Any item that spends a lot of time in a heavy smoking environment gets coated in stinky gunk. Not only might the lens smell terrible, it will also probably have extra unwanted "multicoatings" on exposed optical surfaces.
I once bought a 1DII and it smelled like cigarettes. I almost sent it back to the seller. Left it out in the garage for a month before I could stand the smell. But,...my nose is sensitive.
Edit - after that experience I will never accept "smoking" gear again.
Over time it could possibly get into and ruin some of the electronics. When all electronic flight instruments came out it was found that smoke did degrade the performance and smoking in the cockpit was strongly frowned upon.
I bought a camera that smelled smoke. I hated it and there was nothing I could do to get rid off the smell. I sold it for a loss. Never again. Thanks OP, it's a reminder to ask before buying a used equipment.
brucemuir wrote:
Best thing to do is if you are bothered by it is to definitely ask the seller.
Don't reneg on a sale later.
Sellers have a responsibility to accurately disclose the condition of gear, and its deviation from new (not-smoke-stinky) equipment. Just as a seller shouldn't get away with "well, you should have asked whether the lens was packed full of gobs of fungus," or "you should have asked whether the lens was missing three internal elements," a seller of unusually scented equipment ought to disclose that in the sale description.
The previous owners of our home were smokers. Before moving in, I installed new flooring, new drywall and painted. The living room ceiling has wood beams running across. I sanded the beams and then primered and painted them. After the first coat of Kilz primer, a brownish substance (see photo) started to permeate through. It was the nicotine coming through. I ended up putting five coats of Kilz primer before applying the paint. I should have cleaned the beams with a TSP solution or something before painting but I had no idea how nasty the smoke/nicotine can be.
Anyway, smoke leaves nasty traces behind. Even if you can't see it, the stuff is there.
Agreed. One of my first purchases from FM, many years ago, came from a smoker who didn't disclose it. Nasty smell, and there was a horrible yellow coating on the box and lens. Sold it at a big loss and have made sure since then to always check w/ the seller first to make sure it hasn't been exposed to cigarette/cigar smoke. I also put "From a nonsmoking household" on anything I post so that people will know the gear I am selling is fine.
Sadly smokers don't realize how nasty cigarette smoke makes them, and everything around them, smell. Not to mention how bad nicotine is for camera gear (as well as their lungs).
Disclaimer: my father died a very painful death, as did 2 of my family friends, from lung cancer so I'm a little bit biased. And I had surgery 3 times on my vocal chords to remove benign tumors caused by breathing second hand smoke as a child.
I had a bad experience purchasing something from a smoker who "didn't think" to reveal it. Nasty! Took plenty of fresh air and sunshine to get the smell out....even then I still set the object out in the open every so often!
mpmendenhall wrote:
Sellers have a responsibility to accurately disclose the condition of gear, and its deviation from new (not-smoke-stinky) equipment. Just as a seller shouldn't get away with "well, you should have asked whether the lens was packed full of gobs of fungus," or "you should have asked whether the lens was missing three internal elements," a seller of unusually scented equipment ought to disclose that in the sale description.
Completely agree. I could ask a litany of questions... was the lens ever submerged in water? Did you ever have a house fire? Did you ever drop it off a roof? Did it roll around in the trunk of your car, slamming into the sides around every corner? Has it been exposed to hydrochloric acid? Chewed on by dingos? Did you ever take it apart because you were curious what was inside? Has it been used for committing a major felony?
Where does it stop? Anything that changes the item from as-new condition should be noted.
For any smokers that might be reading this and don't already know: if you smoke around your gear, please note that in the listing because it does adversely affect the condition.
binary visions wrote:
Completely agree. I could ask a litany of questions... was the lens ever submerged in water? Did you ever have a house fire? Did you ever drop it off a roof? Did it roll around in the trunk of your car, slamming into the sides around every corner? Has it been exposed to hydrochloric acid? Chewed on by dingos? Did you ever take it apart because you were curious what was inside? Has it been used for committing a major felony?
shmn wrote:
The previous owners of our home were smokers. Before moving in, I installed new flooring, new drywall and painted. The living room ceiling has wood beams running across. I sanded the beams and then primered and painted them. After the first coat of Kilz primer, a brownish substance (see photo) started to permeate through. It was the nicotine coming through. I ended up putting five coats of Kilz primer before applying the paint. I should have cleaned the beams with a TSP solution or something before painting but I had no idea how nasty the smoke/nicotine can be.
Anyway, smoke leaves nasty traces behind. Even if you can't see it, the stuff is there.
http://shimonmor.com/TEMP/beam.jpg...Show more →
Wow! My wife and I were home shopping last year and we saw a house that we liked and the owner had someone renting the basement. He was a heavy smoker because you can smell it and the walls where yellow. He had professional cleaning the house that day. No matter how much chemicals and aersols or cleaning materials used, the cigarettes was stronger. When we left the house, we smelled like cigarettes. But the main house didn't have the smell. The basement would have had to been a complete gut.
We didn't buy the house but our new house that we just moved into is like 3 blocks away..bigger and smoke-free. Haha.
I bought a 10D some years back because the attached lens was worth more than the asking price for the camera/lens combo...but I ended up barely getting my money back because of the smell. The gear was so noxious that it gave me a headache.
...that would be acceptable!
