Lens Fungus

I believe my 24-70mm Canon lens has developed lens fungus, wich shows up against light areas at F22. A few months ago after walking in the cold to my club i lent the lens and camera for the night to another member to take shots of the portrait night.

Later he came back saying the images were all misty, it turned out it was inside the lens. When i got it home i dried it out slowly at room temperature, today when we checked it has a spiderwork network of threads from the top of the lens, on checking it seems it has fungus a not uncommon problem.

Has anyone encountered this before ? how did you deal with it,and was it expensive to treat ? Any info gratefully received.

I would take it in to get cleaned asap tbh Mossy. If it is fungus it will grow very quickly.

Just out of interest how big is it in comparison to the whole frame Brian and how old is the lens?

I've not noticed it in any of my lenses and a couple (24-105L & 70-200L) are getting on a bit now, I think the 24-105 is just over 6 years old now and my most used lens in all conditions.

Thanks for the replies, the lens was bought in 2008, but because of several health issue, has hardly been used.

The image is blown up to maximum, and unless its at the F22 end and against a light background is not noticeable.

Apparently this problem is not uncommon i countries with high humidity, and ive posted this on a couple of other forums to gauge opinion and to see if anyone else has experienced it.

Must be said one or two others dont think its fungal but may be residue from the original internal condensation. Hope that helps Ken. I am planning to talk to a photography company that gives an estimate of cost before taking on a repair, cost is something that may mean its not worth it.

regards brian.

Thanks for the info Brian, it's something that does worry me a bit but as yet I've not noticed anything with any of my lenses. I hope you get it sorted OK and at a reasonable price.

Cheers Ken, i will let people know how this turns out.

Well its now in to be cleaned, it was indeed fungus, and it will be a couple of weeks before i find out if it has etched the glass.

regards brian.

Glad you caught it fairly early on Brian.

I store all my lenses in Peli 1600 case and hopefully fungus etc is kept at bay.


Bazza

Thanks for the replies, Azz and Bazza, will be getting some of those silica gel bags to place in the bags and cases.