I have recently dusted off my old Konica camera and lens. I noticed that my Vivatar 35-105 zoom lens has what looks like dust on the back lens that will not wipe off. Could this be fungus? Perhaps fungus will bring the free ride we Konica users have been getting on good cheap lens to an end. How do you know if you have fungus on your lenes? (Short of obvious mushrooms) Can anything be done about it? Should I isolate my fungus invected lens away from my camera and other lenses, lest they also become infected?

-- Anonymous, November 29, 1999

Answers

David, Your problem could be fungus, however, it may not be. Are you sure that the "dust" is on the outside of the lens? Fungus usually strikes on the internal surfaces of the lens although not always. When one looks for fungus, it usually manifests itself as "hairs" or tendrils, although I have seen it as rather large "dust balls". Fungus starts as spores and look (when you can see it) like tiny dark spots. Is this what you're seeing? BTW, one cause of fungus in a lens is when in colder weather one takes the lens outside to shoot for a while and then comes in the warmer and more humid house without benifit of being kept in the gadget bag for a few hours to warm up. This causes moisture to condense on the lens elements INTERNALLY as well as externally. The effects of this behavior are not seen for quite a while, so, a lot of times, people forget doing just exactly that. I don't know what part of the woods you're from, but, years ago, while living in the Philadelphia, Pa. area, I did this very nasty no-no. Needless to say, the lens did not survive for long. The important thing is to keep moisture OUT! Down here in Georgia, the threat of humidity getting to lenses and camera bodies is very great. If you have caught the fungus soon enough, and it is on the outer element, there is a solution that is used for killing it that was originally used for slides. I forget the name and I don't even know if it is still made. Anybody else know what this stuff is? If it is on the internal elements, I've got some bad news. I wouldn't give up on the lens just yet, though. You do have a goodly amount of time to use it before the fungus gets so bad that it renders the lens useless. Make sure that what you are seeing isn't something like air bubbles that you never noticed before, so you don't do something to cure the problem that doesn't exist. Hope this helps.

Jon

-- Anonymous, November 29, 1999

Fungus not amoung us.

Jon; After reading your discription of what fungus looks like. I don't think I have fungus. It looks to me like there is some dust on the inside of the back lens. I think I sent this lens out for repair. It was a very long time ago and I can't remember clearly. I think it came back working but with dust inside the lens. I would not think that dust would form on the inside of a lens stored in a camera bag for 15 years but maybe so?

-- Anonymous, November 30, 1999

Fungus Among Us

Dave, You wouldn't think so, would you? I can tell you from experience that it can. I once had my Olympus 35 SP in for a shutter repair and when I got it back, I checked the lens out very carefully, because I knew that it required the lens to be disassembled somewhat to reach the guts of the shutter (when it comes to repairs, I am sorry to say, TRUST NO ONE! to be absolutely thorough). It was fine at that time, however, about a year later, sure enough, there was a small amount of dust. I suspect the culprit to have been myself, because I used it in a virtual sandstorm twice. Also, when it comes to SLR lenses, a small (very small) bit of dust can be expected over time anyway, mostly because the lenses are not sealed air-tight, and specks of dust enter almost every time you dis-mount the lens from the body. The same is true, naturally enough, for the body itself. Anyway, so much for my pontificating, go out, use the lens until it dies, and enjoy some photography.

Jon

-- Anonymous, November 30, 1999