Mould can turn a top of the line lens into nothing more than a bulky paperweight. Think it won’t happen to you? Think again…
I had a nasty shock today when I went to go sell a lens.
The piece in question was an old Nikon 18-200mm VR that had simply fallen out of use and needed to be got rid of to feed my raging pachinko habit, amongst other things. It was in pretty good condition for all of the things it had been through, from sub-zero temperatures in Hokkaido to sweltering heat in the Malaysian jungle, and the only sign of wear was a bit of peeling rubber on the zoom ring. There were also a few flecks of dust that had managed to get under the front element but that’s hardly surprising given the many bits that rotate and telescope.
So, this afternoon I went to one of my favourite places to sell gear: Kitamura Camera, which is a tiny little place in the Yaesu Underground right underneath Tokyo Station. It’s a great shop run by a very personable elderly fellow and there are always some Hasselblads and Rolleis in the cabinets for good prices. I’ll do a review on this store someday in the future.
Anyway, I mentioned that I wanted to sell the lens, and he inspected it with a growing amount of teeth-sucking and muttering that I’ve come to be associated with bad news over my years in Japan. ‘We can’t take it‘ he declared, plunking it on the counter. ‘It’s growing mould‘. At that point my hopes of pachinko that day all but evaporated, as well as the prospect of getting any money at all from that lens.
Here’s the shot of the lens with the mould, if you didn’t know what it looked like. It’s in the red box. This miniscule amount of mould turned a 90,000yen lens into a 0 yen lens.
.
Now, I don’t want to make a big deal out of this, but mould will REALLY F*CK UP YOUR GEAR. Think it won’t happen to you? You better reconsider that notion before one for your $1000+ lenses starts sprouting fuzz and plummets in value. As we all know, mould requires dark and moist conditions to grow, and where do we usually keep our lenses when they’re not in use – that’s right, inside our sweaty, dusty camera bags, **with the front and rear covers on**! Now the front and rear covers are meant to prevent accidental scratches and so on, but what they also do is trap dust that’s already inside and allows the spores to multiply happily in the darkness. Ideal conditions for mould. And even if you don’t keep your lenses in your camera bag, with the hot and humid Japanese summer on the way, I wouldn’t take my chances.
So – prevention. Chances are if your lens has already sprouted then it’s too late, but the best way to prevent mould is to get some UV light into it regularly. In other words, sunlight. Use your lenses on a daily basis and you probably won’t have a problem with mould. This is good thing for pros or shooters with only a few lenses. It’s the weekend warriors, collectors and owners of ridiculously large collections of lenses who are in trouble.
Short of putting your lenses into the refrigerator, there are two options: dry boxes
If you’ve already got a mouldy lens then you’re just going to have to take the uppercut and pay for the cleaning, which is more expensive the higher the quality of the lens. Sorry guys, it’s either that or watch it turn slowly into Don King’s hair-do. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
May 6th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
Damn Alfie that sucks. I never really liked the 18-200mm, but you could have used that to fund the D700! What are you going to do with it now? I suppose getting it cleaned would be un-economical, being more expensive than the second hand value. Have you tried shooting with it, and is the fungus really noticable on actual frames? I’m guessing that the whole fungus thing is less of a problem on Pro lenses as they tend to be environmentally sealed. Not seen that problem too often here as the UK doesn’t really get that humid to be much of a problem (well it certainly is not hot enough…it’s just cold and rains lots).
May 7th, 2009 at 10:11 am
James. This is not my article. My buddy, Irwin, posted it. I feel his pain with the loss of trade-in value. However, as you may be aware, most of my comments about this lens are unpublishable. I owned it for seven days before returning it to the shop. Irwin’s points here are very valid though and this is really more of a problem in tropical types of climate, obviously. I mean, advice to ‘get out in the sunlight and shoot’ just wouldn’t work in the UK either, would it?
May 7th, 2009 at 10:53 am
Hey James
Apparently the higher quality pro Nikon G lenses are quite susceptible to the mould, as they are coated with something they like to eat. Not exactly ideal since they tend to cost $1500+. Something to keep in mind.
By the way the mould isn’t noticable on actual frames…yet. I have a feeling it will end up on interfering with the AF soon though.
May 9th, 2009 at 9:02 am
nice article Irwin. Im so sorry that happened…. Mould is evil, I protect my lenses like they were my babies, but when your babies get eaten by mould it is not very nice..
would it do any help to dust your camera bag with fungicide and put silica gel in it??
or spray it with dettol…
I heard about the new nikon lenses being yummy for mould as well..mad that some camera gear from 50 years back can survive, I suppose you were just really unlucky..sorry man
May 10th, 2009 at 12:26 am
I’m a weekend warrior type so this is very useful info for me.
Thanks!
May 10th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Hunter, the problem was I left the 18-200mm alone for weeks at a time, so it is completely my fault. Summer in Japan will get your lens if you don’t care for it properly, and I don’t want to put my pro gear in the hands of luck. I bought a dry cabinet off Amazon and have my gear (and some wine
stored in there
May 14th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Thanks for the tip. I had a short battle with mold when I first moved here so I’m aware how much more of a problem this is in Japan. It’s been under control since, but I went ahead and ordered a small dry cabinet. Even if it just saves my kit lenses it will be worth it. They weren’t as expensive as I expected.
May 14th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
great post!
i fret terribly about mould, but don’t really know how to prevent it! i’ll use this as an excuse to get my camera out every day
June 4th, 2009 at 7:50 am
Just pick up a dehumidifier at Yamada Denki. Also useful when the missus is drying the washing inside during monsoon season.
June 24th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
Look at it this way- the cost of one electric dryer would’ve been less than the money lost on that lens.
I don’t have an electrical unit, but have considered one. Currently using dryboxes (and yes, a PITA to pay attn to/restock). One has to consider the cost of electricity vs. the cost of new silica packs as well.
Have actually been thinking about making a custom type of drybox and selling it. I find the current types not very suitable for small habitats. The electric ones are a bit big and unwieldy as well. Business opportunity? Thinking about it.
July 7th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
irwin – what is the ideal temperature and humidity for the cabinet? i bought one recently and am not sure what is the best setting.
July 9th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
hey charlie – the temperature is somewhat less important than the humidity – just make sure it’s below 50% humidity and you should be fine
August 6th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
As Irwin has stated above, its not the temp that is the issue, its the humidity. Here in Singapore, the humidity never drops below 70%, which is great for fungi and mould, but not at all good for camera lenses. Keep the humidity between 40-60% and you’ll be fine. Any lower and rubber and leather starts to dry out.
On a related note, I’ve recently taken apart a Bronica 150mm. It had horrendous mould creeping across the inside elements, plus old foam bits(why Bronica puts foam inside a lens is beyond my levels of comprehension). Took me 2 hours, but it has assembled back nicely, with minor cleaning marks to show for it.
May want to give it a go if its not economical to get a CLA done.
Nice site, useful for a vintage camera nut like myself who is heading to Japan in Oct.
Thanks and regards,
ken
November 17th, 2009 at 10:54 am
After failure of an AF-S NIKKOR 18-135mm 1;3.5-5.6G ED to AutoFocus, I begin looking through my circa 1967 NIKKOR Lens for a substitute while the failed lens was in the shop for repair.
Of the seven circa 1967 Nikkor lenses, only one of these non-CPU Lenses would allow automatic exposure metering with the D200 (50mm 1:2). However, a giant fungus had developed in the center of the lens. Since it was already a door-stop, I decided to take it apart and attempt the repair myself. After removing the screws from the rear of the lens I was able to unscrew the rear element. With access to the back of the front element I was able to remove the fungus with the aide of a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol. Long story short, after re-assembling, the lens functions as new, and I have a stand-in while the 18-135 ZOOM is in the shop for repairs.
Admittedly the 18-200 is more complicated than the old 50mm Nikkor, but if it’s a door stop, what have you got to lose?
Best regards,
Nat Ray
January 30th, 2010 at 7:06 pm
I don’t know if this works but…
I live on a southern island in Japan and it’s pretty humid during the summer. On a regular basis, it’s gets past 90% humidity in the evening easily. Some of my friends, that have dry cases and they warned me about mold. Photography is just a hobby of mine and spending a load of money on a dry case just wasn’t in the cards. I decided to try out storing my lenses in ziplock bags with those little packets you find in different items you buy, to absorb moisture in the air. So far, I haven’t had any mold problems. I don’t know if this is a good method for preventing mold or not, but maybe something to think about if you’re on a strict budget.
February 1st, 2010 at 4:11 pm
I use a similar method, Earnest. My solution has been to use a set of stackable, tightly sealed plastic boxes with at least one saceht of that silica-gel stuff you can readily buy in the shops here: the stuff that goes into a gel when it has absorbed its fill of moisture. Works fine for me but then I am using all of my gear almost every single day and sunlight kills mould….. so I dont have to worry too much about it.
May 17th, 2010 at 11:14 am
I had the same surprise finding fungus in my Nikkor 10.5 last summer. It was kept in a soft case with other nikon parts (that managed to survive).
My Hasselblad bodies and lenses are still OK and I’m guessing that the pelican cases managed to keep moisture out. Does anyone know if the pelican cases are enough for the coming summer? I’ll try the silica packs too…
June 14th, 2010 at 12:27 pm
Japan and Tokyo are great but not in July/August….
Anyone knows a camera shop in Tokyo which would accept to clean fungus/mould from our $1000++ lenses ? I do not want to mess my lenses up…
Anyone asked Fujiya Camera ?
Thanks so much
Tom
June 14th, 2010 at 12:32 pm
Hi Tom,
What brand of camera are you sporting? Canon and Nikon both have several dedicated repair centres in town and one of those could be your best bet. Fujiya? Dunno what they are like for repairs but you could ask. If you are on Flickr, join the group we have as there are lots of active discussions and if you posted a topic you’d probably get a very prompt reply.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/japan0rama/
Cheers
Alfie