fungus on lens,cant be cured.

[towershot]

bought a cheap M42 500mm lens, I think it has fungus on the front element.

The lens is a cheapo and is a series of threaded tubes with elements in between, this makes it simple to get to the front element ,my question is "can you kill this fungus in any way"

PS should read "can it be cured "

 

[puddleduck]

you can kill the fungus (even strong direct sunlight will kill it), it might leave some etching (which won't impact IQ)

I've de-fungused a lens before just to see if I could. If you dismantle it, remember where all the bits go, and make sure you can get to infinity focus when you put it back together!

 

[old wrek]

Yup i did this also, left it stood on the window sill with no lens cap to see if the Sun would make a diffrance but it didnt, well not that I could see anyway.

Finished up Gooooglin it and found a site for the same lens but another issue.

Anyway pulled off the cover on the front and unscrewed the front glass and after wiping it down 4 or 5 time's with a lint free cloth and some mr muskel window cleaner it came up like new.

Now the trick is to get it back in without trapping any dust in there.
That took 3 or 4 attampts to get right.

Have a go and take your time.

If it's a cheapo and you only have 20 quid in it then you aint going to lose much.

My excersise was on a Nikon 18-70 DX ED.

Good luck..

 

[towershot]

Thanks guys, it's a photax made in Japan, and I'm not that cheap........gave £24 for it

I'll have a bash at the window sill first......