Don't write off old, fungus-ridden lenses

[nryn]

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Some of you may recall from previous posts that I inherited a set of lenses and an old Leica body from a great uncle of mine.

 

He lived in India and I only met him a few times. I've been told that he was a prolific shooter but I've never seen his photographs. Apparently his children let his estate deteriorate, and luckily my great uncle had the good sense to give his camera to my father, who never used it but had it cleaned professionally and kept it as a memento of my great uncle, who he loved very much.

 

Here's what I received:

 

 

The camera body is an M3 dating back to 1959. The lenses, from left to right, are as follows:

• Leica 35mm f/3.5 Summaron (1955)
  
• (mounted) Leica 50mm f/3.5 Elmar (III) (1956)
  
• Leica 50mm f/1.4 Summilux (I) (1959)
  
• Leica 135 f/4.5 Hektor (1954)
  

 

My father was extremely happy to see that these lenses mount on my M8, and he got a real kick out of seeing the first digital images taken by these lenses.

 

The 50mm Summilux is, unfortunately, in the worst shape of all the lenses. It has some fungus which was killed during cleaning, and the lens elements have some spotting, though the front element is relatively clean with only very light cleaning marks. I'm sending it off to DAG later this month to see if anything more can be done with the lens.

 

 

 

 

Apparently there's a 4-image limit on posts, so I'll continue this in another post.

[nryn]

The real point of this story, though, is to say that even in this condition, a Leica lens from 1954 is perfectly usable on the M8, and though I'm sure many here shudder at owning any Leica glass which isn't perfect, I know many here know the value of and aesthetic possibilities in a user lens.

 

Anyway, I took the Summilux out into the yard with my son last week and snapped some photos, and I'm amazed at the results. The focused area is remarkably sharp, and the out-of-focus areas have a quality about them which I can't quite articulate. They're not creamy, per se...there's chaos in their rendering which defies description.

 

I'm posting larger versions; hope that doesn't bother anyone too much.

 

 

 

Very, very little post processing here. Obviously the first one is monochromed, both are slightly cropped and have some contrast work. The first one also has some spot removal.

 

These aesthetic qualities are lacking in almost all newer Leica lenses, which isn't a bad thing necessarily, but after seeing the results from this 1959 user lens, I know I'll be looking for older Leica glass. I realize that this is something many on this forum already know, but for those of you who insist only on ASPH, APO, and Type-latest lenses, I think you're missing out on a lot.

[nryn]

Lastly, anyone have digital shots they'd like to share from really old lenses? I'm particularly interested in images which have qualities which you believe are unique to older glass.

[photolandscape]

Thanks, really interesting post. The new photos you've made with the M8 and your great uncle's lenses are terrific.

 

Having spent a few weeks in India, I would say it must be one of the more challenging environments for photographic equipment. The country is extremely diverse, but anywhere short of the Himalayas, I would imagine that fungus would be a major issue (think of the heat and humidity in Mumbai or Kolkata at this time of year--monsoon season), and the ever-present dust in the air during dry periods. I hope DAG can rehab the 50mm lens, though it produces a very interesting look.

[norm_snyder]

I really enjoyed the portraits of your son. I think that the lenses of this period have a "look" of their own. I don't know where you are located, but one place where I have had lens service and recoating [if necessary] done [a 90 mm Tele-elmarit with erosion of the coating] at a reasonable price, responsibly and wiht fairly quick turnaround was Focal Point, in Colorado, USA. I have no relationahsip wiht them, but htey came through for me.

 

Try this address:

http://www.focalpointlens.com/fp_intro.html

 

Enjoy the lenses.

 

Norm

[russell]

My old screwmount 35mm f3.5 Summaron works well on the M8. It used to have some problems inside the glass but I had it cleaned. There are still a few small spider web looking marks (not fungus, it's something else that can happen to old glass). I think these were taken with that lens on the M8. Could one or two of the pics is from an old 50mm screwmount Elmar... (if Leica would offer proper bit coding/adaptors for all the old lenses as well then we'd know!). Oh, they were shot in Hanghzhou...

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[russell]

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Oh, and I choose B&W because grass and trees turn too red with no UV/IR filter. Whoever said it's only with syntehtic fabris is full of it. What I need is a filter that would fit on the old (A36?) lenses. Anyone know how to do this? I'd prefer not to use a step-up adaptor...

[leica nubie]

Yes, I agree about the warm tones of the M8. I did some side by side comparisons with my M-8 and my Nikon D2X, both custom white balanced, and the results were very different in tone.

[Jack_Flesher]

Great post! I am in the process of acquiring some secific pieces of old M glass just to get their specific "look". Will post more as soon as I have some images worthy!

 

PS: Active lens fungus is contageous to other lenses stored nearby, so take care if you own one to get it cleaned and killed before storing with your other glass. Also, I have seen fungus that looks like random white splotches, snowflakes, plain spots and spider webs.

 

Cheers,

 

Jack

[truando]

beautiful portraits!

 

none of my lenses are asph, they're not as old as yours, but they're from the eighties, and I am really happy with them.

 

somehow: old lenses on digital camera - great combination!

[lars_bergquist]

There are two pieces of bad news regarding fungus. The first is that the only effective treatment used thymine, which is extremely poisonous and hence prohibited in most jurisdictions nowadays. The second is that it tends to spread to other pieces of equipment. This is the reason why Leica won't handle old gear with fungus anymore. They treat it as high-activity nuclear waste. Bury that lens in a far corner of your garden.

 

The old man from the Age of Mercury Batteries

[carstenw]

Since Fungus is a living organism, wouldn't it cure it to put a piece of equipment in the oven and bring it to 60 or 80 degrees, killing off the organism? This is more a theoretical question, since I have no idea what temperature a lens would take without distorting.

[lars_bergquist]

Fungal cells are tough, probably tougher than lens cement ... I feel that such a simple remedy would have been well known and in general use, if it worked.

 

There is also the fact – somewhat less important maybe – that fungus tends to attack and destroy the lens coating and the lens surfaces.

 

The old man from B.C. (Before Coating)

[Stevez4]

Leica New Jersey cleanedup a several of my old lenses. An old collapsable 90 inherited from Gene Smith is one of my fav orites on the M8 that they cleaned. It was quick and not expensive. They were also coded.

[giordano]

Since Fungus is a living organism, wouldn't it cure it to put a piece of equipment in the oven and bring it to 60 or 80 degrees, killing off the organism? This is more a theoretical question, since I have no idea what temperature a lens would take without distorting.

 

I've just had a IIIg overhauled in Australia. The report says that they found fungus on some of the rangefinder glass and after cleaning 'zapped' it with UV light to reduce the likelihood of a recurrence. Is this a standard treatment?

[Philippe D.]

Hi. If you really want to use lenses with fungus, just be very careful. You could also contaminate your new (or healthy) lenses.

So never store them all together and, best way (if any), use them on a separate body, specially dedicated to those fungus lenses.

 

And please, have a look about what the Zeiss Customer Service says about the subject here:

Document: Fungus on lenses in english and here

Document: Fungus bei Objektiven in german.

 

I stay far away from fungus lenses.

[russell]

It might be worth mentioning that I had many old lenses. My first instinct was always fungus. But it turned out almost every time that it wasnt fungus but something else like the cement eroding, or whatever. So you might think you have fungus, but maybe you dont... So dont go burying them in the garden yet...

[Chuck Hatcher]

Hi. If you really want to use lenses with fungus, just be very careful. You could also contaminate your new (or healthy) lenses.

So never store them all together and, best way (if any), use them on a separate body, specially dedicated to those fungus lenses.

 

And please, have a look about what the Zeiss Customer Service says about the subject here:

Document: Fungus on lenses in english and here

Document: Fungus bei Objektiven in german.

 

I stay far away from fungus lenses.

 

From that referenced link, "Fungus spores are everywhere and germinate under suitable environmental conditions..."

 

While there may be more spores around other lenses that have fungus growth, the way I look at it there is no way to totally avoid the spores. I try to avoid storing my lenses (and everything else I care about) where humidity is high.

 

To save you the effort of digging holes in your garden, any Leica equipment suspected of fungus contamination may be sent to me for "disposal". Let me know in advance and I might even pay you for it!