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What is this? Fungus? Have not seen this before!

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cinemakinoeye

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My Canon FD 35mm f/2 lens sat dormant for a while, and when I pulled it out of the Pelican case it was in, it had new things inside.

Is this a variety of Fungus? I've not seen anything exactly like this before.

Is it time to learn how to disassemble and clean lenses?

35mm-f2-lens-issue.jpg
 

OAPOli

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You are referring to the little white dots correct? Those are caused by a degradation of the anti-reflective paint used to coat the outside surface of the lens element. It's also colloquially called "Schneideritis". This doesn't affect the image in any way. One could remove the elements and re-coat them with a specialty paint.
 

IOWA CAMERA GUY

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It's hard to tell exactly from the photo, but those look like water droplets which condensed in the lens as it was moved from cold to warm(er) higher more moist conditions.

The moisture can either condense as an overall fog or sometimes (rare) droplets.

Once or twice of the move from cold to warm, without slow controlled warmup, probably does not matter, but if done repeatedly, the film just builds up.

Dust or particles (this is my assessment, see below) get stuck on the inside surface thanks to the moisture - via surface tension.

I don't recall seeing white spots like these before, in my experience, which stretches back over 50+ years, but who knows.

If it is actually a fungus, it is unusual be cause fungus in lenses usually spreads out in a filmy manner over the surface.

As to "Schneideritis" I suppose it is possible, but inside the lens there is nothing white as I recall, it's black as the 'Black Hole of Calcutta" for good reason.

The only harm it can do is perhaps an unwanted reflection off a particle in an image, but it would likely be way too far out of focus to matter.

Unless you are REALLY experienced, this is NOT a DIY project.

Save yourself a LOT of grief, just send it in for service.
 

xkaes

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My vote is also for "Schneideritis" -- which doesn't just happen in Schneider lenses. I have a Fujinon lens that has it, for example. As mentioned it doesn't affect the images so fuggetaboutit.
 

Ian C

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Schneideritus, definitely.

It doesn't remotely resemble fungus.


It has no effect on the image produced by the lens.
 

koraks

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Save yourself a LOT of grief, just send it in for service.

There's no reason to send in this lens or to intervene in any sort of way. It's as the others said Schneideritis, which is basically harmless.
There doesn't have to be anything white in the lens. The light just bounces off the edges of the lens elements, which are a matte surface which will scatter light. This doesn't happen on the glued surface since the glue fills the gaps and makes an interface that doesn't scatter. A bit like your marble kitchen countertop looking more contrasty when it's wet, or why oiled wood has a richer hue.
 
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cinemakinoeye

cinemakinoeye

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Schneideritis.

There's no reason to send in this lens or to intervene in any sort of way. It's as the others said Schneideritis, which is basically harmless.
There doesn't have to be anything white in the lens. The light just bounces off the edges of the lens elements, which are a matte surface which will scatter light. This doesn't happen on the glued surface since the glue fills the gaps and makes an interface that doesn't scatter. A bit like your marble kitchen countertop looking more contrasty when it's wet, or why oiled wood has a richer hue.

Here is a photo taken at much higher magnification:

_1300065.jpeg
 
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cinemakinoeye

cinemakinoeye

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It's hard to tell exactly from the photo, but those look like water droplets [...] I don't recall seeing white spots like these before, in my experience, which stretches back over 50+ years, but who knows. If it is actually a fungus, it is unusual be cause fungus in lenses usually spreads out in a filmy manner over the surface. As to "Schneideritis" I suppose it is possible, but inside the lens there is nothing white as I recall [...]

Does the second photo confirm Schneideritis in your mind? I'm with you, I've never seen something exactly like this before, but the fact that it is a ring around the outside does have me leaning towards Schneideritis.
 

koraks

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I've never seen something exactly like this before

I don't doubt that, but anyone who has handled lenses with confirmed Schneideritis will recognize it in your lens. While it's much less common in 35mm lenses, it's a very common phenomenon in large format lenses. Hence, people who have experience with large format cameras and lenses usually become aware of the phenomenon sooner or later.

I myself own several lenses that have the same (harmless) issue.

Here's a quick snap of a (Schneider) lens sitting on my workbench:
1763709347655.png

It's hard to get the bubbles in focus with a smartphone, sorry about that. But it's really the same pattern you're seeing (just more severe in this case).
I have better examples, but this is the one I had closest to hand.
 

benjiboy

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, orOAPOli:
You are referring to the little white dots correct? Those are caused by a degradation of the anti-reflective paint used to coat the outside surface of the lens element. It's also colloquially called "Schneideritis". This doesn't affect the image in any way. One could remove the elements and re-coat them with a specialty paint.


It isn't paint, the coatings are severa very thin coats of magnesium fluoride or metal oxides, which are applied by vacuum. You can't do this yourself.
 

OAPOli

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@benjiboy my language was ambiguous. I was referring to the edge-blackening paint used on the cyclindrical surface of the lens elements. Technically anti-reflective but light-absorbing is better.
 
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