I am pretty down ATM. Went to a local camera store to inspect my lenses for any defects or fungus.
My lenses:
Tamron 50-400
Tamron 28-200
Sony 16-35
Sigma 105mm Macro
Samyang 45mm
The guy there held the lenses toward a ceiling lamp, looked through them and said that EVERY lens has fungus!
I was devastated.
Now, here at home I try to find the fungus myself, but for the sake of God I can't see any fungus! Except from outer dust which I can wipe away the glass seems totally clear to me.
Is it possible that the (young) guy in the store "overdiagnosed" by confusing some dust or reflections with fungus? Should I get a 2nd opinion?
The guy also said that he, if he were me, would either try to sell the glass (of course with mentioning of the fungus), give it away or trash it.
But the lenses are working perfectly, and I don't have that much money, and I would, if there actually is fungus, rather continue to use them and take measures so that the fungus doesn't grow further (or at least only very slowly). What do you think?
Why did you even take them to a store to have them inspected if they look fine to you? If a lens looks fine to me and delivers good files, I don't need anyone to tell me that lens works. I don't get it...
I am pretty down ATM. Went to a local camera store to inspect my lenses for any defects or fungus.
My lenses:
Tamron 50-400
Tamron 28-200
Sony 16-35
Sigma 105mm Macro
Samyang 45mm
The guy there held the lenses toward a ceiling lamp, looked through them and said that EVERY lens has fungus!
I was devastated.
Now, here at home I try to find the fungus myself, but for the sake of God I can't see any fungus! Except from outer dust which I can wipe away the glass seems totally clear to me.
Is it possible that the (young) guy in the store "overdiagnosed" by confusing some dust or reflections with fungus? Should I get a 2nd opinion?
The guy also said that he, if he were me, would either try to sell the glass (of course with mentioning of the fungus), give it away or trash it.
But the lenses are working perfectly, and I don't have that much money, and I would, if there actually is fungus, rather continue to use them and take measures so that the fungus doesn't grow further (or at least only very slowly). What do you think?...Show more →
I've had (older vintage) lenses with fungus growing inside the lens. This was very much visible, just google 'fungus in lens' for examples.
Still it din't give huge problems with image quality.
johnvanr wrote:
Why did you even take them to a store to have them inspected if they look fine to you? If a lens looks fine to me and delivers good files, I don't need anyone to tell me that lens works. I don't get it...
I had a vintage lens which I sold on Ebay, but the buyer wrote that it has fungus. So he sent it back, I gave him his money back. When I got it back, I went to that camera store, and they confirmed the fungus. So I said "Hope my other lenses are not infected, too!" and returned 2 days later with my other lenses for inspection. So if that guy hadn't sent the vintage lens back, it of course wouldn't have occurred to me to have the lenses be inspected.
EDIT: Now I have managed to see the fungus. No real "spider webs", but many little dots and lines.
WTF?
I'm very sorry to hear about this unfortunate situation!
I think you have the PZ 16-35/4 (I have a copy as well) and that's not an old lens really. Living in Germany, do you have any ideas about what made it possible for all the spores grow?
Sorry to hear about that. Something similar happened to me 20 years ago, when I moved to a new location and stored the lenses for my analogue photography equipment for a few months in a basement room, from which I thought that it was dryer than it actually was. The fungus grew fast and made all lenses unusable.
I also read back then that it is not wise to store a lens with fungus nearby unaffected lenses, because the fungus can spread. Is this correct?
hasenbein wrote:
I had a vintage lens which I sold on Ebay, but the buyer wrote that it has fungus. So he sent it back, I gave him his money back. When I got it back, I went to that camera store, and they confirmed the fungus. So I said "Hope my other lenses are not infected, too!" and returned 2 days later with my other lenses for inspection. So if that guy hadn't sent the vintage lens back, it of course wouldn't have occurred to me to have the lenses be inspected.
EDIT: Now I have managed to see the fungus. No real "spider webs", but many little dots and lines. ...Show more →
Ah, understood. I’d get a second opinion and use my lenses unless I could see the fungus affecting my images. But, yes, don’t store the ones with fungus with the unaffected ones. And fight the humidity that caused it in the first place.
hasenbein wrote:
I had a vintage lens which I sold on Ebay, but the buyer wrote that it has fungus. So he sent it back, I gave him his money back. When I got it back, I went to that camera store, and they confirmed the fungus. So I said "Hope my other lenses are not infected, too!" and returned 2 days later with my other lenses for inspection. So if that guy hadn't sent the vintage lens back, it of course wouldn't have occurred to me to have the lenses be inspected.
EDIT: Now I have managed to see the fungus. No real "spider webs", but many little dots and lines. ...Show more →
Ahhh... Yeah, I live in the sub tropics and have had bought used lenses with fungus in the past. It's not fun! I use a Slinger Dry Cabinet and keep my stuff around 35% humidity or so. You can find them on sale from time to time at nice discounts. I'd keep all your lenses in one. Some people I knew used to just run a low watt lightbulb in a metal 2 door cabinet, and it seemed to work ok for them, but I don't know how effective really. I guess if you put a humidity meter in the cabinet you could monitor how the lightbulb is working.
Also, always let your lenses acclimatize when you go out from your air-conditioned house or car to shoot. I usually don't run the A/C in my car on the way to a shoot and let them acclimatize on the drive. Stepping out and having that moisture condensate on the front element is a sure sign you might have just let a bunch of moisture into your lens, especially un-weather sealed lenses or without a rear lens cap.
At this point, if you like what you own and weren't looking to sell more, I'd enjoy what you have and maybe put them under a UV Lamp wide open for each lens as a treatment to kill the fungus so it at least doesn't get any worse. They can be professionally cleaned if you catch it early enough, but it won't be cheap... if you try to sell them you will take a bit of a loss, but if you UV treat them you can say you've treated them and mark them down accordingly. I dunno, its a very personal decision you will have to make.
Sorry for your problem, hope you find a solution that makes you happy,
hasenbein wrote:
I had a vintage lens which I sold on Ebay, but the buyer wrote that it has fungus. So he sent it back, I gave him his money back. When I got it back, I went to that camera store, and they confirmed the fungus. So I said "Hope my other lenses are not infected, too!" and returned 2 days later with my other lenses for inspection. So if that guy hadn't sent the vintage lens back, it of course wouldn't have occurred to me to have the lenses be inspected.
EDIT: Now I have managed to see the fungus. No real "spider webs", but many little dots and lines. ...Show more →
Not sure what's going on. You have dust in any lens, can you post any photos of the supposed fungus?
The guy in the shop may not know what he's talking about. And anyhow fungus doesn't affect sharpness in my experience but can cause flare, these aren't useless lenses. Definitely don't throw them away, that's a dumb suggestion is the guy interested in getting your lenses cheap?
I've started to swap out my UV filters for protectors after looking up older lenses on ebay. I'm also keeping them in the sun every now and then wide open but just being a bit careful with that (potential fire risk? I'm not sure).
Yeah... but Germany isn't really tropical. Under normal non-AC circumstances I would think it would take many years for the fungus to start grow, if at all.
Also, to my understanding you can have lenses with fungus problem stored together with other lenses. The fungi don't jump around: the spores are already at place and will start growing if the conditions are suitable. Have i missed something based on facts and not on hearsay?
johnvanr wrote:
Btw, kind of a bad sign a store employee suggests you sell lenses that you know have a flaw. What does that say about their own behavior?
You can sell with disclosure…but at a steep discount.
Have you gotten a repair estimate for cleaning the lenses? You should factor that cost in regardless of what you do. If you plan to keep the lenses, you should at least take steps to stop the fungus from spreading. UV light exposure should kill the fungus and stop it spreading. But it won't remove what's already visible. Someone will have to take the lenses apart to do that. Fungus damage can become permanent once the glass coatings have been etched away.
If it's just one guy, I'd probably get a second opinion, especially if you can't see anything in the lenses. Working at a camera shop doesn't make you an expert.
I've had some interesting interactions in camera shops over the years, like a salesman trying to sell someone a lens with the wrong mount for their camera, and another telling me there are no camera bags that can hold more than 1 camera.
I am pretty down ATM. Went to a local camera store to inspect my lenses for any defects or fungus.
My lenses:
Tamron 50-400
Tamron 28-200
Sony 16-35
Sigma 105mm Macro
Samyang 45mm
The guy there held the lenses toward a ceiling lamp, looked through them and said that EVERY lens has fungus!
I was devastated.
Now, here at home I try to find the fungus myself, but for the sake of God I can't see any fungus! Except from outer dust which I can wipe away the glass seems totally clear to me.
Is it possible that the (young) guy in the store "overdiagnosed" by confusing some dust or reflections with fungus? Should I get a 2nd opinion?
The guy also said that he, if he were me, would either try to sell the glass (of course with mentioning of the fungus), give it away or trash it.
But the lenses are working perfectly, and I don't have that much money, and I would, if there actually is fungus, rather continue to use them and take measures so that the fungus doesn't grow further (or at least only very slowly). What do you think?...Show more →
This doesn't sound right for the lenses you listed unless you live in a really humid part of Germany. These lenses seem all very recent and are built with good weather sealing - this shouldn't happen. I'd take it to another store or even send one to the manufacturer to get it checked. If it were Leica or vintage lenses, I'd believe it more but for the lenses you listed, it just doesn't make sense.
Put me in the camp of "get a second opinion". Fungus was much more of a thing with older, non-weather-sealed lenses so unless you store them in a humid, mildewy, or poorly ventilated location I find it hard to believe they're all infected. I guess it's possible, but it's also possible that an inexperienced shop assistant mistook dust (that many lenses will have inside to some degree) for fungus.
EDIT: just read the OP's update and it sounds like that old vintage lens infected the others. Spores disperse and can remain viable literally for millennia after all so all it would take is one sitting on the exterior of a lens to get sucked in during focusing or zooming and it's off to the races. AFAIK there is no solution to fungus other than a full dismantle and physical cleaning of the elements and even then it might be too late to prevent etching of the coating or glass. I know people mention UV light, but I've never seen any actual recipe for such a treatment that specifies UV wavelength, intensity and length of time, all of which will probably vary by lens design.
TBH I think the best solution is just don't look -- if you don't see it then it does't exist, right?!
If I were the OP, I'd sell all the lenses with full disclosure, take the loss, and start again (after buying a proper storage case and throwing out the infected one)
formula4speed wrote:
If it's just one guy, I'd probably get a second opinion, especially if you can't see anything in the lenses. Working at a camera shop doesn't make you an expert.
I've had some interesting interactions in camera shops over the years, like a salesman trying to sell someone a lens with the wrong mount for their camera, and another telling me there are no camera bags that can hold more than 1 camera.
