lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

I would not touch a moldy fungus contaminated lens either. Fungi is a living organism and not easy to kill like an animal. Best to burn the lens and then move to Nevada.

Rich1939 Loc: Pike County Penna.

When you're down to your last option, the trash heap, here's a desperation move. Most fungus cannot survive high temperatures. Put the lens in an oven for about 30 mins @ 160 degrees.
I have no idea what that will do to lens adhesives, plastics are also a concern, but like I said last ditch effort. If the glue and plastic can handle this you will at the least have a lens you can use.

olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

Fungus among us...it ain't fun!

Don't blame B&H for rejecting the lens. What are they going to do with it? Once you state that a lens has fungus, the bottom drops right out of the value....and they know how much a cleaning will cost (if it is a lens that is still serviced) if it isn't, then you need someone who knows how, and has the equipment to make it right....they also know there is no guaranty it won't return under normal circumstances. If Nikon still services that lens, and "if clean" there is still great value in it, have them clean it, otherwise it isn't worth much. I know if I bought it cheap, I'd treat it and if great residual value, I'd have it cleaned if I couldn't do it myself.

If you don't have a UV-C light, then sit the lens out in the sun, caps off, aperture wide open, let it bake for a couple hours, let the sun shine through it (just be careful about what it is sitting on or sitting over - magnifying glass effect!!)....that will stop most mold/fungus short term, beyond that, you need the skills, or have it cleaned professionally.

The more complex/complicated the lens, the tougher the job/more costly too, and many modern electronic lenses require special tools and equipment beyond the reach of the majority of us. If you tear down (for instance) a Nikon AF-S lens, once you disturb the focus stack, you will need Nikon's computer aided laser alignment jig to bring the focus system back, same for other systems. If the lens has circuit boards and motors in it, that all must cleaned too, every nook and cranny - mold/fungus know no bounderies, it gets into everything.

My new Fungus Fighter is a UV-C light fixture I keep in my photo gear room, and in my photo armoire and storage cabinets. All the gear gets a timed bath in that magical fungus killing light on a monthly basis, and are stored in a humidity controlled environment. It's about the best I can do.

I do have several nice modern zooms that have dead fungus (after treatment) bought from dishonest (or maybe "unknowing") Ebay sellers, who when challenged, didn't even want the lens back while refunding my moolah. The first thing I do with a used purchase, is shine my UV-C flashlight through it, carefully looking for any signs of fungus...if the seller doesn't want it back during refunding of the purchase, I treat them to an intense UV-C bath....if it is not an overly complex lens, or is mainly a manual lens, I also tear it down and clean internally. Or partial disassembly and light treatment. I still use my lenses that I treated, but I inspect them each month, and prior to using, so I don't spread any fungus if it does come back. So far, my method has served me well. Fungus - It ain't fun, and it ain't easy.

If you decide to cut it loose "as is", PM me, I might be interested in purchasing it.

Good luck in your efforts!!

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

If it were mine, and if it doesn't seem to affect your images, I'd keep and use it. But I would not have a clear conscious to sell it without revealing that it has fungus. So if you do sell it on eBay or private party, please let everyone know that it has fungus. If the fungus doesn't affect the quality of the images, I might try to talk up that point and sell it but making clear that the lens is affected by fungus and that there's no returns or refunds.

Or try selling it to another store that has experts. Maybe they will miss it and make you an offer. Then it's their problem to stand behind the lens to the next sucker that buys it from them.

I once owned a pickup truck that I bought new from Dodge in 1985. It was one of those brands that were bragging on TV about it's 3 year 36,000 warranty and it's what helped me decide to buy it. About 2 years into owning it I was told by a dealer that the frame had cracked and that they will buy the new part, about $100 part, but I'd have to pay the labor to weld it in, about $1000. I was very unhappy that they weren't going to honor the warranty in a way that I thought their ads said but they pointed out the fine print that it only covered drive train parts during that time and the rest was just the parts and no labor. I asked them if they'd buy it from me and of course they would minus the $1000 to repair. So I took it to a different Dodge dealer and got the same price without taking that $1000 hit because they didn't see the broken frame parts. I don't feel bad because they can fix it and take the hit. I will never buy another Dodge.

olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

You "dodged" that bullet!!

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

I agree. I have been buying from B&H since 2009. I have purchased a refurbished USA Nikon lens from them. I got a 90 day warranty on it. I saved some money, because a new one was considerably higher in price. I'm about to purchase another DX refurbished Nikon lens in the next few days. That has a holiday sale, with a $40 discount from the regular price. I would not have appreciated B&H sending me a used or refurbished lens, with fungus in it. Kudos to B&H for discovering it.

dmdpeterdmd

Contact Midwest Camera Repair - Wyandotte, Michigan - 734.285.2220
they have done an exceptional job on my 500mm Nikon lens that had fungus, after I returned from the Amazon - not very cheap, but very professional - they'll answer your questions

nadelewitz Loc: Ithaca NY

ANY of the used equipment dealers will reject a lens with internal fungus/mold and excessive internal dust and dirt. I sent a lens to MPB and they declined to buy it.

"Refurbishing" such a lens may or may not be possible, even if the cost of doing it is less than what you could sell it for. The mold/fungus doesn't just grow on the surface of lens element groups, but it grows in the adhesive between the elements.

Harry0 Loc: Gardena, Cal

The problem with fungus is that it etches. Unless there's a DIY coating to fill the scratches, it's toast.
I have an old 70-210 that I did the oven, sunshine and freezer tricks to.
It appears that the fungus is gone. But I still have a soft focus lens.
It could be good for portraits- there's a circle of kinda clear right above center.

Canisdirus

Except that his is still sharp and unaffected.
The sun should do the trick.

Baking it is the way NOT to do it ... unless you enjoy balsam separation.

clint f. Loc: Priest Lake Idaho, Spokane Wa

Note to self, never ever buy anything from someone who screws a buyer and brags about it. Seems like the magnet on his moral compass has failed.

AndyGarcia

Hi there,

If you check out the Facebook Group - Photography with Classic Lenses & the FB Group Vintage Lenses I'm pretty sure if you join, and ask, someone will be able to point you in the right direction the members are very helpful and there are numerous online guides of how to do it yourself.

I had a Konica Hexanon f1.8 40mm lens which got damaged in transit. I got it cleaned and repaired perfectly for $41.00 including return postage. I can highly recommend Greg Weber who did the work. I do not know if he works on Nikon lenses but he is worth checking out. I shoot with a number of Konica primes on my Fuji XH1.

Greg Weber
Weber Camera
1704 North Bell Street # 301
Fremont,NE 68025
402-721-3873 office & main number
e-mail: gweber@webercamera.com
WEB SITE: www.webercamera.com

If I can help you anymore please PM me. I live in Costa Rica and have invested in a humidity-controlled cabinet. Fingers crossed it will do the job! Pura Vida.

huntmj

I had fungus in a lens that i tried to trade with MPB.I couldn't see it and discovered you can clean it yourself but i didn't have the confidence to do that.
One reason they wouldn't take it is that it spreads to other lenses. However they recommended a service company (this is in the UK). They charged me about $120 and provided a warranty on the lens. MPB then bought the lens from me at a higher price than the original offer due to value of the warranty.
So perhaps B&H or MPB would do the same in the USA?

lsupremo Loc: Palm Desert, CA

Many years ago (40) after living on an island in Fiji for 8 years I had fungus in all my lenses, and an expert on the topic told me to use spit. I took my 50 mm 1.2 apart and used spit, it worked great , but I never was able to figure out how to put it back together correctly.

What you does is what you gets.

Harry0 Loc: Gardena, Cal

Well, I wasn't talking about 350 degrees for an hour, I did/do 150 overnight.
I had thought that 70-210 was still sharp- until I got a sharper one.