Lens Fungus

[Al1944]

Thankfully I haven't got a lens suffering from this, but I see many for sale oneBay at sometimes silly prices. Can someone tell me if there are any specialists who can strip a lens and remove the fungus and, importantly, how much would it cost?

Thanks,
Al

 

[AJQS]

Unless it's major, or the lens is dirt cheap and has other issues that would make it worth taking apart, I wouldn't bother. Fungus doesn't really do any harm to your images. Plus if it i quite bad, then the chances are it can;t be removed without damaging the coating anyway, so you're paying for nothing in the end.

*I have fungus in a lot of lenses, I usually seek out cheap lenses because of fungus, and I;ve had several opportunities to compare fungussed and mint versions of the same lens, in all cases I've kept the fungus ridden lens and sold the mint one.

 

[Al1944]

That's very interesting - and reassuring. Many thanks.

Al

 

[ped]

I have a nice Staeble-Quinon lens which I got cheap because of fungus. Inside there's a TINY bit and I haven't ever seen it in any images on film or digital, high and low light/contrast. There was a test I read somewhere online where a chap showed two images from the same lens, one which was full of fungus and one which wasn't. The only difference was that in some situations the fungus increased the risk of lens flare in direct sunlight but that was it, and with a hood, that's less likely anyway.

 

[excalibur2]

Unless it's major, or the lens is dirt cheap and has other issues that would make it worth taking apart, I wouldn't bother. Fungus doesn't really do any harm to your images. Plus if it i quite bad, then the chances are it can;t be removed without damaging the coating anyway, so you're paying for nothing in the end.

*I have fungus in a lot of lenses, I usually seek out cheap lenses because of fungus, and I;ve had several opportunities to compare fungussed and mint versions of the same lens, in all cases I've kept the fungus ridden lens and sold the mint one.

+1

 

[Al1944]

I assume it would be a good idea to store such lenses separate from those which haven't any fungus?

Al

 

[AJQS]

I assume it would be a good idea to store such lenses separate from those which haven't any fungus?

Al

No need, it's not infectious, the spores are already all around and chances are they're already in mint lenses.Just keep all your lenses away from, warm, damp and dark conditions for any length of time and all will be well.

 

[Al1944]

Thanks once again Alan.

Al

 

[TheGreatSoprendo]

I have two fungally-challenged lenses which I use regularly: 50mm and 85mm Nikkors. The 85mm also suffers from surface scratches on the front element, but you'd never know from the results (I dare say you might under test or other challenging conditions, but not in the real world). The 50mm was my dad's and has had some fungus inside it for at least 25 years, and still has the same amount it had then. It spent a while in damp conditions but was moved when the fungus was noticed and the growth stopped there and then.

A third lens, a 20mm Nikkor, I bought on ebay for £20 knowing that it was a mess. Sure enough, it was riddled with fungus, to the point where I expect it would have had a more serious effect on results. Since this is a relatively valuable lens, I thought it worth investigating professionally and sent it away to somewhere that was recommended to me (can't remember where). Anyway, they managed to clean it without damaging the coatings and it's now pristine (and serviced). It cost me £100 all in, but it's a gem now and would easily sell for more than that, so it felt like the right thing to do.

So if you're talking about a fairly small amount of fungus, it's not worth worrying too much about. As said above, don't store lenses anywhere dark and humid and they shouldn't develop fungus (or see any deterioration).