Fungus test

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

Let we make clear case about fungus.
If you have a lens with little fungus and you will not care much to risk it.
Please do following put onto your desk or book shelf without caps don't keep in dark. Let we see how it is growing it should be interesting experience how much we need to worry about that. Nice if you able to put a healthy lens parallel to same place as control.

I did store right lenses with fungus in right humidity 35-45% they didn't grow even with heavily fungus lens in neighbor. I store them in a big dry box.

In my experience same lens get fungus some others don't I have a camera for my bird with lens. Bird lick lens surface and eat on it, lens covered fully with dust and food parts. Two years left still no fungus, environment is frequently humid almost every day around 60%. Lens get normal right in room.

CarbonR · Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 4:50 pm Post subject:

All my Takumars stand on my desk, front cap off, day light incoming, 2 silica gel packs on the desk and I never had a fungus that developped in them, and the already present fungus didn't develop tehmselves Wink

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

CarbonR · Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 4:58 pm Post subject:

In Montpellier we have approximatively 300 days of sun per year Wink

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

LucisPictor · Expire: 2013-12-03

In our area, we have more than 60% often more then 70% and regularly more then 80% r.h. outside, really!

Inside my study, the average rel. humidity is at about 50 to 60%, depending on the season. In winter it's lower because of the heating.

In my cabinet I have a humidity control device but this also often cannot achieve to push the humidtiy under 60% because it's too humid in my office.

But none of my lenses has ever developed fungus!

I have got some lenses that I got with a tiny fungus infection. These lenses I have stored in plastic boxes with silical packs. It did not grow.

Actually, I believe that an ongoing change of humidity from high to low with the possibility of condensation is much worse than a constant humidity of 60%, even though this is regarded as "too high".

If you store lenses in surrounding of 90% rel. hum. you surely will get some mould and later fungus.

Fungus spawn are everywhere! Perhaps apart from the desert. That means that we do not need to care about lens-to-lens infection too much.
Almost every lens carries fungus spawn already.

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

Excalibur · Expire: 2014-04-21

martinsmith99 · Expire: 2013-11-18

I live in a damp old cottage on farmland in the UK. Humidity is shockingly high, so I have 4 dehumidifiers running constantly. My lenses are stored in a clear plastic box with lens caps off and 2 rechargeable gel packs.

Prevention is better than cure.

Anu · Joined: 14 Apr 2009 Posts: 879

I think that people worry way too much about fungus. In my uneducated opinion, if the lens has no pre-existing fungus, it won't develope fungus unless you store your lenses very badly (in a black plastic bag inside a damp garage or so Wink

). If in your home you have closets or drawers you barely ever open and which you never clean and they are not occupied by fungus, why would fungus appear on a lens?

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

mo · Expire: 2016-07-30