Does Fungus affect Modern Lenses?

[richpips]

Often mentioned when someone is selling a lens, is that the lens has no fungus within. Fair enough.

I've never seen an advert for a modern lens that says their is a growth within.

So has this phenomenon disappeared?

 

[Wilky76]

You get condensation in a lens or water get inside or leave it in humid conditions, penicillin will start to bloom within a lens.

Weather sealing protects from this somewhat, but those little spores can still find away in & grow if conditions are right.

 

[foodpoison]

Great if you're ill, rubbish if you're not

Just whack a few bags of silicon gel in there and it should be okay. Oh, and don't move it from one environment to another too abruptly, i.e. allow the camera to dry out fully when moving it from a cold environment to a warm one.
I think.

 

[CT]

My understanding is that it's dark and humid conditions which are likely to encourage the growth. Unused kit tends to get chucked in the back of some cupboard or wardrobe where conditions may be right for kicking off the problem which is only noticed when the gear is dragged out.

I tend not to leave my gear in bags for long periods,- when not in use it's in a glass cabinet in a lived -in room where it gets plenty of light.
Daylight, or more accurately-ultra violet light will kill fungus in an infected lens and halt it's spreading further, but it can't undo the damage already done.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

In practice it would be rare in the UK If you take care of your kit.
Sealing up wet cameras and lenses in a damp bag is asking for trouble.

It can and does happen with modern lenses.
some zoom lenses suffer for a quite Different problem and that is a film of oil covering part of an internal lens surface. This is more likely to be a problem in very hot climates.

Buyer beware.

 

[CT]

Sealing up wet cameras and lenses in a damp bag is asking for trouble.
.

Absolutely! If my 500mm gets wet it goes on the car seat rather than back in the long lens case.

I once stupidly, put a wet shotgun into a gunslip after a days shooting in the rain and took it out the following morning when it was red with rust! Rust can start frighteningly quickly with no air circulation. That was an expensive job at the gun makers and a bitter lesson learned.

 

[StewartR]

Hmmm. We've just encountered an interesting issue with a lens today. I wonder whether it's related?

The front element of the lens looks perfect. But breathe on it, and a sort of random mottled pattern appears. We can't clean it off, no matter what we try. But when the condensation from the breath disappears, the pattern disappears with it.

Any ideas? Is this some sort of growth?

 

[CT]

It's possible Stewart, although could it be marks in the lens coating just showing up when you breath on it? I hope you give out advice on lens cleaning with your lenses.

 

[richpips]

The front element of the lens looks perfect. But breathe on it, and a sort of random mottled pattern appears. We can't clean it off, no matter what we try. But when the condensation from the breath disappears, the pattern disappears with it.

Sounds like some issue with the lens coating.

 

[andyred]

The front element of the lens looks perfect. But breathe on it, and a sort of random mottled pattern appears. We can't clean it off, no matter what we try. But when the condensation from the breath disappears, the pattern disappears with it.

Agree with above, does sound more like the lens coating, we have a similar problem with my wife's glasses when the special coating on them begins to break down.

 

[incapete]

I've had fungus on an old Olympus camera - you can see it on the lens in this thread.
To be honest I think it was probably starting when I got the camera which was about 15 years ago. It never made a noticeable difference to my photos though - perhaps a little softness at the edges but certainly nothing major.