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Found a fungus-filled lens at a pawn shop in Portland yesterday

Stopped by this random pawn shop on Hawthorne and saw a beautiful old Nikon 50mm f/1.4 with haze all inside. The guy only wanted $30 for it so I grabbed it, took me about 2 hours to clean the fungus off the rear elements with hydrogen peroxide and UV light. Has anyone else tried cleaning stubborn fungus off multi-coated glass without ruining it?

2 comments

2 Comments

jordan33025d ago

I read somewhere that using a mix of hydrogen peroxide and ammonia under UV light works way better than just hydrogen peroxide alone for really stubborn fungus. Some guy on a photo forum said it breaks down the mycelium faster without etching the coating as long as you don't leave it on longer than 10 minutes. I tried it on an old Pentax 50mm that had haze so bad it looked like someone spilled milk inside it. Worked pretty well but I had to redo a couple of spots where the stuff was caked on. Just be careful with the front element if it has a soft coating, that stuff scratches if you look at it wrong.

maryh9625d ago

the hydrogen peroxide and UV thing worked on a 28mm f2.8 i had from a thrift store in seattle. took like 3 rounds of 10 minute soaks before the haze fully cleared though. just dont scrub at it with anything rough or youll wreck the coating for sure. i used a microfiber cloth and some lens cleaning wipes after each soak.