Removing Lens Fungus - but not for the faint-hearted

[bvf]

I've been buying a few 100-year old lenses to see how they perform in UV.

 

Unfortunately one of them had some fungus. I looked around YouTube to see how to remove it. Most methods use hydrogen peroxide and ammonia - which we don't have around the house now that our hair no longer needs bleaching and we haven't had any fainting fits. But one guy, Mathieu Stern - who does some interesting photographic experiments, used liquid dishwasher soap. Again, something we don't have as we use integrated tablets. But anyway, yesterday the lens went into the dishwasher alongside all the crockery and cutlery.

 

And it worked - a completely clean and clear lens emerged.

 

Not sure if I fancy doing this with a lens that is valuable, coated, or cemented - but fortunately my lens was none of these.

[colinbm]

Good ol' Windex works a treat.

[ulf]

Some twenty years ago I cleaned out a fungus infested Canon Fisheye Lens FD 15mm f/2.8 S.S.C

http://www.mir.com.m...es/fish15mm.htm

It would not have worked dropping that lens in the dishwasher

I had to make special tools, holders, and support tools to open it up, to reach and clean all lens and internal filter surfaces, affected by fungus.

The operation went well except that the fungus had etched away some of the coatings on the lens surfaces.

 

The seller was the used lens department of Adorama, in New York, and sold me the lens via eBay.

They never responded when I complained via several emails and wanted to return the lens.

I even tried to call them, but they hung up on me when I tried to explain the problem.

 

At that time the buyer protection was not that good on eBay and my only alternative to get some light through the lens was to try to clean it up.

 

The lens was sold as E-

https://www.adorama....dition_E-hyphen

That grading is rather creative, but I had read and interpreted the meaning of the gradings.

The correct grading of the lens should have been F of X

 

Lessons learned for me:

Never ever buy anything from Adorama!!!

They might be OK with new stuff but I would not trust them anyway after my experience with their then lacking customer support.

[bvf]

Good ol' Windex works a treat.

 

Hah! I just noticed that the rear element of the same lens had some light fungus on it. We don't have any Windex, but inspired by your post I tried Mr. Muscle window cleaner - and that worked fine!

 

I though fungus removal was supposed to be a big deal, but I'm beginning to think almost anyhting will shift it! I bet a certain popular brand of Cola will do the job - although it might take the glass with it.

[dabateman]

I am not surprised by windex working. It used to just be 0.1% ammonium hydroxide and 0.1% SDS (sodium lauryl sulfate). Two excellent lab cleaners. But now the ingredients look varied.

[Andy Perrin]

Ulf: a few months ago I had a similar experience with the Adorama eBay store. I sent them an OBO for a video converter (analog to digital) and they did not respond after 2 days. I repeated it with the same results. I called them on the phone and was told I would be contacted via eBay but they still did not respond to the offer on eBay despite an email claiming it would be considered. Finally I called their used department on the phone, which is separate from their eBay “team”, told them my offer and they accepted and sent me the converter. The used sales department at Adorama seemed quite professional but whoever handles their eBay should be fired.

[photoni]

when we talk about lens fungus, we usually mean those that grow between two cemented lenses.

in the past, garlic juice was used to cement lenses

I don't think they can be put in the washing machine without damaging them :-S

I have an old Petzval from 1840 that had fungus inside the first doublet; a friend advised me to put it in the sun for days, the UV rays kill the fungus.

Now it's not perfect but it's much improved.

Toni