenses. Could it be a fibre of some sort?

[Gamera]

[guardian]