fraga
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Fungus infestation is a real problem for some.
And it's often a misunderstood problem.
I'm afraid I will have to respectfully disagree with some opinions posted here, even if they come from some great FM'ers, who are very experienced photographers.
Here's why.
I live on an island that has relative humidity levels that go from 60% to 100% (rare, but happens), depending on the time of the year.
When I started photographing, I lived in a house of a relative of mine, and owned several lenses without much problems or even concerns with fungus.
Once, one of my lenses got a fungus infestation. But it was the only lens I had bought used, so I thought that it came with spores inside when I bought it and they eventually grew. None of my other lenses had it, after all.
It was my least used lens. Hardly ever used it, in fact. Maybe twice while it was in my possession. Later on I found out it that was the problem, since it was always inside the bag and it was never used.
But at the time I didn't know that.
I then built my house and moved there. It is situated on the road next to the house where I used to live. It's like a 45 second walk between the two houses.
After just a very few months living there I decided to sell my 1DMIII (huge mistake btw) and get a 50d. There was a series of problems in between, including the 50d getting stolen in the mail (bought online). Long story short, I was without a camera for almost two months (give or take a week). The lenses were left stored inside the bag.
When I finally received the 50d, I reached for the bag and this was what I found out:
You can imagine how I felt.
Close to having a heart attack is indeed an understatement.
Now, the main reason for this was no doubt the fact that the lenses were stored inside the bag for so long. No doubt about it.
However, that is not the whole story, and unfortunately it was not the only cause.
I had the lenses cleaned.
I then started to stored them inside a glass cabinet with an incandescent light bulb inside, to lower humidity inside. The light was on the whole day, and I just turned it off during the night (between 11PM and 07AM.
However, some very small spots of fungus re-emerged, even with the lenses conditioned like that.
Take into consideration I never had any special care with the lenses in my previous house. I say again, it's a 45 second walk from it to my current house. Even with humidity level under control between 07AM-23PM everyday in my new house (something I never did in the previous house, not even close), fungus infestation stroke again. How is this possible?
So now I bough this:
(sorry for the bad quality pic. It's late at night and I don't have the patience to take a proper one...  )
http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/6047/p1000437modified.jpg
It is one of the best pieces of photography related gear I have ever bought. Well worth the price in my opinion, even if for the peace of mind alone.
I know many photographers live in places where humidity levels are over 70% most of the year and never had a problem. And know many in the same situation.
Most of the photographers on my island never ever had a problem with fungus.
In my previous house, I had a problem once with a lens I never used, that at the time I assumed with was because it was bought used. The others were always fine, and no special care was ever taken with them.
In my new house, even in a controlled environment most of the day, I had problems.
I don't know how to explain it.
All I know is that just because someone lives in a humid location and never had a problem doesn't mean his neighbour won't.
So a dry-cabinet is a safe bet, no doubt about it. Highly, highly recommended.
And the one I own is a very fine piece of equipment, and the company behind it backs their product and cares for customer satisfaction. One of the best post-sale customer support I ever had the pleasure of dealing with.
I will write a review of it tomorrow, in anyone is interested just check it tomorrow in the General Gear-talk sub-forum.
Hope this helps somehow.
P.S.
BTW, current lens coatings are so good that they block most UV rays, so the notion that UV rays will kill the fungus inside your L lenses when you point them directly at the sun is probably a flawed one.
However, leaving them in the sun for an hour or so will probably be good for the "cause" since temperatures will be rather high inside the lens, killing the fungus.
Edited on Nov 02, 2009 at 06:55 PM · View previous versions
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