Thanks everyone for your advice. I think the best way forward is to save up a little more and purchase a new macro lens.
kymarto
Loc: Portland OR and Milan Italy
A lot of misinformation here. Fungus spores are always in the air and fungus can grow on any lens anywhere if stored at over 50% relative humidity in warm temperatures and in the dark. Lenses with fungus cannot infect other lenses if those conditions are not met, and any lens can develop fungus if they are. Obviously the hotter, wetter and darker the better the chances of getting fungal growth, and the fungus is rather slow to spread usually. It's not hard to meet conditions to prevent fungal growth. No matter what the temperature keep them under 50% humidity and store without lens caps. Under 70 degrees it should not matter how dark or how wet.
I live on the Gulf of Mexico, Tampa Bay Area of west-central Florida. It gets HOT (90's) and HUMID (100%) here. I've never had mold, fungus, balsam separation in any lens.
I run my AC in summer, heater in winter (sometimes), and generally also run a small portable dehumidifier. I try to keep the relative humidity inside at 50% or lower. When it is humid out, my windows are closed.
I recently bought a Rugged dehumidifying chest from B&H. My lenses are stored in there at 35% humidity, 75 degrees, when not in use. It is totally quiet, Maintence free, stylish, and a nice way to keep everything together in a safe place.
I have also seen UV lamps designed to kill mold and mildew. I have one installed in my AC unit, to keep the air clean. I'm guess the suggestion of exposing your glass to sunlight, is about allowing the UV rays to kill the spores.
Lennyj wrote:
Hi all just wondering is there any way to keep lenses fungus free? I have been looking for a micro lens for my nikon d3500. A lot of the used lenses state lens fungus. Can it be cleaned or just keep looking? Thanks
Lenny
It's very $$$ to de-fungus a lens...in some cases impossible or not worth it. Don't buy a lens with fungus. Prevention: Fungus thrives on moisture so keep a bunch of silica gel packs in the lens/camera bag and don't store in damp environments (e.g., cellars or basements)...change the silica packs every year.
Lennyj wrote:
Hi all just wondering is there any way to keep lenses fungus free? I have been looking for a micro lens for my nikon d3500. A lot of the used lenses state lens fungus. Can it be cleaned or just keep looking? Thanks
Lenny
For lenses, fungus is a terminal illness. If you have a clean room and like the idea of tinkering and taking apart the lens, disinfecting it and rebuilding it before throwing it away, I would pass.
Don't buy them . Buy only clean lens as they only get worse once they are infested with mold or whatever that stuff happens to be...actually.
And don't put them into air-tight bags.....that 's bad as well over time. Store them in a warm ,dry and air-conditioned space or closet out of direct sunlight. And never store camera equipment when it's wet from rain or some splashed incident. Make sure it's dried completely before storing your equipment for a length of time. And take out the batteries and wipe the contacts with a soft dry & absorbent cloth to remove residues that batteries give off ..over their lifetime.
Take care of your babies.
Robertl594
Loc: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and Nantucket
jcspics wrote:
pick a warm summer afternoon take off the caps, open the aperture up, then allow sunshine to pass through the lens for 5-10 min which kills any live spores.
IG: @jcstudiopics
Does this affect lens coating?
rook2c4 wrote:
No, that is not how it works! Any trained microbiologist will tell you this. The lens is not introducing anything which isn't already there. Fungus is not the same as a virus or bacteria. Fungus spores are already all around us, in the air and on surfaces - waiting for the right conditions. If a lens with fungus growth is present or not is irrelevant. Right conditions, then fungus grows. Of course some people are quick to blame it on the lens, as they cannot see the spores that are everywhere. But the environmental conditions are the real culprit.
No, that is not how it works! Any trained microbio... (
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Great reply... could add that different fungi grow on different materials. Some grow on adhesives, some on plastics, and some even on metals.
Dik
billnikon
Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont
Lennyj wrote:
Hi all just wondering is there any way to keep lenses fungus free? I have been looking for a micro lens for my nikon d3500. A lot of the used lenses state lens fungus. Can it be cleaned or just keep looking? Thanks
Lenny
Fungus is usually a death sentence for any lens. I keep all of my equipment in a low humidity cabinet.
dsmeltz wrote:
For lenses, fungus is a terminal illness. If you have a clean room and like the idea of tinkering and taking apart the lens, disinfecting it and rebuilding it before throwing it away, I would pass.
Considering that a fungus infection will often result in the glass surface being etched by that infection even a clean room and a desire to address the issue isn't going to help.
A point of fact, Zeiss will not even accept an infected lens in for repair
Rich1939 wrote:
Considering that a fungus infection will often result in the glass surface being etched by that infection even a clean room and a desire to address the issue isn't going to help.
A point of fact, Zeiss will not even accept an infected lens in for repair
Well my process still ended in throwing the thing away.
olemikey
Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida
The sunshine method works, however if the glass is etched, or it is in-between elements, it will never look right. Be careful with the sunshine method, I started leaves burning with a big zoom doing what you describe, luckily no camera attached and I was paying attention!!! It would work great on a tripod over an ant hill!! A UV flashlight works too, and is very useful for looking through lenses you are considering purchasing, or spot checking.
jcspics wrote:
One thing that I've found in my research about this is fungus grows in dark, humid, warm environments. A "real-world" and technically free preventive maintenance ritual for those that have to live in low lands/swampy places is to pick a warm summer afternoon take off the caps, open the aperture up, then allow sunshine to pass through the lens for 5-10 min which kills any live spores. (NOT ATTACHED TO CAMERA)
That seemed to pass my "sniff" test as a way to stop existing fungus from spreading using a natural method and keep it from getting a toe-hold where it isn't an issue yet. My only proof so far is that my bathroom grout has mold/fungus issues and other than an OLD 80-200mm f/2.8 that was 'out of sight-out of mind' too long (4 years in the back of a closet) my other lenses haven't show signs of mold.
Yes/No thoughts on that... I don't do this unless high temps are only in the 80s so no 104 F summer afternoon.
Thanks,
Jim Cameron
JCStudio Photography
IG: @jcstudiopics
One thing that I've found in my research about thi... (
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That reminds me of my first adjustable camera I bought in Viet Nam over 50 years ago. It was a "rangefinder" of a forgotten brand. My buddy over charged me for his used camera, $50, and it had obvious fungus in the the lens but I didn't know any better. It was a rather wet climate as I recall. It still gave me pretty good pictures and I was hooked on photography from that point on. And, I still have the pictures! Frank
olemikey wrote:
A UV flashlight works too, and is very useful for looking through lenses you are considering purchasing, or spot checking.
Does the UV flashlight kill the fungi? UV is often used for water treatment. Or, does the fungi fluoresce under UV radiation to 'make it visible'?
Curious mimes want to know.
Dik
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