does window polish "fill in" small scratches on a lens?
 

So instead of sending my lens of to sigma to be repaired i asked one of the proffesional photographers in my area what he would do. he mentioned that if i wanted it to be fixed properly it would cost me £100+ and he also said that i could use glass polishes to polish out the scratches but this might cause more damage.

so the question now is, does the glass polish work or are there any less expensive methods that i could use. I'm a teenager with a low amount of money so sending it off to sigma is not really something i can afford.

Thank you

I've come across several methods that[B][I][U] might[/U][/I][/B] work, but this isn't one of them. There is no way that I'm aware of to completely repair a scratch other than replacing the lens or the scratched element.

I know from your earlier post that it only shows up at f/10 or less, but can you describe (or provide an example) of what the problem looks like? Plus a description of how large the scratch is. There are possible solutions that are relatively safe, but the stress has to be on "relatively" and even a safe method inexpertly done could create more problems.

I'd like to be certain that action is needed before sticking your neck out (as it were).

This is an image where the scratch shows up. There are two dark blobs halfway between the centre and the left at the top. Not too visible but enough to annoy anyone who notices it. (I've edited them out a lot so it's harder to see them)

[IMG]http://th06.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2012/292/b/1/b1f41ce6c152987adbb216d14d3532d0-d5ib1dm.jpg[/IMG]

It's hard to take a picture of it as it's my only camera that i own :L

is the scratch on the front element ?
if it is it would have to be very severe to show up on a photo i don't think any product would get rid of it if thats the case

don't forget most if not all lenses have coated elements and using abrasive glass polish will more than likely remove it

another thought if there only showing at f10 + it might be dust on your sensor rather than the scratch

I'm afraid that an edited image doesn't really tell us anything. If it's all that you have, I would suggest that you make sure that you always keep the original version as well as an edited one. More experience means that you should be able to do a better job; and later versions of the tools may be able to do a better job as well.

As to showing up in a photo, the most likely way it would appear would be in flare, which is why I particularly wanted to see an original image. If it is flare, there are work arounds that will improve matters. If the problem is two separate dark blobs, then a dirty sensor would seem to be the most likely cause, but in the absence of evidence it's all guesswork.

There looks to be dust spots on the picture for definate.