I have an old 1.5/50 Summarit which has developed fungus. Do you think it may become dangerous for the camera, i.e. can fungus get into the body? Thank you. J.

-- Juergen Schliehe (juergen.schliehe@t-online.de), December 29, 2001

Answers

No, it won't spread into the body, but it can get worse in the lens. Best to have that lens diassembled and cleaned by a professional with a colimeter. For discussion of these issues, this is a good site: lens faults.

-- Phil Stiles (stiles@metrocast.net), December 29, 2001.

Great. Thanks to that link you provided, I come to find out that my old 1955 Leica Summie is probably radioactive.

Geez... :^(

-- Steve Hoffman (shoffman2@socal.rr.con), December 29, 2001.

Juergen:

Fungi are remarkably versatile creatures. There are strains that will dissolve asphalt shingles from your house [problem in the south] and others that will grow in jet fuel [a problem in developing high speed aircraft]. I have one strain that will grow on solder flux and destroy copper pipes.

The ones that cause problems in optics are often Aspergillus species. They grow on the light film of oil and other debris that collects on the elements. In most cases, they cause damage because they excrete either organic acids or bases [depends on the species] which etch the glass. You should send it for examination; see if it is beyond repair. I have a 300 mm lens for my 8 x 10 that was stored in the gulf region for 10 y. It can either be used for really impressionistic photos or for frosted glass in the bathroom ;0)))

Art

-- Art (AKarr90975@aol.com), December 29, 2001.

People often claim the Leica lenses are delicious, well the fungi seem to agree. Older softer lens coatings....yum!

-- Joel Matherson (joel_2000@hotmail.com), December 30, 2001.

Have seen fungus on the body of a FM2T, F3 and a Rollei TLR. Fungus certainly can get into a body. Seems to love the black coating. If a lens has fungus it would be wise isolate it. It is amazing what they can thrive on.

When I was starting out in photography I didn't realise the dangers and speed of fungus. Destroyed my F3 and some lenses which I stored unprotected in a drawer.

After learning my lesson, I store all my equipment in an airtight case packed with silica gel (making sure they have not turned pink). Have not had a problem since.

-- Yip (koklok@krdl.org.sg), December 30, 2001.

I have a fridge with a "cool" (not very cold compartment). Any problem in keeping some of my lenses there while I travel for 4-5 months? I did it Sep-Nov last year.

--Mitch Bangkok

-- Mitch Alland (malland@mac.com), January 04, 2002.

Juergen,

The risk is not to the camera but to the surfaces of the lens elements in your 1.5/50 Summarit! The fungus may have already gone too far but, if not, it needs to be stopped from growing any worse and, preferably, cleaned off. If it has gone too far, there will be damage that can't be fixed. Best of luck!

Mitch,

Keeping lenses in a fridge sounds wrong to me. The usual wisdom is to keep them in a dry place with good ventilation or in a sealed box with fresh silica gel.

-- Ray Moth (ray_moth@yahoo.com), January 04, 2002.

Keeping lenses in a fridge is definitely the worst thing you can do. As Ray said, keep them in a good dry place with lots of air around. Even better is a sealed box with fresh silica gel.

Fungus kept in a fridge will just let them sleep and go on living. Besides, after taking lenses out of a fridge, they'll more likely draw in condensed humidity/moisture. Hot, dry air will kill funguses more easily, if at all.

Unfortunately the punch line here is "usually not at all".

sounds wrong to me. The usual wisdom is to keep th

-- Michael Kastner (kastner@zedat.fu-berlin.de), January 04, 2002.

Oops, sorry, cut that last line (sounds wrong to me. The usual wisdom is to keep th) for me. Don't paste it anywhere!

-- Michael Kastner (kastner@zedat.fu-berlin.de), January 04, 2002.