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  #1  
Old 12th December 2017, 12:59 PM
CarlB CarlB is offline
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Default Fungus on lenses.

I have dealt with fungus on uncoated lenses in the past by using Hydrogen Peroxide Solution 6% strength available over the counter at chemists, sold as a mild skin disinfectant and mouthwash, although i’ve not tried it for the either of the latter. I’m not sure about using it on a coated lens though, anyone tried this or have you used another method with success ?
Thanks
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Old 12th December 2017, 05:03 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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I have yet to have the problem but it seems that exposing the lens to UV rays can kill fungus. In summer the sun is ideal but at this time of year, exposure time is limited and I have no idea whether the shallow angle restricts its power to rid a lens of fungus.

If it works as well as I have seen suggested the great thing is that no chemicals or lens element dismantling is involved

Best of luck

Mike
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Old 12th December 2017, 05:53 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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If you can get the lens into sunshine then the UV rays will, over a few days, kill the fungus, making it easy to clean off, many of the lenses I have, both fixed and interchangeable, are between 55 and 80 years old and I have had 3 with just a spot of fungus, left them in the sun on a sunny windowsill indoors, or in summer on a table outside for a few days and the fungus is stone dead, and as the spots were small then I did not bother to clean the dead fungus off, after testing them the results were as good as I have seen, so as long as the fungus is not to widespread and you can get the lens in the sun, or possibly a UV lamp, then that is a better solution than using chemicals, which might affect the lens coating,
Richard
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Old 12th December 2017, 09:35 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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I am a complete ignoramus when it comes to lens issues but I take it from what you have said that fungus is always on the outside? Can it grow on the inside? Presumably in that case and once the UV has done its job you either leave it alone or you have to dismantle the lens to clean the dead fungus. I take it that if fungus can grow on the inside then UV will kill it but not reduce it to a powder which then drops off the inside surface and sits harmlessly on the bottom?

Thanks

Mike
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Old 12th December 2017, 11:16 PM
EdmundH EdmundH is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike O'Pray View Post
I am a complete ignoramus when it comes to lens issues but I take it from what you have said that fungus is always on the outside? Can it grow on the inside? Presumably in that case and once the UV has done its job you either leave it alone or you have to dismantle the lens to clean the dead fungus. I take it that if fungus can grow on the inside then UV will kill it but not reduce it to a powder which then drops off the inside surface and sits harmlessly on the bottom?

Thanks

Mike
Mike, In fact the fungus nearly always forms inside the lens, where it creates a spiderweb like pattern on the glass. The more insidious side to the problem is that the fungus creates an acidic residue which can permanently etch these patterns on the lens elements. In any event the fungus won't disappear even if killed by UV, and the lens would ideally need dismantling and cleaning.
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Old 13th December 2017, 07:53 AM
John King John King is offline
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Agreed with Edmund on the last point. Unless the lens is a complex zoom It should not cost all that much to have it opened up and cleaned. One of the reasons why I always have a small bag of silica gel in my camera bags. Every so often they need druing out but they last indefinitely
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Old 13th December 2017, 09:00 AM
alexmuir alexmuir is offline
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Default Fungus on lenses.

I bought a UV nail polish curing lamp, thinking I could use it for Cyanotypes, etc. It does work, but isn’t quite large enough to accommodate a 4x5 contact frame. I then came into possession of a quantity of used equipment, including several lenses. Some have fungus to varying degrees. I have since put them all in the UV device for several minutes. I’m assuming that will have killed the fungus, and I now need them cleaned. The UV lamp cost about £10 new on eBay. I intend giving all the lenses that will fit a quick blast every so often. It easily accommodates wide and standard primes for 35mm, enlarger lenses, and probably the Bronica lenses I own. You can fit more than one in at a time. I bought some spare tubes for it which cost about £5 for the set.
Unfortunately, I don’t have the answer to the original question about using chemical cleaners, but will be looking into that.
Alex


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Old 13th December 2017, 02:27 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Thanks, all. It looks as if there are no ways of avoiding a lens dismantling. All the UV does is kill the fungus but doesn't remove it. I suppose that if you hand a lens to a professional repairer for the removal of fungus the key question to ask is how does the repairer remove the fungus. The answer may prove to be illuminating

Mike
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Old 13th December 2017, 02:29 PM
EdmundH EdmundH is offline
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To return to the original question, I would have no hesitation using dilute Hydrogen Peroxide on coated lenses. The coating is really very tough, and the product is mostly water anyway. I've dismantled and cleaned a number of lenses now, and mostly use alcohol on the glass. However I never buy ones with significant mould because of the aforementioned risk.

I don't think that mould is an issue with regularly used lenses kept in a normal household environment, even if they've previously been affected. From my experience it happens to disused equipment which people have put away in a damp garage or loft. (And then sell on ebay as "good condition" - I've had to return a few of these!)
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Old 23rd January 2018, 06:40 PM
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GoodOldNorm GoodOldNorm is offline
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pleasant blog here http://throughavintagelens.com/category/restoration/
not just on fungus.
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