Just learned that fungus on lens elements can actually etch the glass if left long enough...

Pulled apart a Kodak Retina IIa last week that had a nasty spot of fungus on the rear element... figured I could just clean it off with some hydrogen peroxide and alcohol. Turns out after about 10 years of sitting, the fungus actually ate into the coating and left a permanent haze. Anyone else run into a lens where the damage was way worse than you expected once you got the glass out?

3 comments

3 Comments

emma_lee225d ago

Nah. I've never had fungus damage a lens that bad.

matthewking5d ago

Yeah but I read somewhere that certain types of fungus can actually eat through the coating on a lens element, especially if it sits for years in a damp bag. I'd never seen it myself until I got an old lens from a friend, and the coating was literally peeling off in spots. @emma_lee22 maybe yours were caught early enough that the fungus didn't have time to do real damage. I think a lot of people don't realize how aggressive some of those spores can get once they've got a good food source like the organic coatings on glass. It's scary to think how fast it can spread too, especially if you store your gear in a warm closet.

knight.uma5d ago

Did you ever have one that sat around for like a decade in a damp basement though? I used to think the same thing, that fungus was mostly harmless and just ugly. Then I picked up an old 50mm from a garage sale and the front element looked like it had spider webs etched right into the glass. That lens was toast, no amount of cleaning could fix it.