[Michael Piziak]

Are there any camera shops, or individuals on this website, that charge to clean fungus from a lens?
My friend has a Pentax 18-250 mm lens that she likes very much and saYS HAS fungus on it.
I told her that this particular lens often costs less than $200 and may not be economically feasable to pay to have cleaned of fungus.


Michael

[hcarvalhoalves]

If the fungus is on the frontal element, disassembling and cleaning isn't super hard and worth giving a shot, it should be fairly similar to the instructions here...

Disassembling and cleaning the Pentax DA 50-200mm WR

...as long as the DA 18-250 doesn't have a screwed ring in the front (the ring with the lens name and specifications printed). If it's screwed, then you need more specific tools to open it (either a rubber ring to unscrew by friction or a lens spanner) and it gets a bit more complicated.

If the fungus in other places, it gets a lot more complicated.

[Dimeman]

I bought a Pentax-A 50mm F2.0 with a bit of fungus and took the back apart and cleaned it. Am waiting for my film to come back to see if it cleaned up.

[marcusBMG]

If it's only a smidgen - don't worry about it, just something to be ignored like a bit of dust. Just make sure the lens is stored in a warm dry place so it doesn't spread.

As already suggested, if its an element at the front or the back that's affected then removing the element to clean may be reasonably straightforward. Anywhere deep in the lens requires extensive disassembly.
To clean off I use a smidgen of meths with a drop of mould and mildew remover in it and a (dried out) lens tissue. Pretty much anything with a bit of detergent will remove and kill the fungus.

[clickclick]

I've done several lenses. If you get the right tools and are methodical, you can take many lenses apart. This article has some good info and a recipe for a cleaning solution:

Fungus: how to prevent growth and remove it from optical components - PMC

[January]

My experience is, unfortunately, not quite as positive. Fungus leaves traces which cannot be completely removed. I clean affected lenses with ethanol. If the infection is limited to just a few little spots, you might be lucky.

Disclaimer: my experience is with very old lenses which were in a very bad condition. Cleaning did not fully save them. For me, fungus is the worst case scenario.

J.

[niceshot]

My experience is, unfortunately, not quite as positive. Fungus leaves traces which cannot be completely removed. I clean affected lenses with ethanol. If the infection is limited to just a few little spots, you might be lucky.

Disclaimer: my experience is with very old lenses which were in a very bad condition. Cleaning did not fully save them. For me, fungus is the worst case scenario.

J.

not always but sometimes that can be the case.

[Hjourzt]

I am currently trying to clean what I think is fungus inside a sealed lens - no way to non-destructively open the elements. I followed this guide, which is about downing it in alcohol in a vacuum chamber.
How to Remove Fungus Between Glued Camera Lens Elements | PetaPixel

This is the vacuum container I used:
amazon.com: SNUGTOPIA Food Storage Vacuum Seal Containers for Fruit, Nut, Candy, Cereals - 8 Pcs, with Reusable Vacuum Seal Bags and Handheld Vacuum Sealer - ST008: Home & Kitchen?tag=pentaxforums-20&
It currently has a 60% off coupon available. When I purchased mine, it had an 80% off coupon! Go figure. Maybe its not popular as a food saver product, but I am now very glad I have this little device.

I had some success, but not total. I am now going to soak the lens for a week or a month, see what happens.

After that, if unsuccessful, I might try with methanol. It seems that methanol is more often recommended.


Can anyone with experience report as to whether methanol is noticeably better at cleaning lenses?

[niceshot]

you cant clean fungus elements that are glued together without separating them first. And you best know what you are doing before you destroy a good lens. You know a lot of people like the unique look these kind lens render. By the way for simple lens cleaning I use kim wipes and 91 percent Isopropyl alcohol., OR Zippo lighter fluid, depends on my mood. Not telling you to do that and if you do It is at your own RISK

[Hjourzt]

you cant clean fungus elements that are glued together without separating them first. And you best know what you are doing before you destroy a good lens. You know a lot of people like the unique look these kind lens render. By the way for simple lens cleaning I use kim wipes and 91 percent Isopropyl alcohol., OR Zippo lighter fluid, depends on my mood. Not telling you to do that and if you do It is at your own RISK

Perhaps one should follow the links and read the article and see the pictures before declaring that something is impossible. It seemed fairly possible when I did it myself.

[gatorguy]

Moderator note: No further disrespect between members will be tolerated.

[MarkJerling]

I think there's two different issues at play here. On the one hand, niceshot is talking about two elements glued together, where those two elements can only be separated by removing the "glue" that holds the two elements together, and that is an extraordinary difficult thing to do. I know some have done it, so it's obviously possible, but also exceedingly difficult to do and then to glue back together afterwards without decentering, image degradation, etc.

Second, there's Hjourzt's technique which appears to have some success with two elements held together in some form of sleeve, where there appears to be a miniscule air space between the glass elements.

Correct me if I'm wrong in my understanding of the two methods.

[Not a Number]

The PentaPixel article is misleading as a lens group can consist of lenses cemented or glued together with the only thing holding the lenses together is the "cement". Or in this case the lenses can be press fitted into a retaining ring of some sort.

In the former case the lenses need to be separated by dissolving or heat softening the binding material. It is unlikely that a cleaning solution would be able to get between the lenses as there should be no gap which would cause bubbles in the binding material ("cement/glue")

In the latter case (retaining ring) the ring usually has to be destroyed as the lenses are too tightly fit to remove the lenses with a vacuum method.

Here is a video where attempting cleaning of a retainer ring group failed:

You Tube

You Tube

It's not to say that the soaking method cannot be successful. In this case it was not.

[MarkJerling]

Aha, thanks! That's a cool video.

[niceshot]

I think there's two different issues at play here. On the one hand, niceshot is talking about two elements glued together, where those two elements can only be separated by removing the "glue" that holds the two elements together, and that is an extraordinary difficult thing to do. I know some have done it, so it's obviously possible, but also exceedingly difficult to do and then to glue back together afterwards without decentering, image degradation, etc.

Second, there's Hjourzt's technique which appears to have some success with two elements held together in some form of sleeve, where there appears to be a miniscule air space between the glass elements.

Correct me if I'm wrong in my understanding of the two methods.

Thx for the clarification, I didnt pick that up.