hasenbein wrote:
Just looked through the Google customer reviews of the first camera store.
Two other people in the last few months had the same experience as I had! Got told that their lenses were fungus-infested and that they probably should trash them - went to get a 2nd opinion - found out their lenses are just fine!
Are there only idiots and a-holes left on this planet, or what??
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 →
hasenbein wrote:
Just looked through the Google customer reviews of the first camera store.
Two other people in the last few months had the same experience as I had! Got told that their lenses were fungus-infested and that they probably should trash them - went to get a 2nd opinion - found out their lenses are just fine!
Are there only idiots and a-holes left on this planet, or what??
So you told us you could see the fungus but now you're back to not seeing it? Sounds like you need a second opinion from a different repair facility.
Where exactly could you go, that doesn't have fungus?
Keep your lenses dry, I've stored in bags but if you have a temperature change and/or you get condensation in there somehow can have problems i suppose. Some friends had gear get fungus in a bag in a closet, I doubt they used much ac in the summer though which dries things
You can sell fungal lenses but you'll take a huge hit. I'm hesitant to buy fungal lenses, but continue using lenses i already have, having issues. I doubt a little fungus hurts iq much, if at all, any more than the dust all lenses have.
AmbientMike wrote:
Where exactly could you go, that doesn't have fungus?
When you buy a larger safe, you usually have the option to use an electric humidity control rod. For older safes, you can buy color coded silicon desiccants that get recharge with a period spent in the oven at a low temperature. My most recent desiccants are large and I recharge them when the weight exceeds a specified amount. That’s the best that I’ve been able to do.
InFocus2014 wrote:
In doing research on lens fungus, I was told that newer lenses have a fungus inhibitor in the coatings that the old Leica lenses did not have. I have no idea how true that is, but evidence seems to support that supposition.
I also read that older lenses use more organic materials in glues and coatings that essentially provide food for fungus and that's why they were more susceptible (along with the fact that they tended to be unsealed and, well, they're now old). Modern lenses use less organic stuff and, as you say, probably also have added fungal inhibitors, but over time I suspect those inhibitors break down and other organic residue builds up on the elements, turning them all into potential petri dishes
bwcolor wrote:
When you buy a larger safe, you usually have the option to use an electric humidity control rod. For older safes, you can buy color coded silicon desiccants that get recharge with a period spent in the oven at a low temperature. My most recent desiccants are large and I recharge them when the weight exceeds a specified amount. That’s the best that I’ve been able to do.
I use the yellow, plug-in rechargeable desiccant packs from Ruggard -- picked up a couple from B&H for $10 each (though now they're more expensive, of course) and have one in each of my SKB hard cases I use to store gear. I use small (5g) oven-recharged desiccant packs for food and TBH recharging them in the oven is such a hit-and-miss hassle and the packs so cheap in bulk that I just buy more when I need them.
One interesting note I read recently about storing electronic gear (including cameras and lenses) is that you shouldn't go below 30% humidity, which is about where the interior of my storage cases tends to hover. I've no idea why, but I assume something to do with increased risk of static perhaps?
30% RH is not very low. In many areas of the US southwest it is easily below that much of the year. I'll take the dry heat any day, but indoors with AC I just don't see that most lenses will have fungus or any negative effect from lower humidity.
I store mine at 45% RH. After using lenses in wet/humid conditions, like when shooting waterfalls, I leave my backpack open on the ride home. If it's hot and humid, I run the air in my car.
Then into the dry cabinet they go. So far no problems.
EB-1 wrote:
30% RH is not very low. In many areas of the US southwest it is easily below that much of the year. I'll take the dry heat any day, but indoors with AC I just don't see that most lenses will have fungus or any negative effect from lower humidity.
EBH
The dehumidifier shows relative humidity, never managed to get it anywhere near 30% here, i doubt i could get it there running ac even. 110°+ F heat index forecast today, the air has been an entity at times
