Fungus or small crack?

[LWSC]

Hello, so I just bought a Leica CL from *that* auction site, and as I was inspecting it upon arrival I came across a small mark in the viewfinder. Apologies for the awful picture but photographing viewfinders is such a pain! The mark in question is a sort of X-like thin line between the framelines for 40mm and 50mm, just to the left of those numbers. From what I can tell I think it might be on the frameline screen itself. So, my question is: do you think that this is the beginnings of a fungus, or just an oddly shaped crack? If the former, would this be a serious issue given that it might be liable to spread, and if that is the case should I ask the seller for a partial refund, or try zapping it with some UV light or some such fix?

 

[rjbell]

It looks more like a scratch to me rather than fungus but I'm no expert.

 

[hellogreg]

Looks like a scratch to me too but I'm no expert either ...

 

[Throttle]

Not sure what it is yet ive seen fungus ages ago in a viewfinder and to me it doesnt look like that..

Just to add like others im no expert either

 

[stevelmx5]

Doesn't look like fungus to me either but I'm also not sure how the screen inside the rangefinder housing could get scratched? It could possibly be some hair/dust that's got in I guess but the rangefinder mirrors are usually underneath a pad that's glued on over the top.

Edit: To add, you have bought a 40 year old body so dust/hairs often come with the territory so not sure you'd really have a case for a partial refund as a result of such a small blemish :0)

 

[ChrisR]

I've had a Leiz Minolta CL, exactly the same as yours but differently branded. Lovely camera, some very nice 40mm lenses for it (I had the M-Rokkor 40mm f/2; the Leica won't reliably focus at wider apertures than f/2, I believe), but there's a lot more to worry about than that mark, Lucas (particularly potential problems with the "meter on a stick" mechanism). My feeling is, it's not fungus, and won't adversely affect operation in any situations I can think of. I'd stick a roll of Poundland Agfa Vista in as soon as possible and check it out more fully!

 

[LWSC]

Thanks everybody, I really appreciate it! The more I look at it the more fungus-like it seems, with its little tentacles - I'll see if I can get a better picture tomorrow possibly. Either way, I'll be sending it in for the old CLA in about a week or so when I get a chance - the body was such a good price I had to go for it, and I got a good quote on the servicing. First port of call is to shoot a couple of rolls (lens - Jupiter 8 with a view to upgrading in the near future [don't judge I'm poor] - is arriving in the next few days, so have to be patient!) The reason I went for it though, Chris, was that the meter is in good working order, surprisingly enough - might need the cell replacing but all the electronics are in order, and what's more the shutter speeds are accurate. I hope I'm in as good shape at 40, honestly!