Advice on cleaning mould within a lens

[skctweaker]

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I inherited a 50mm bayonet mount Summicron f/2 (in a leather case, I surmise late 1950s vintage) from a relative who was a professional photographer. As I do not have a M Body to mount it on, I intend to sell the lens on eBay.
However the lens has some mold internally.
Is it worth having the mold professionally cleaned prior to sale, or would the buyer generally prefer to do it himself/herself?
How does not cleaning the mold affect the pricing?
I tried to attach files, but they exceeded the upload limit.

I am particularly interested to hear from members of this forum who have traded Leica lenses on eBay or other marketplaces.

[AndreasG]

Are you sure it is mold? Try again to upload a photo and bring it down to less than 1000kB and a maximum length of 2480px. Then probably we could comment better on your Summicron condition.

[pippy]

1 hour ago, skctweaker said:

...the lens has some mold internally. Is it worth having the mold professionally cleaned prior to sale, or would the buyer generally prefer to do it himself/herself?
How does not cleaning the mold affect the pricing?

As Andreas says, above, we will be able to offer more accurate advice if we can see the extent of the problem. That said, and IMHO....

It will likely be worth having the lens cleaned if the lens is otherwise in good condition. You should understand that with Leica equipment top money only goes to kit in top condition. Even where the optics are excellent if the body of the lens is 'well-used' the price realised will be much lower than for an example in excellent condition. Buyers would not normally want to have to have to deal with anything like this themselves or, if they are willing to take this on, this would very much be reflected in the price they would be willing to pay. There are many problems which can be encountered with old Leica lenses - mould / fungal growth; internal haze; oil on aperture blades; micro-scratched front element etc. - and some of these are difficult to spot with the naked eye. You don't mention whether it is an early collapsible Summicron or a later rigid version. The early lenses had a front-element which was very susceptible to surface-damage.

My advice would be to take it along to a dealership which understands old equipment for a rough evaluation of the state of the optics before you go any further.

Good luck!

Philip.

EDIT : If you wish to know the date of your Summicron here is a link to the list of Leica lens serial numbers;

https://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-wiki.en/index.php/Serial_Number_Links_for_Leica_Cameras_and_Lenses

 

 

Edited April 3, 2020 by pippy