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Oh dear. Peculiar fabric-like strands on the inside of front and real elements of an SK 120N. Any ideas?

Whisp3r

Whisp3r

Well-known member
Hi all! Okay, so I could use your advice on what's happening here all of a sudden :eek:

Last July, I bought an SK 120N in Cambo mount from a retired professional photographer. Previously, I also bought an SK 72L from the same fellow. I was planning to have both lenses converted to R-mount but then I was able to get hold of an SK 60XL, which consumed my entire budget for photo gear in 2024 :LOL:

Both lenses were stored in my cupboard, next to each other, front and rear cap in place and shutter closed. Today, I took both of them out because I wanted so see if I would be able to focus to infinity using various extension rings. I was able to focus the 72L, which was nice. BUT, when I started mounting the 120N to the rings, I suddenly noticed something that wasn't there before. It's hard to describe so I took some photos with my iPhone.

How bad is this? It looks pretty bad to me, I have no idea what happened. The 72L, which was stored in exactly the same way, doesn't show any of this. I have close to zero experience with these lenses so hopefully y'all can impart some wisdom. Thanks for chiming in!


IMG_8441.jpg IMG_8442.jpg IMG_8443.jpg
 
rdeloe

rdeloe

Well-known member
That definitely looks like fungus.

If it wasn't there last July, then you might be able to clean it off and be lucky that it didn't damage the glass. Left long enough, fungus can leave damage that cleaning does not remove.
 
Whisp3r

Whisp3r

Well-known member
Paul Spinnler said:
en.wikipedia.org

Lens fungus - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

That cat's paw didn't go unnoticed!

In any case - what temperature / humidity do you have in your cupboard?
Click to expand...
Yeah, those paws usually appear when one least expects it :ROFLMAO: Curiosity always gets the better of those rascals.

Temperature in the room would be around 21 in the evening, and around 16-18 during the rest of the day. Humidity in the room always around 55-60 because I have a lot of plants so I'm using a humidifier to keep them happy.

There are six lenses in that cupboard, the 120N is the only one showing the fungus. Guess I'm lucky, I'll move the lenses to a different space at once.
 
A

Alkibiades

Well-known member
best pictures of fungus i ever seen.
the lenaes can be clean with alcohol but only when the fungus is not inside the glued elements, that mean betwean the first and second glass.
you shold do it now, when you wait too long the fungus will distroy the coutings and cant be removed any more
 
P

Paul Spinnler

Well-known member
Whisp3r said:
Temperature in the room would be around 21 in the evening, and around 16-18 during the rest of the day. Humidity in the room always around 55-60 because I have a lot of plants so I'm using a humidifier to keep them happy.
Click to expand...
There you go - by making it cozy for your plants, you also made it cozy for the fungus!
 
Whisp3r

Whisp3r

Well-known member
rdeloe said:
That definitely looks like fungus.

If it wasn't there last July, then you might be able to clean it off and be lucky that it didn't damage the glass. Left long enough, fungus can leave damage that cleaning does not remove.
Click to expand...
Indeed, I think I even took it out of the cupboard a couple of times between July and September, I didn't notice anything but honestly I wasn't paying too much attention either.

It's been getting colder over here so I've started heating up the house again in the evening since November, maybe that triggered something?

I'll probably end up making it worse by using a cleaning solution that will damage the coating, or something along those lines. I'll contact Greiner tomorrow and will ship the lens off to them as soon as possible. Hopefully the optics can be saved.
 
rdeloe

rdeloe

Well-known member
Whisp3r said:
Indeed, I think I even took it out of the cupboard a couple of times between July and September, I didn't notice anything but honestly I wasn't paying too much attention either.

It's been getting colder over here so I've started heating up the house again in the evening since November, maybe that triggered something?

I'll probably end up making it worse by using a cleaning solution that will damage the coating, or something along those lines. I'll contact Greiner tomorrow and will ship the lens off to them as soon as possible. Hopefully the optics can be saved.
Click to expand...
Before you send it off to a shop, have a look at this site on cleaning fungus: https://richardhaw.com/2016/03/27/repair-fungus-cleaning/

Even if you decide not to do it yourself (which is a good idea unless you're really skilled at lens repair!), this site will give you enough knowledge to probe whether the shop you're taking it to knows what they are doing.
 
rdeloe

rdeloe

Well-known member
+1 for dry cabinet.

Also, whatever else you had with those lenses may now have fungus, even if you can't see it yet. Sunlight is your friend. If you kill the spores before you can see them, then you'll be fine.
 
G

glaiben

Active member
Paul Spinnler said:
How common is this - I am now thinking of checking all my lenses ... and or order a hydrometer.

Is this common or more the exception?
Click to expand...
Dark, humid and still air is a perfect set up for the growth of mold/fungus. IIRC, ideal relative humidity for gear is 45-55% and I try to keep it closer to the lower number.
 
Steve Hendrix

Steve Hendrix

Well-known member
Paul Spinnler said:
How common is this - I am now thinking of checking all my lenses ... and or order a hydrometer.

Is this common or more the exception?
Click to expand...
When it happens, it's not good. Sometimes it can be hard to completely eradicate fungus without it coming back again and again. But - I've never seen it on any of the lenses that we've had in our rental inventory, and the majority of those lenses have been on our shelf for many, many years. Just a standard room, no de-humidification happening. Of course, we could just be lucky.

To be on the safe side isn't a bad plan.


Steve Hendrix/CI
 
Whisp3r

Whisp3r

Well-known member
rdeloe said:
Before you send it off to a shop, have a look at this site on cleaning fungus: https://richardhaw.com/2016/03/27/repair-fungus-cleaning/

Even if you decide not to do it yourself (which is a good idea unless you're really skilled at lens repair!), this site will give you enough knowledge to probe whether the shop you're taking it to knows what they are doing.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link! Indeed, I'm not the type to try and solve a problem without possessing the necessary skills, from past experience I already know this would definitely not end well. But I learned something interesting from the article you are referring to: the fungus can also affect the metal, and I think this is also the case on the rear element of my lens. It's crazy how fast it spread. Interesting thing: I have five more lenses in that very same cupboard. An SK 72L, a Pentax-FA 645 120mm, a Pentax-A 645 75mm, a Mamiya G 75mm and a Panasonic-Leica 25mm. Only the SK 120L has this issue, so I wonder what's different about this lens.
 
Whisp3r

Whisp3r

Well-known member
rdeloe said:
+1 for dry cabinet.

Also, whatever else you had with those lenses may now have fungus, even if you can't see it yet. Sunlight is your friend. If you kill the spores before you can see them, then you'll be fine.
Click to expand...
Oh dear, see my other post. So the other stuff might be infected as well, even though there are no visible indicators yet. I'll place them all in sunlight right away.
 
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