[Kryeon]

Hi,

I bought a Tokina 17mm RMC f/3.5 on ebay for my K1.
It's on a rear element lens and these kind of bubbles or dust seems to spread everywhere.
The seller told me that there were nothing except dust, but it seems like strange dust to me ? "There is no separation, no fungus and no haze. Due to age there are tiny dust particles inside."

Thanks for your help.

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[ramseybuckeye]

I would say there is a lot of fungus there, hard to tell but on the one photo possibly balsam separation. I can't tell from the photo, but the fungus may only be on the front element, possibly you can clean it off.

[pres589]

Fungus. Odd cluster of somethings going on in that last image that might be separation. You can use as-is and expect not great image quality, clean it yourself with all of the fun and risk involved, or send it out to be cleaned and relubed and all of the fun and risk involved in that + costs.


Or fight the seller for lying about the condition of the lens and get your money back. I like that idea the most but I know it's not always easy to do.

[mtgmansf]

Hi,

I bought a Tokina 17mm RMC f/3.5 on ebay for my K1.
It's on a rear element lens and these kind of bubbles or dust seems to spread everywhere.
The seller told me that there were nothing except dust, but it seems like strange dust to me ? "There is no separation, no fungus and no haze. Due to age there are tiny dust particles inside."

Thanks for your help.

You have, clearly and unfortunately, been completely ripped-off. That is very serious fungus and fog that no one could have missed! Start a return with photos on Ebay as soon as possible and give this seller the review they deserve. Do the review first, then the return... (Note, Fog and Fungus appears to be in all elements, so trying to clean is futile!)

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Last edited by mtgmansf; 01-30-2021 at 09:40 AM.

[stevebrot]

Looks like a lot of particles with a halo of something else along with a lot of something else. Without having the lens in hand, it is hard to say what the something else, might be. That said, diffuse blotches of haze are probably not congruent with sharp crisp photos. Refund time?


Steve

[pepperberry farm]

send it back

[Viking42]

Quarantine being the word of the year, you must do that with this lens! Seal it in a ziploc bag and do not allow it to come near your other lenses or you risk spreading the fungus to them. So don't store it in the same cabinet or bag with any of your other photo gear. Keep it well away.

Good luck with the refund! Hope it works out for you.

[UncleVanya]

Quarantine being the word of the year, you must do that with this lens! Seal it in a ziploc bag and do not allow it to come near your other lenses or you risk spreading the fungus to them. So don't store it in the same cabinet or bag with any of your other photo gear. Keep it well away.

Good luck with the refund! Hope it works out for you.

I hesitate to say this, but no. It’s probably low risk as fungus is everywhere, the risk would be high only if the conditions in your room are ideal for growing fungus and if you had somehow eradicated all fungal spores and found a way to keep them out. (Very unlikely).

Here’s a more nuanced response: fungal infections on camera lenses and what you should know.

[stevebrot]

I hesitate to say this, but no.

I hate to say this, but not all fungus can grow on glass* and even if they could, very few of us would store our lenses in the same bag as moldy bread. If someone wants to use full caution or suggest such, there is no harm done. I personally bag moldy bodies and lenses until I have dealt with the problem.


Steve

* Strangely, I have actual experience with this but the full story would be off topic.

[Henrico]

I cleaned some manual SMC lenses myself, I bought me a lens tool spanner at Alibaba for little. When you have some fine technical skills and can be patient it is not that difficult. Take photo's of your disassembling steps. Most lens elements can be easily removed, clean everything with fine tissues and pure alcohol and wrap it up with a clean cotton handkerchief. The coatings mostly are very tough and will not be much damaged of this cleaning. Also clean the inner metal parts as much as possible with alcohol, be careful with the aperture blades. Blow out all the dust with a warm hair dryer. The inner dirt is often a mixture of moisture, fungus, dust and evaporated oil. Re-assemble it the other way around, when you are lucky your lens is as new. In case you mess it up you have a nice press papier...

[UncleVanya]

I hate to say this, but not all fungus can grow on glass* and even if they could, very few of us would store our lenses in the same bag as moldy bread. If someone wants to use full caution or suggest such, there is no harm done. I personally bag moldy bodies and lenses until I have dealt with the problem.


Steve

* Strangely, I have actual experience with this but the full story would be off topic.

I have had moldy lenses and bodies and filters and even bodies purchased from others or given to me. All have been unable to infect anything in my ac and heat controlled house. This spans tens of years.

But fear of mold is common in this hobby. Look if people want to be worried they can be. But spreading a fear that seems to not have consensus isn’t much of a service to people - this Is why I linked a source that discusses this in depth - it is hard to cover in a single post.

In many ways this is like the question of radioactive lenses. The data isn’t very easy to get and conclusions are a bit all over the place. Each of us needs to evaluate the risk vs our own tolerance but not treat it as a black and white issue. Sorry if it seemed I was pushing against the possibility of problems - I have had items from my past get fungus but all were inappropriately stored.

[stevebrot]

But fear of mold is common in this hobby. Look if people want to be worried they can be. But spreading a fear that seems to not have consensus isn’t much of a service to people - this Is why I linked a source that discusses this in depth - it is hard to cover in a single post.

Indeed. There are multiple long threads on this site on the subject.

I am lucky in that despite living in a wet region, inside humidity and mold are both fairly low year-round even without AC. As a result, I have been able to do photography for decades with little thought given to fungus. It was not until I started buying from the East Coast and Southern U.S. that I started getting moldy stuff, something that has tempered my enthusiasm to possible moving there. My practice of bagging is simply from an abundance of caution; that and the fact that I am allergic to many molds and have reacted to some purchases*!


Steve

* Real leather camera covers and cases...

[Viking42]

But fear of mold is common in this hobby. Look if people want to be worried they can be. But spreading a fear that seems to not have consensus isn’t much of a service to people

Respectfully, urging caution is hardly to be equated to fear mongering. After all, putting an infected lens in a plastic bag is certainly not an inconvenience or hardship. Better safe than sorry.

[UncleVanya]

Respectfully, urging caution is hardly to be equated to fear mongering. After all, putting an infected lens in a plastic bag is certainly not an inconvenience or hardship. Better safe than sorry.

Putting a lens in a bag can increase the fungus present if you get moisture trapped. So the advice is not without risk. However my point was simply that this area is not clear and providing a source rather than making a claim without a lot of qualifications isn't the best advice - however it isn't fear mongering and I apologize if that's what I seemed to be saying. I think you need to be very clear about these things as they shape people's views. I am keenly aware of how social media has exploded the no facts model and maybe I'm being overly sensitive to this when it wasn't a big deal. (Clearly I'm not saying you were posting without facts - I want to be clear that I may be overly sensitized to that and looking for issues where none exist.)