Fungus in lens. Help.

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harshit143

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I own a nikon 85mm prime lens. Will the cleaning/replacement cover under warranty?
If cleaned though service centres, are there any cons in future(considering in mind they will open the lens).
 
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No. Fungus is not covered in warranty. You need to invest in a dry box to avoid this occuring fast again.

Your best option is - service the affected lens along with the body on which it is used (Not just CMOS cleaning), so that you can avoid spreading the fungus. This is a paid activity, although you can try to haggle and get a discount. Expect a bill of 6-10k. I don't keep a track of the exact costs.

The master service centers (level 3 and level 4) are your best bet, as they will disassemble and assemble the lens in a manner that is least likely to affect the image quality.

But a lens once opened, is still a lens opened.
 
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hi,please don`t be bothered if the growth is not severe.Its not going to affect your photos in any way.Its a fast prime with big aperture.Try to get a dry box to avoid recurrence and kill the existing growth by keeping it exposed mild sun rays.Its a prime,so the fungus can be killed easily.Fungus affected lens will lose some resale value but not the optical quality.
You cannot claim warranty unless the growth is inside any sealed elements.
Fungus spores are present everywhere.No matter how many times you clean your camera,new spores will come in.Only thing that we can do is to devoid them of the conditions-humidity,darkness etc.
 
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I cleaned lenses with fungus, but they were old minolta/zeiss ones.

on the other hand, spider like fungus usually dont leave any artifact on the image. in fact it some times makes it more artistic ;)
 
axeman said:
No. Fungus is not covered in warranty. You need to invest in a dry box to avoid this occuring fast again.

Your best option is - service the affected lens along with the body on which it is used (Not just CMOS cleaning), so that you can avoid spreading the fungus. This is a paid activity, although you can try to haggle and get a discount. Expect a bill of 6-10k. I don't keep a track of the exact costs.

The master service centers (level 3 and level 4) are your best bet, as they will disassemble and assemble the lens in a manner that is least likely to affect the image quality.

But a lens once opened, is still a lens opened.
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Keeping in mind that from now i will place my cam devoid of conditions it was in, will the fungus regrow if i get it cleaned(only the lens). Secondly, How will it affect the lens if its unsealed by nikon for cleaning?
 
harshit143 said:
Keeping in mind that from now i will place my cam devoid of conditions it was in, will the fungus regrow if i get it cleaned(only the lens). Secondly, How will it affect the lens if its unsealed by nikon for cleaning?[/QUOTE
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Fungus wont grow in the absence of those conditions.A dry cabinet is you best bet.Regarding cleaning,it depends on the methods employed.There are sources which say that cleaning would degrade coatings leading to loss of IQ.However service people say that the coatings will not be affected.

You cannot expect another answer from Service people as its their business.Personally i wouldnt touch the lens if the growth is minimal.All my lenses got some growth in them.Only my tamron 17-50 with moderate to heavy growth shows some artifacts,that too only beyond F9.My place has all the ideal conditions for promoting growth.
 
thomasjude47 said:
Fungus wont grow in the absence of those conditions.A dry cabinet is you best bet.Regarding cleaning,it depends on the methods employed.There are sources which say that cleaning would degrade coatings leading to loss of IQ.However service people say that the coatings will not be affected.

You cannot expect another answer from Service people as its their business.Personally i wouldnt touch the lens if the growth is minimal.All my lenses got some growth in them.Only my tamron 17-50 with moderate to heavy growth shows some artifacts,that too only beyond F9.My place has all the ideal conditions for promoting growth.
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RIght now, i have given my lens for cleaning to nikon service centre. After getting it cleaned if i will notice difference in IQ(I have my friend's same lens to compare) then i will sell it off on ebay and buy a new one. Lets hope for the best.
 
harshit143 said:
RIght now, i have given my lens for cleaning to nikon service centre. After getting it cleaned if i will notice difference in IQ(I have my friend's same lens to compare) then i will sell it off on ebay and buy a new one. Lets hope for the best.
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thomasjude47 said:
Fungus wont grow in the absence of those conditions.A dry cabinet is you best bet.Regarding cleaning,it depends on the methods employed.There are sources which say that cleaning would degrade coatings leading to loss of IQ.However service people say that the coatings will not be affected.

You cannot expect another answer from Service people as its their business.Personally i wouldnt touch the lens if the growth is minimal.All my lenses got some growth in them.Only my tamron 17-50 with moderate to heavy growth shows some artifacts,that too only beyond F9.My place has all the ideal conditions for promoting growth.
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1. Coatings DO get affected, you will be able to see this. The reason is that the fungus actually grows on the organic matter in the coating and eats it away. So if you have a spider/ dot type fungus, you will be able to see where it was after cleaning it out. The recommended way to sort this is to change the affected element if the image quality is considered as affected.
2. Can you share a pic of the fungus?
3. Have you given the body used with the lens for servicing?
 
axeman said:
1. Coatings DO get affected, you will be able to see this. The reason is that the fungus actually grows on the organic matter in the coating and eats it away. So if you have a spider/ dot type fungus, you will be able to see where it was after cleaning it out. The recommended way to sort this is to change the affected element if the image quality is considered as affected.
2. Can you share a pic of the fungus?
3. Have you given the body used with the lens for servicing?
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There is a theoretical damage.But it wont be significant for most unless its severe.Coating damage occurs with long standing live fungus.You can easily kill the growth with sunlight or UV.
Its just that most guys are paranoid about this.I have seen many pros using fungus infected lens.Atleast in kerala where lens fungus is almost unavoidable..[DOUBLEPOST=1459186164][/DOUBLEPOST]
IMG_1194[1].JPG


here is a macro with fungus growth.Fungus strands were observed from 3rd month..absolutely no effect on pics.Its razor sharp like it was on day one[DOUBLEPOST=1459186540][/DOUBLEPOST]
IMG_20160209_205947.jpg

Tele zoom with moderate to heavy growth.Some contrast loss observed ,easily corrected with lightroom
 
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axeman said:
1. Coatings DO get affected, you will be able to see this. The reason is that the fungus actually grows on the organic matter in the coating and eats it away. So if you have a spider/ dot type fungus, you will be able to see where it was after cleaning it out. The recommended way to sort this is to change the affected element if the image quality is considered as affected.
2. Can you share a pic of the fungus?
3. Have you given the body used with the lens for servicing?
Click to expand...

I will sell it if i will find the quality has degraded and buy a new one. Is there any way i can find if the coating has been compromised by physical examination?
No i have not given the body. The fungus was not much and it was appearing from sides towards center across circumference. The reason for growth was I was keeping my dslr in the wardrobe which was heavily infected with fungus(Even my clothes used to get covered in fungus). I will keep my Cam in sunlight for sometime as precautionary.[DOUBLEPOST=1459262699][/DOUBLEPOST]Can anyone help me to clean my filter? There were some strands of fungus on the filter as well and people suggest cleaning it with 50/50 solution of ammonia and hydrogen peroxide. Will it affect the coatings? @thomasjude47 @axeman @booo
 
Having issues with fungus growth.Finally decided to get a dry box as there is no other option.Any one got any idea which one to get and from where?? Could see a few overpriced options on ebay and amazon.in. There is no warranty so how long can we expect them to last ??? Also what about silica gel? Are they effective and how long can they be used before we have to replace them ??
 
smoky004 said:
Having issues with fungus growth.Finally decided to get a dry box as there is no other option.Any one got any idea which one to get and from where?? Could see a few overpriced options on ebay and amazon.in. There is no warranty so how long can we expect them to last ??? Also what about silica gel? Are they effective and how long can they be used before we have to replace them ??
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I have made a desi jugad of drybox. Till now I have not faced any issue with it after my lens damage from fungus. I have used an airtight box and put a kilo or two of blue silica(available on ebay) in it. And I store my camera in it when its idle. Till now I have not faced any issue and the rainy season is about to end here. And blue silica can be reused by microwaving it. Cost effective.
 
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smoky004 said:
Nice idea. Can blue silica be used indefinitely or do you have to throw out after a finite no of use ???
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almost all silica gels can be regenerated. meaning, they can be regenerated by heating them in a oven. This will evaporate any moisture which has been captured by silica
 
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smoky004 said:
Nice idea. Can blue silica be used indefinitely or do you have to throw out after a finite no of use ???
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There is a life span but that will be like 15-20 cycles of dehydrating. Blue silica costs about 300/kg from ebay and a kg will be more than enough.

P.S. Blue silica is poisonous. Please handle with care and wash hands if it comes in contact. Keep the silica inside the box within a cotton bag(nowdays every shopkeeper give those bags).
 
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