I always thought lens fungus was a death sentence until this old Canon FD

Had a guy bring in a Canon FD 50mm f/1.4 last month, front element looked like a spiderweb. Usually I'd just say it's toast. But he really wanted it saved, so I spent an hour with a 50/50 mix of hydrogen peroxide and household ammonia on a cotton swab. Cleared about 90% of it off, no etching on the glass. The coating was fine. Now I keep a bottle of the mix in my kit. Anyone else find a good way to tackle bad fungus without wrecking the coating?

2 comments

2 Comments

allen.cole19d ago

Read a forum post once where a guy swore by pure white vinegar on a q-tip for light fungus. Said he let it sit for a minute then wiped it off with a lens cloth. I tried it on an old Super-Takumar and it worked okay for the early stuff, but idk if it would touch the bad spiderweb kind.

jenny58019d ago

Used to write off any lens with heavy fungus. Your post changed my mind. That peroxide and ammonia mix sounds way stronger than the vinegar trick @allen.cole mentioned. Gonna have to try it on a junker lens first. Really glad coatings can survive that kind of clean.