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Re: [OM] there is an alien in my lens!!!

Subject: Re: [OM] there is an alien in my lens!!!
From: Dave Haynie <dhaynie@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 15:54:30 -0500 (EST)
On Fri, 15 Jan 1999 18:47:05 +0200, Alexander <mediadyne@xxxxxx> jammed all 
night, and by sunrise was overheard remarking:

> So, I got home, opened up the lens...
> You wont believe this! There is something groing inside the optics! there are
> some greenish yellow looking stuff with lots of dots in it! Has anyone ever
> heard of anything like this? 

You got yourself a fungus there, pal. You find this in flea market
lenses from time to time, and honest sellers on e-bay will tell you if
something they're selling has any. It usually results from the lens
being stores in a damp attic or cellar, not the kind of place you would
normally store a prized possession (which, of course, you probably
wouldn't be selling). 

> I would have thought it was funny, but I have a baby in the house...

I wouldn't let anything unknown near a baby, just to be safe. And
because babies certainly can be affected by things that don't bother you
and me. I haven't heard it from a doctor or the fungus guy from the
local university, but I woudln't expect to be any better or worse than
the stuff that grows on bathroom walls or bad cheese. Of course, like
mushrooms, there are bound to be different kinds of fungus around, some
may well be hazardous. 

> Can bacteria or other living organisms grow in a lens?

Yup. 

> I am sure the lens is useless but is this suppose to happen? Could the
> lens have broken up and something went in and "evolved"?

I got a little fungus out of a flea market lens once, a few year back,
and it has worked just fine ever since, with no repeat "infection". Of
course, you can use cleaners on a lens that you wouldn't want to use on
your body. If it's just a little fungus, you might try putting it under
a UV light for week (the kind YOU don't want to be around or look at --
I have these for erasing UV-Erasable PROM memories in the lab). If you
have substantial fungus, you'll have to open 'er up and physically clean
the lens. You'll need a spanner, and stead hands. But if you're
mechanically inclined, and can do it away from the baby, it might be a
good experience -- you don't have all that much to loose here. 

If you can't do that, a repair shop would probabably do it for $50-$100,
though with substantial fungus, they wouldn't likely guarantee the
condition of the glass. Substantial fungus can potentially eat lens
coatings, etch glass, corrode metal parts, etc. So if it's bad, it's
probably not worth another $100. Though if I had a 50mm 1.2 with fungus,
I would definitely get out my spanner and take that bad boy apart. 

--
Dave Haynie  | V.P. Technology, Met@box Infonet, AG |  http://www.metabox.de
Be Dev #2024 | NB851 Powered! | Amiga 2000, 3000, 4000, PIOS One



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