Fungus !!!

[robert_parker]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

EeeeeK !!

 

I fear my 50mm collapsable Summicron may be showing signs of fungus -

 

(there's a 'smear' across part of interior the lens, visible when I hold it up to bright light)

 

Two questions:

 

1) Should I try to do anything about it, like getting the lens cleaned

 

2) Should I quarantine the lens, to prevent any risk of spread

 

3) Anybody want to buy a 50mm collapsable summicron.....

[doubice]

Robert,

 

First make sure what the smear really is. Fungus usually looks like tiny spider webs, sometimes like a small blob where you will see the tiny irregular lines under magnification.

 

A smear which can only be seen with back light could probably be a remnant of fogging that somebody tried to clean or, the onset of fogging. These old 'crons are very succeptible to fog, as you probably know. Cleaning has to be done very carefully, since the coating on the older lenses is very soft, particularly on the inside elements.

 

Fungus can be cleaned, but has to be caught early, before it etches itself into the coating and eventually, the glass. It is difficult to diagnose over the net but, unless you see tiny irregular lines, you probably do not have fungus.

 

All the best,

 

Jan

[robert_parker]

Robert,

 

It is difficult to diagnose over the net but, unless you see tiny irregular lines, you probably do not have fungus.

 

All the best,

 

Jan

 

Jan

 

That sounds quite positive - this doesen't look anything like tiny spider's webs or irregular lines, more like a slight cloudiness that's crept in across one corner of the lens, almost as if someone had glued two parts of the element together and left a smear of glue across one corner

 

This lens probably needs to go for a good clean and service anyway

 

Thanks

[Guest Bernd Banken]

Robert,

 

last year my dealer gave me for a very, very low price a 90mm Tele-Elmarit. Viewing from the backlens there is some clogging and the dealer informed me that this is not fungus.

I tried the lens and I can see no influence on the pics. Ok, not every stop I checked.

Service in Solms is asking about 440,00€ for a new rear lens and complete service.

 

From the net I could get the impression that especially the Tele-Elmarit has this issue more than other lenses. Coating?

 

Bernd

[robert_parker]

Robert,

 

last year my dealer gave me for a very, very low price a 90mm Tele-Elmarit. Viewing from the backlens there is some clogging and the dealer informed me that this is not fungus.

I tried the lens and I can see no influence on the pics. Ok, not every stop I checked.

Service in Solms is asking about 440,00€ for a new rear lens and complete service.

 

From the net I could get the impression that especially the Tele-Elmarit has this issue more than other lenses. Coating?

 

Bernd

 

Bernd

 

I'm starting to get the feeling that this is not such a problem and may just be that the lens needs a good clean - from what people are telling me, it looks as if this isn't fungus and is not something that will affect my other equipment.

 

Until recently, this older lens, which I got in poor condition, has been stored completely separately, with some other accessories, so I'm inclined to think that this is just an issue with this one lens that will be resolved by proper servicing

[wizard]

Bob,

 

what you see in your lens, at least from how you describe it, sounds like "normal" fogging, which is - as others have pointed out - quite common with older lenses. Unless you notice an adverse effect on your images, I would not even bother to have it cleaned, as the coating on the lens surfaces to be cleaned will most certainly have disappeared after the cleaning process. They can be recoated, but the expense is significant.

 

Regards,

 

Andy

[robert_parker]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Andy

 

Thanks for your advice - I've now looked at the lens under strong light and under a magnifier and I'm pleased to say that what I've seen are marks that are associated with a previous, probably relatively poor, attempt at cleaning this particular lens.

 

I'm relieved - but also would have been surprised if it had been fungus, as generally my lenses are stored in dry clean conditions, with airflow around them, which I understand are not conditions that would be conducive to fungus. This one had by coincidence been separated from the others (which would have been lucky if it had have been fungus) but the overall conditions would have been the similar.

 

I'll probably send this one for assessment and lubrication, rather than cleaning but as you say, it looks safe to use.

 

I'm pleased to say that I've now downgraded the situation from 'Eeeeek!!' to 'k!'

[DavidStone]

Andy

 

Thanks for your advice - I've now looked at the lens under strong light and under a magnifier and I'm pleased to say that what I've seen are marks that are associated with a previous, probably relatively poor, attempt at cleaning this particular lens.

 

I'm relieved - but also would have been surprised if it had been fungus, as generally my lenses are stored in dry clean conditions, with airflow around them, which I understand are not conditions that would be conducive to fungus. This one had by coincidence been separated from the others (which would have been lucky if it had have been fungus) but the overall conditions would have been the similar.

 

I'll probably send this one for assessment and lubrication, rather than cleaning but as you say, it looks safe to use.

 

I'm pleased to say that I've now downgraded the situation from 'Eeeeek!!' to 'k!'

You seem to have identified this as a surface problem, but the other possibility if you have local fogging is that two lens elements are starting to separate. With lenses of this age this is quite common. I once bought an otherwise very nice 3.5 Summaron for very little money because it looked very nasty. Once cleaned and recemented it was, and still is, as good as new. It was still possible - although I've not tried recently - to get a lens reconditioned, but you need to ensure that it goes to someone with long experience.

 

David

[robert_parker]

David

 

I may well try that - the for the moment it's retired until I can get it sorted out.

[guywalder]

Robert,

my, thankfully limited, experience in this field:

An AF 35-70 f2.8 Nikkor which developed what I thought was fungus. I took it to the 'local' Nikon repair shop and was told that it was a cemented lens pair that was coming unstuck. They replaced the damaged parts and posted the repaired lens back to me, about 100 Euro all in.

A 50 summicron which I got from my Dad in exchange for a newer version. There was some signes of something in the lens, and since I wasnt using my M3 and Dad wanted a 50mm that was clear we swapped. When I went to Solms a couple of years ago I took the M3 and summicron with me. The worshop declined to accept either the lens or the camera (for check-up) as they confirmed that it was fungus, and their policy, apparently, is not to knowingly let anything with fungus into the workshop.

So sadly my M3 is now sitting on the windowsill, forlorn and unused.

 

As far as lens performance goes, some clouding or fungus doesnt seem to degrade resoluton that much, but it will lead to much more flare

Guy

[Posto 6]

Very interesting- if one suspects fungus in a lens, does this by implication mean it should be disposed of so as not to contaminate the other ones?

 

I have lived in a fungus-prone environment for a large proportion of my life, and have never really found that fungus in a lens was that much of a danger to the rest as long as storage was satisfactory.

 

The same fungus spores reside in numerous foods, natural objects and the general environment (including air), and there should be no rel reason why examples from other lenses should be particularly more aggressive in their toxicity.

[greyelm]

I cannot see how a fungus infected lens could affect other lenses without evidence of spore bearing structures on the infected lens, which as far as I know isn't the case. The air we breath is full of fungal spores and these will contaminate surfaces and lay dormant until the right moisture/temperature conditions occur for growth into mycelium (branching threads). Leather cases that appear moldy are a source of spores and should be kept away from equipment and never used for storing cameras & lenses.

 

I will stand correction from the mycologists amongst us but I draw my conclusions from 44 years as a medical microbiologist. During those 44 years of using Leitz/Leica microscopes I never once saw one with fungus on the lenses that had been used in an open laboratory with low ambient humidity.

 

Malcolm

[UliWer]

Well, it is common hearsay, that anybody asking for help with a lens that showed real fungus at the Leica Customer Services was immediately kicked out of the door. I don't know whether those stories are true, though they tell something about the fear of fungus being spread from one glass to others. Not all sorts of fungi (?) will affect glass, but if those which do are present, one should be careful to avoid "infections".

[Doc Henry]

EeeeeK !!

I fear my 50mm collapsable Summicron may be showing signs of fungus -

(there's a 'smear' across part of interior the lens, visible when I hold it up to bright light)

 

Two questions:

1) Should I try to do anything about it, like getting the lens cleaned

2) Should I quarantine the lens, to prevent any risk of spread

3) Anybody want to buy a 50mm collapsable summicron.....

 

Hi Robert,

Can we have a picture ?

It's look like that ?

summilux.net :: Voir le sujet - Diagnostiquer des champignons sans dmontage ?

Best

Henry

[earleygallery]

Robert,

 

From your description I immediately thought it might be lens separation, as others have also suggested.

 

If its only slight, at the edge of the lens, then it's really not going to affect the performance - carry on using the lens. If the problem gets worse then send it in for repair or sell it to someone who wants to repair it.

[wizard]

James, the original post is more than 3 years old .

 

Andy

[earleygallery]

James, the original post is more than 3 years old .

 

Andy

 

Oops didn't spot that Andy!

 

Robert - how's the lens

[robert_parker]

Oops didn't spot that Andy!

 

Robert - how's the lens

 

I'll dig it up from the garden to check.....

 

The lens is still isolated but having looked at it several times I'm confident that it is an instance of separation, not fungus. I hate to admit that I haven't got round to sending it for servicing / cleaning yet but once I've finished a couple of other projects, will give it the attention it deserves.

[Doc Henry]

Robert,

.... 3 years fungus are they gone ?

Regards

Henry

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[robert_parker]

Robert,

.... 3 years fungus are they gone ?

Regards

Henry

 

Once I've got the sand out of it I'll check and let you know....

 

Seriously, I will un-isolate it and post a photo soon