Is this haze or fungus?

[ndavidson27]

I was in the process of putting up my 4x5 Crown Graphic for sale, when I noticed the front element in the Xenar appeared to be quite hazy. This is what it looks like through a flashlight:

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I can't see any imperfections without the use of a direct flash of light, nor did I see anything peculiar about the negatives I took. I just want to be sure what this is, so that I can describe it accurately when posting it for sale.

Thanks,

[stawastawa]

It would be interesting to see an image without the direct light too.

[pjd]

Looks more like fungus to me. Is it difficult to open up that cell?

[Jim C.]

Fungus would have squiggly threadlike tendrils, the way your picture is it almost looks like someone hit with sandpaper.
Good examples here - http://www.4photos.de/camera-diy/Lens-Fungus.html

Haze would very even and can be cleaned.

[Duolab123]

When I zoomed in on you photo it looks like fungus, you will know, if it's tendrils like was mentioned it's some type of fungi and it can't be fixed. Fungus usually gets in between cell that are cemented together.
I have same situation one of my Crowns has a 135mm Xenar, just a little fungus around the rim, I sent it in for CLA the shop cleaned the shutter and the lenses, he said it wouldn't effect the image because it was so close to the rim.

[Dan Fromm]

I vote for scratches. If the lens is badly scratched, they'll be on the front surface. If you can, look at the front surface with a magnifier and tell us what you see. You might try oblique lighting when you look at it.

[uphereinmytree]

coating loss and scratches and maybe some haze inside

[Steven Tribe]

coating loss and scratches and maybe some haze inside

Yes, but I think it is more degradation of the coating as a result of abrasion (and some scratches!). The first single layer coatings seem very prone to this. Perhaps the boundary between bare glass and still coated glass has created a feeding ground for fungus?

[ndavidson27]

Thanks everyone for their input. I did manage to remove the front cell, and the outermost lens looks fine - so it is within the inner lens. I'll post more photos soon.

[ndavidson27]

After some canned air, brush, and cleaning cloth, its all gone. Must of just been crud of some kind.

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