Does fungus look like this?

[plasticman]

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I was looking today at a couple of lenses that I'm considering buying, and under very, very close examination, I noticed a couple of tiny little clumps or marks on the internal surfaces that had me worried.

 

I've done some exhaustive searching both here and on google to find descriptions and images of what lens fungus looks like, but none of the images resemble what I saw. Essentially, most of the online fungus images look like a wiry spiders mesh - a fine filigree of etched lines.

 

What I could see was a minuscule blob, but not rounded like a dust or oil spot.

I tried to illustrate roughly what I saw - the image is supposed to represent an area just about a centimeter across, or so - with dust and fibers. Towards the top left is where I'm trying to represent the putative fungus blob - about the width of a fiber or hair inside the lens.

 

I'd love once and for all to get some sort of hook on what fungus should look like - especially in its early stages. Seems like the wiry mesh variant is the only one I've ever been able to locate online, but at the same time, people tend to say that the way fungus looks can vary.

 

Anyone with any authoritative opinion on this?

 

(PS: looking at my image again, I'm inclined to say that I've made the blob look slightly more 'spidery' than it actually was. The blob should be slightly more rounded and less like separate 'legs'. Sorry for the confusion).

[scsambrook]

I'm not an authority on fungus . . . nevertheless - if the mark you're concerned about is the uppermost one on the left that you've shown as a sort of "irregular asterisk" then yes, that is indeed some sort of fungal growth. I saw plenty like that in secondhand lenses when I worked in the photo retail business, and by no means all the lenses had been in climates known for promoting fungus.

 

Unlike the "hairy" or "wiry" variety the "asterisk" type seldom seemed to grow quickly or even to reach a size where it could be clearly seen without a magnifying glass. But I think I'd pass on such a lens unless it was very, very cheap.

[doubice]

Does not look like fungus to me. Fungus forms very fine irregular lines, almost like a spider web. Your lens looks more like between-elements cement separation to me.

 

Do the spots look somewhat silver when observed at a certain angle? That would be a sign of separation.

 

Best,

 

Jan

[Studio58]

I have seen many lenses with fungus (I used to trade in second hand lenses back in my photo retail days). I have never seen anything like that before.

[plasticman]

Thanks everyone for the responses.

 

The 'spots' looked more like tiny, tiny dark clumps than my 'spidery' drawing suggested - and as said, they were the same scale as scratches and dust and fibers.

 

Must say I'm not entirely sure what to do - but most of all I find it really strange that there doesn't appear to exist any sort of documented reference as to what lens fungus actually looks like, in all of its manifestations, and apparently no absolute agreement as to whether internal moulds can spread to other lenses, and other such questions that seem to recur at regular intervals.

 

In this case the lenses come with another camera system, so they'd never be used with my Leica bodies - but the worry that mould might nevertheless spread has me worried enough to pass.

 

I'm thinking that an expertly compiled catalog of lens fungus types would be an invaluable resource when so many lenses are bought and sold - often internationally - with descriptions such as 'free from haze and fungus'.

[scsambrook]

Does not look like fungus to me. Fungus forms very fine irregular lines, almost like a spider web. Your lens looks more like between-elements cement separation to me.

 

Do the spots look somewhat silver when observed at a certain angle? That would be a sign of separation.

 

Best,

 

Jan

 

Jan - not wanting to take issue with you, but . . . Many fungal growths do indeed form fine irregular lines, but what I call the "asterisk" form certainly does exist. I wonder, though, if you may have touched on something in your comment about balsam separation - perhaps the "asterisk" type is one which thrives in canada balsam? I think from memory that examples did indeed have a reflecting appearance, though quite different to the normal signs of separation.