Cleaning fungus from lens, how much or diy?

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Seen a lens on eBay that ends soon and is sitting at a silly low price but seller says it has a big of fungus and I'm just wondering what a ballpark repair cost will be or could/should I do it myself? Lens is a canon 100mm macro if it makes any difference.
 
Iv heard the sunlight thing, think the uv is meant kill the fungus, not sure how mr muscle would work if the fungus is inside? Iv had lenses and stuff apart before but not an autofocus one. Lens finishes in an hour and is at £15 just now.
 
Is this the older DC motor version of the 100mm macro or the USM version?

Bob
 
Miles Whitehead quoted me £35 to clean an FD 100mm f2.8 lens, might be worth giving him a call.
 
The adhesive that sticks multiple glass elements together in lens assemblies can sometimes get attacked by fungus. Once this happens there is no way of getting rid of it. If it's on an outside surface then it'll attack the multicoating leaving it permanently damaged. It can spread to your other lenses if you keep them together. Like Rick, I would also steer well clear of it.
 
I did. It ended up selling for £140 which although half of what good ones are going for, was way more than I was willing to spend. Thought it might just be a case of taking the elements out, wiping off the fungus and reassembling but sounds more involved.
 
My understanding is that exposing the lens to daylight kills the fungus and stops it spreading any further but it won't have any affect on the fungus already formed or on damage already done to the lens.

A quote of 30 quid sounds pretty good to me I understand it can be very expensive!
 
Sunlight may slow down or do very little to it. One way is to remove each element and layer on some cold cream such as this stuff. and then clean it off and put it all together.
 
I'v done afew lens cleans with cold cream and so far its worked, I think something in it acts as an antifungal and either cleans or kills them off, it wont help if the glass is etched though or if the fungus is in between sandwiched elements.
 
In my experience fungus is always as risk as you don't know how long it's been there. However, I've only seen a few cases where the fungus is so bad that it's actually eroded the coating and left permanent damage. A lot of the time it can simply be wiped off. The worst cases are those where owners have left them in a case in a damp loft for 30 years :crying:
 
A few years ago I had a Sigma 400mm lens that was ruined by fungus. At the time I was living in a flat with a serious damp problem. I only rarely used the lens, and it sat on the shelf in its case for years. By the time I got around to selling it, one of the inner elements was completely covered with cotton wool. Needless to say, no photographic dealers would touch it, and I ended up dropping it in the bin :(

The moral of the story: don't keep photographic gear in damp conditions (difficult if your whole house is damp), and give lenses a regular airing.

A.
 
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