p.1 #1 · Help! Fungus? Warning: long post, 11 pics
Hi guys.
Sorry for the long post and the 11 pics, but I think I have a serious problem here...
Just recently (about two months ago) I sold my 1DMIII so I could buy two cameras, a 50d and a 5dII, since I would like to have two bodies, specially one with a 1.6 crop and the other with a full-frame sensor, so I could use the benefits of both and, on top of that, have less lens changes.
So I had to wait for the 50d to be available at my dealer. Then I ordered it, and it got stolen during shipment (I ordered from another country). Contacted the dealer, and he most generously sent me another one without additional charges (he will later get compensation from the insurance company).
So after all the wait (without any camera BTW), I got it yesterday finally.
So I, like a kid rejoicing with a new toy, immediately went to my bag to get some lenses to test the new camera, and was suddenly devastated!
Almost all my lenses appear to have something like a fungus on the glass elements!
The most affected lenses are, unfortunately, my best lenses.
85L, 135L and 70-200 f4IS.
I have a low income. I do photography as a hobby, so affording cameras and lenses (specially of this caliber) is a major budget stretch, and comes at the expense of compromises that have to be taken elsewhere.
I live on an Island that has no canon representative, let alone a calibration center.
I would have to send the lenses to the mainland (Portugal) or to my dealer in Germany to have them cleaned.
However, I have never trusted the postal office before, and now even worse since someone there stole my initial 50d package. I am scared to have to send the lenses by mail and then back. Besides, once they arrive they might need calibration since the people that work at the postal office throw the packages around recklessly. Looks like they enjoy playing football with them...
I believe this is the main source of so many out-of-spec lenses issues I had in the past. Including a 300mm 2.8 IS.
This is very disturbing.
Evaluating the magnitude of the issue on the pics taken (if the fungus is affecting IQ or not) is kind of hard since I only have a new camera, and the files from it are quite different from the MIII. It's hard to compare, specially considering the 50d has a tendency to be somewhat soft at pixel level.
I was also saving up everymonth so I could buy a 500mm f4IS next year and a fisheye.
After this I am seriously considering stopping lenses altogehter, because this issue might be hard to avoid since I live on an island where air humidity sometimes reaches 100% in the summer. In the winter, it's usually lower but still rather high.
Even if I get the lenses cleaned, it's probably just a matter of time before the problem comes back again...
Can anyone help?
Are these fungus?
What can I do?
I already did a search on these forums for "fungus" and the news aren't very positive...
p.1 #3 · Help! Fungus? Warning: long post, 11 pics
dont like your chances here but you need to get them to a service center asap. Perhaps the best thing that could happen to them is that some scumbag nicks them during transit or they are used as footballs, just make sure yo have them well insured.
p.1 #8 · Help! Fungus? Warning: long post, 11 pics
Go over to www.photo.net and look at the Leica/rangefinder board, this is a problem with "older" lenses all the time. There are solutions to this issue. Good luck!
p.1 #10 · Help! Fungus? Warning: long post, 11 pics
Leave them in direct sun for a while, let the lenses get hot and kill the fungus, first.
Then, you're going to have to bite the bullet and send them in for cleaning/repair. Why not use something like UPS, DHL, FedEx or one of those? Not available on your island? Or do you have someone on the main land that can send it via one of those for you?
And lastly, if you're in a climate with that much humidity, I'd invest in some sort of storage where you can control the humidity - maybe a sealed case and toss in a bunch of bags of moisture absorbing salts (what new lenses get shipped with normally), OR something else that's simple but works is dry rice. If you put some in a bag of some sort that has a fine mesh to allow the rice to absorb the moisture but not big enough to let the rice fall out, that WILL keep things dry.
Case in point - my girlfriend's watch got fogged up on the inside of the crystal. I dropped the watch into a cup half full with rice, covered the top with some plastic wrap, and a day later the fog was gone. She was very happy, it is a special watch to her.
You've GOT to keep the lenses in a low humidity environment. Do anything you can think of when you're storing them to keep them dry. I, in upstate New York, can toss my stuff into a backpack camera bag and not worry about it because most of the time the humidity never gets above 50% (usually around 20% in winter), but you're a totally different story.
p.1 #12 · Help! Fungus? Warning: long post, 11 pics
Luis, sorry to hear about your predicament. Indeed, that looks like fingus growth on your lenses.
The immediate remedy is obviously to attempt cleaning or have the affected lens elements replaced if economical to do so.
However, looks like you may have to develop/acquire some dry lens storage methods/ hardware.
Keeping the lenses in an air conditioned room in summer months and in dry heated air in winter seems to prevent fungus in my experience.
Silica gel desiccant is also effective in absorbing air moisture. However, you gotta replenish spent desiccant or have a special little oven for its regeneration.
There are also household dehumidifiers that you can either run in the room where the lenses are kept or even duct them into the lens storage cabinet proper.
Some folks simply keep a lightbulb burning inside their lens storage cabinet as a means of cabinet moisture control.
p.1 #13 · Help! Fungus? Warning: long post, 11 pics
Luis, I am also sorry about that. It must be very humid there where you live. Indeed silica gell dessicant would have helped. At this point, your best bet would be to indeed send the lenses in for repair/cleaning. If I understood you correctly, from the last time you used those lenses until you noticed the fungus, it took only about two months for the lenses to be infestated by fungus?
p.1 #16 · Help! Fungus? Warning: long post, 11 pics
Hello,
I'm really sorry about your fungus issue. I know you are asking for help how to clean your lenses up, but for the future here is an authoritative link about how fungus arises, and this may well help you avoid the problem in future:
p.1 #18 · Help! Fungus? Warning: long post, 11 pics
This isn't a big deal, happens in Hawai'i all the time. You found it quickly and they'll just a have to clean everything and not replace and plastic bits that the fungi could have eaten (they do that )
p.1 #19 · Help! Fungus? Warning: long post, 11 pics
chas wrote:
I would also throw the bag out if you haven't done that already, along with anything else in the bag you can afford to loose.
Fungus spores are everywhere, the real issue is humidity. Keep the bag if you feel confident just spray alcohol and maybe vinegar in the bag and let it dry
