[aliasant]

Hello, dear impossible member

I have some Fungus problem on my very first lens (sentimental attachment ... ahhhh !) a A50/1.7.
Right now, fungus are doing a circle on the extreme border of the back element, so, there is no consequences for the moment.

My question is what do some of you used to clean fungus, without destroying the coating (Damian ?) ?

Thanks to all of you !

Another and last question : where do you get some K mount you put on "impossible lenses" ?

Clean glass in Acetone. Poor up some in a plastic jar of some kind and gently drop the lenses in for a 5 minute bath.
Then clean using rubberglowes and a gentle fiber cloth.
Do the bathing again if necessary but 1 is often enough.

I get my mounts from broken or just bad lenses I have.
Old Vivitars and similar can often be bought for almost nothing.
Some sells like bundles of old bad lenses just to get rid of them.
Last time I bought 8 lenses in a bag but 5 of them were actually great after some repair
The others I use for parts.

[aurele]

Acetone won't destroy the coating ?

[aliasant]

Acetone won't destroy the coating ?

Noop

At least it hasnt on all lenses I have cleaned and my ol dad aho used to be an optician swears by it.

[aurele]

ok, i'll try it tomorow then

[aurele]

i've "cleaned" my A 50/1.7....

What a mission !

It took me about 45 min to get the right lense and clean it in Acetone, which is btw, exactly what i needed ! It takes out any grease, dust, fungus, or any other annoying things.

But took me 3h15 to "rebuild" my dear lense ! in fact i had hard time with the distance indication on the focus ring.

But now, i know how it works ... and i really want to try some new things like converting lenses

[aliasant]

i've "cleaned" my A 50/1.7....

What a mission !

It took me about 45 min to get the right lense and clean it in Acetone, which is btw, exactly what i needed ! It takes out any grease, dust, fungus, or any other annoying things.

But took me 3h15 to "rebuild" my dear lense ! in fact i had hard time with the distance indication on the focus ring.

But now, i know how it works ... and i really want to try some new things like converting lenses

Welcome!
You are now officially adicted

[aurele]

i'm on a bid for a Zuiko Om 35mm f2 and a Canon fd 50 f1.8 (it's a package).

The i'll try the "easy" impossible and the "hard" impossible

i really love challenge !

[photocanadian]

Good to see this thread is alive ... I am thinking on embarking a full K-mount conversion for a Y/C 50mm f1.7 Zeiss - any thoughts?


I would like also to convert one the my junkier 50s (-K 50 f2 that looks like it survived a nuclear war, no joke) into an all-weather lens. Any ideas on that? I am thinking some sort of black pvc jacket that fits over the lens, but I am not sure what to do with the aperture ring ... Maybe a cheap -F or -FA autofocus lens would be a better idea?

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

Welcome!
You are now officially adicted

To the aceton?

Best thing to clean and kill the fungus would probably be a sulfuric acid solution, but that would definitely harm the coating, so aceton is probably a good compromise, and better against fungus than isopropanol (the usual main ingredients in most commercial lens cleaning liquids).

[photocanadian]

Here is my little secret for removing lens fungus ... while I have never tried acetone, a "lady cream" (Monistat here in Canada, Miconazole Nitrate if you're a chemist) has worked wonders on tough fungus, even removing the fungal "traces" that alcohol (isoprop/kerosene) cleaning left behind.

I have even used it on a surface of a mirror lens, which is very delicate to work with.

So, in my opinion, monistat > acetone (as it's much gentler, look up how/where it gets used if in doubt ).

It smells nicer, too ... haha.

EDIT: This is what Wikipedia has to say about it. Apparently, the rinse agent for E-6 and CR-56 may be similar to the above cream:

Miconazole is an imidazole antifungal agent, developed by Janssen Pharmaceutica, commonly applied topically to the skin or to mucus membranes to cure fungal infections. It works by inhibiting the synthesis of ergosterol, a critical component of fungal cell membranes. It can also be used against certain species of Leishmania protozoa which are a type of unicellular parasite that also contain ergosterol in their cell membranes. In addition to its antifungal and antiparasitic actions, it also has some limited antibacterial properties. It is marketed in various formulations under various brand names.
Miconazole is also used in Ektachrome film developing in the final rinse of the Kodak E-6 process and similar Fuji CR-56 process, replacing formaldehyde. Fuji Hunt also includes miconazole as a final rinse additive in their formulation of the C-41RA rapid access color negative developing process.

To the aceton?

Best thing to clean and kill the fungus would probably be a sulfuric acid solution, but that would definitely harm the coating, so aceton is probably a good compromise, and better against fungus than isopropanol (the usual main ingredients in most commercial lens cleaning liquids).

[aurele]

- in fact i used acetone, mainly because the fungus was doing a ring on the extreme border of the last back element. and so i didn't need to remove any trace of fungus, plus i had acetone in my house.

- No i'm not addicted to acetone

- This thread is a very good base of intel for me, because i'm like everyday on the bay (i'm in a anonymous ebay compulsive buyer group therapie ...), and i'm going to try some change on the FD mount (yeeeeeaaaah !)

[photocanadian]

Totally agree, this a great thread if you enjoy hacking lenses (which I do, once in a while).

I think I posted some FD->P/K conversion pictures for the Canon SSC 50mm/f1.2 if you ever need some pointers.

- in fact i used acetone, mainly because the fungus was doing a ring on the extreme border of the last back element. and so i didn't need to remove any trace of fungus, plus i had acetone in my house.

- No i'm not addicted to acetone

- This thread is a very good base of intel for me, because i'm like everyday on the bay (i'm in a anonymous ebay compulsive buyer group therapie ...), and i'm going to try some change on the FD mount (yeeeeeaaaah !)

[aurele]

I think I posted some FD->P/K conversion pictures for the Canon SSC 50mm/f1.2 if you ever need some pointers.

OOOOOHHHHH

i saw a Canon 50 f1.2 two days ago on ebay (France) for 20€ !!!!! I will jump on it ! ok, now it's 45€

edit : i still have a question : where do you get all the K mount needed to hack those lens ? My next try is an Olympus 30mm f2 , but all the M42 to K are not large to be screw in the place of the actual mount.
So i was wondering "how" ?!

[photocanadian]

I find the P/K mounts from various bad-quality/broken ("for parts") zoom lenses are perfect if the m42->K adapter does not do the job. Ebay, local "for-sale" forums or as the Brits call it a "boot sale" may be a good source.
Cheers.

OOOOOHHHHH

i saw a Canon 50 f1.2 two days ago on ebay (France) for 20€ !!!!! I will jump on it ! ok, now it's 45€

edit : i still have a question : where do you get all the K mount needed to hack those lens ? My next try is an Olympus 30mm f2 , but all the M42 to K are not large to be screw in the place of the actual mount.
So i was wondering "how" ?!

[aurele]

i'm going to get as much as i can 1€ ebay items in PK mount