Hi guys, hopefully no one minds but this question is not specific to Pentax - the lens I am concerned with is a Summarit, but decided to see about posting in your forums b/c I have found lots of useful info here in the past. If there is a thread location more proper for this post just let me know and I'll move it or contact an admin to have them move it.
I'm having trouble identifying the trouble with this lens, been Googling and researching for a couple of days on haze, fungus, being able to tell the difference, different tests, between forums and Youtube videos I am pretty fungused out. What I see doesn't look like either to me, maybe it is related to separation? Not sure. It doesn't really look fibrous like fungi, it's not white. It looks more oily to me, and it is right behind the iris. It doesn't look bubbly or smoky though either, and doesn't show as a lightening spot when shining a light through against a dark background (apparently smoky haze should should from this as light refracted spots).
Looking straight through the lens is crystal clear, but catch it in the right angle and it shows - dead center, and then also forming a ring around that particular lens element. If it is fungal, it doesn't look like any of the many (probably a hundred or two) pictures I've looked at on Google.