Video thumbnail for youtube video How Durable is Glass on Modern Lenses? A Cheap Canon 50MM Gets a Torture Test - No Film SchoolOnce you start spending some good money on lenses, you tend to be a bit more careful with how you treat them, but accidents happen. It's much more likely, however, that you'll be a little less careful with cheap lenses. But how strong are some of these lenses? In the video below, Richard Choi takes his broken Canon 50mm f/1.8, and attempts to break the front element, but the results just might surprise you:


Here's what Richard said on YouTube about the lens:

NOTE: EVERYONE, THE LENS WAS ALREADY BROKEN! THE ONLY REASON I BOTHERED WAS CURIOSITY. IT WAS WAY BROKEN BEFORE I SHOT THIS VIDEO.

Bored, so I decided to see how fragile Canon glass was. The lens is a canon 50mm 1.8 II, and the front element is actually quite alright, I only managed to scratch some of the coating off in the last part. Also note that larger, heavier lenses with larger front elements are probably easier to crack/break than the 50mm 1.8, which was already broken anyway.

Certainly there will be lenses that won't be able to take quite a beating, but it's impressive that such a cheap lens is very durable. The casing of the lens is probably the weakest point, and that's something you're paying for with higher quality lenses. Either way, it's nice to know that your glass might survive a direct hit when you're not using any filters on the lenses.

How have you guys beat up lenses before? Any impressive durability stories?

Link: Richard Choi -- YouTube

[via Canon Watch & PetaPixel]