Does my new lens have fungus/mold ?

[Nicol Verheem]

Hi all

First of, thanks for the great site. Becuase of all I learned surfing here I took the plunge in LF by buying a Arca Swiss F 4x5 outfit on that auction site. Heaps of fun so far.

After bidding unsuccessfully on a dozen 90mm lenses, I bought a Rodenstock Grandagon 90mm f6.8 MC yesterday from a local 2nd hand dealer. He was great and dropped $80 of his list to bring it in line with what I was bidding, to $420. The lens is mint i.t.o. surface, but only this morning I noticed under bright light there seems to be tiny white bubbles in between two of the front elements.

I posted some close-ups here (http://verheem.com/fungus.htm) .

I have never seen mold, I live in Socal and have been taking great care of all my 35mm glass, so I'm not sure if this is what it looks like, or how bad it is. I searched this site and read a couple of hairy suggestions on how to DIY, but not sure if I have the appetite for that.

Should I return it ? Should I demand it CLA'ed ? Should I live with it ? I have a full 90 day warrantee but I'd much rather keep the lens / fix it if this is not too serious - I have been hunting for a long time.

Any advise greatly appreciated !

Thanks
Nicol

[John_4185]

From something similar I had, it looks like the black-out paint on the backside of the part of the lens that rests against the barrel shoulder is corrupt.

At least that's my experience with the same thing on one of my lenses. I removed the front lens and found that it could not be 'patched' by repainting over the back of the paint - the corruption was the frontmost interface of the paint & glass. The paint on the rear was still opaque.

In my experience, that comes under repair or replacement, not a CLA.

[Dean Tomasula]

It's known as "Schneider-itis." It happens to Schneider lenses frequently. Actually, it happens to most lenses eventually. The interior coatings start to break down with age.

[Capocheny]

Nicol,

Welcome to LF land... :)

Judging from the image that you posted, it isn't mould nor is it separation. This "appears" to be afflicted with Schneideritis... very common in many Schneider lenses. All it is is the paint delaminating from the interior aspect of the barrel.

It's the same look in my Schneider 210 and 360...

It's nothing to worry about and it certainly won't impact on the sharpness or contrast of the images.

My advice is for you to shoot some pictures with it... it'll give you a peace of mind when your images come back unaffected.

Cheers

[Joseph O'Neil]

Ditto on the "Schneideritis" diagnosis. I have a 180mm lens with the same white spots, it has never affected the image, at least, none I can see.

I have seen fungus on a lens before, and IMO, this is not it.

enjoy your lens
joe

[Dan Fromm]

Rodenstockitis. I have a 58/5.6 Grandagon with the same white spots.

Boyeritis. Every Boyer lens I've owned has the same.

[Dominique Cesari]

Yes, Schneideritis
I have a Schneider LF, and two Olympus that are affected.

The fungus is different, you may look at photographs on my page : http://cesarigd.club.fr/photo2.htm
(in French "champignons", in the second part of the page)

[Nicol Verheem]

Thanks for all the help. I'll keep it, and trust that the spots are like the dust behind the front elements of my 35mm zooms - painful to look at, but harmless to the image.

I shot a couple slides with it, I still have to process them. I'll upload the results shortly after my return from New England - I'm going fall colors shooting for a week.

Thanks again !

Nicol