How bad is fungus in a lens?
- Thread starter semila58
- Start date
Barry_Green
Moderator
Toss it. Unless something's changed in the last decade, fungus is pretty much a one-way street to lens destruction. The fungus will grow and etch the lens surface.
Ted Ramasola
Veteran
fungus at its early stages can be removed. our lens tech uses toxic solvent type cleaning fluid that kills these organism. Its not advisable to leave them on while they're still small and negligible since they are "feeding" on something, in this case the lens coating. in its early stages a good lens tech can remove them while its damage is still in the area of the lens where it doesn't affect its performance.
Sometimes the fungus hasn't eaten off the entire layer of lens coating so its removal still helps.
Humidity is usually the culprit in our tropical country.
keep it stored in dry clean environment to lessen chances of it coming back after its cleaned.
Sometimes the fungus hasn't eaten off the entire layer of lens coating so its removal still helps.
Humidity is usually the culprit in our tropical country.
keep it stored in dry clean environment to lessen chances of it coming back after its cleaned.
Last edited:
semila58
Well-known member
They certainly sound like a hearty creature if they're eating the lens coating. I can see how they would be difficult to control after a certain point.
Dont toss it. if fungus is caught in the early stages, when its still on the surface of the inner element, it can easily be serviced and cleaned. I had an L series Canon lens that had very slight fungus on it, had it serviced for about 100 dollars and saved myself a lens that currently fetches $800 bucks.