Mouldy lens.

[Burgers]

I recently bought a Nikon ais 50 mm f2 lens from flea bay for not much money. All well and good except the seller neglected to tell me about all the mould inside the lens. So, can anyone tell me how much it might cost to get it cleaned? Or, how hard would it be to take it apart myself?

 

[puddleduck]

it won't be economical to get it cleaned, you could try to do it yourself.

personally unless you like fiddling around, I'd just write it off though...

 

[Burgers]

Thought that may be the case. I think i'll have a go at getting it apart if its heading for the bin anyway. Thanks.

 

[danwhiting]

You could always contact the seller as they neglected to tell you this in the description and get your money back. You're probably covered under ebay buyer protection.

 

[sophos9]

Sorry for the hijack... Whats is the mold, what causes it and what can you do to protect from it?

 

[pureculchie]

What about the ebay or paypal buyer protection? Never had to use it but if the good are not as described then surely you have a case?

 

[Nod]

The mould (usually called Fungus when it appears in lenses) looks worse than it (usually) is. Try taking some pics with the lens and see what effect the fungus is having on sharpness, flare, contrast etc - it may not be as bad as you think. Having the lens stripped, the cemented optics parted, all cleaned up, recemented etc will almost certainly be well beyond economic sense - you may as well write the fungal lens off (if its performance is really bad) and get hold of a fresh copy - maybe from a dealer complete with a warranty.