Is this lens fungus or condensation or ?? And if so, what are my options?

You mean that sort of cloudiness? It doesn't really look like fungus to me.

This is classic fungus:
http://i.stack.imgur.com/tHhCb.jpg

Is it actually inside the lens housing, for sure (not just on either surface)?
If it is inside, it does look a bit like condensation (or mineral residue from getting wet and drying out). You could try a very dry environment for a few days, or a hair-dryer.
 
Hmmm, yeah.

It's pretty bad, whatever it is. Given that it looks like an older Nikkor, maybe 50mm (?) it might cost more to service than to just buy a replacement.

Given the relatively low-stakes, you could even try taking it apart yourself.
 
Or even keep it as a special effect lens if the resultant image has any character. I have a 200mm that is so fungus-ified you can't see through it with the naked eye. Yet the image in the camera is merely a little soft and actually quite dreamy. I don't use it often and keep it well away from my other lenses due to latent fear of contamination. But as I understand it, the spores are everywhere at all times and it is incorrect storage conditions rather than proximity to contaminants that cause them to grow in a lens.
 
Car3o said:
Apparently it's haze. Doesn't seem to affect the IQ yet, but perhaps it will sneak up on me when I needn't it.
Click to expand...
I'm sure it's affecting the IQ already, you're just not noticing it. I had a lens that developed a lot less haze than that and after it got replaced I couldn't believe the difference when compared to the hazed one.
 
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