Is this lens fungus?

I don't have a tripod so I couldn't take ultra clear pictures of it.

I recently bought a 300D and 75-300mm from a local seller, though contacted though here on POTN. This is the actual transaction.

I've contacted the seller and am waiting a reply.

Here are some pics of the lens. A little shaky, but I figure that you guys might be able to determine whether or not it's fungus by looking at it.

I paid $350. I own a 1DMKI and 1DMKII and don't really need them. I bought the items from him actually for my wife because she wanted to try out photography. Do you think I'm entitled for a refund on the lens?

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Looks to me like you should be entitled to a refund for not being as described, hes been banned from the forum as well so you might not be the only one who didnt get what they expected.

The fungus that I have personally seen has looked more spidery than this and has grown inwards from the side rather than appearing spontaneously in the middle. There is more than one type of fungus though.

Yes it is the classic beginnings of fungus. You could do three things, contact him for refund, have the lens cleaned or live with it. If cleaning is an option you will need a little hope that the fungus has not started eating the inside coatings. BTW if you have fungus you probably have others issues with the lens as well. Perhaps it got dunked or even totally submersed. It could have also.

I would bet that there will be issues with the PCB boards and or the aperture blades fairly soon too.

Get a refund, or get rid of it.

Les

I think you'd be entitled to ask for a refund. Even if that fungus doesn't degrade images now it will keep on spreading unless the lens is serviced. And there is always the chance that the coatings may already be ruined. People who live in very humid climates sometimes have problems with fungus. They put there lens in a bag or some other dark place and before they realize it they've got fungus in there lens. Btw... I could be mistaken but won't acetone destroy the lens coatings? My 2 cents is go for a refund. I hope it works out for you.

Not fungus yet but soon to be
this is moist this is hoe it sits in groups because of the lens inner coatings
in the pics in the transaction post the lens is closed maybe on purpose
definitely you should ask for refund – but don’t hold your breath

Hi all. To make some replies. First of all, I don't want this to turn out into a public lynching as a moderator put it. I'm not out to get the seller and assume he never knew about the fungus. Heck, I have an MKii and until now, I never knew about fungus myself. When I met him in person, he was very nice and friendly. I have asked for a refund and will wait and see.

Acetone? My question is how do I take the lens apart? If I get no refund, the lens is worth almost nothing to me because I think I'd be too scared to put it onto any other camera, so I would be willing to take it apart. Are there any places that can show me how to take off just the front element?

If nothing else, I have a $350 Rebel which isn't that bad.

it clearly is , but why did you let it grow this much?

segasaturn wrote in post #3523689
I don't have a tripod so I couldn't take ultra clear pictures of it.

I recently bought a 300D and 75-300mm from a local seller, though contacted though here on POTN. This is the actual transaction.


I've contacted the seller and am waiting a reply.

Here are some pics of the lens. A little shaky, but I figure that you guys might be able to determine whether or not it's fungus by looking at it.

I paid $350. I own a 1DMKI and 1DMKII and don't really need them. I bought the items from him actually for my wife because she wanted to try out photography. Do you think I'm entitled for a refund on the lens?

How do lens get fungus growing in/on them? Is there anything that can be done to protect them in advance etc?

Just noticed Skip Souza's edit note. None of the other text of my original post was removed so I don't think I did any people bashing, nor was it my intention for it to seem even remotely like bashing. I may have put the seller in a negative light, but as we're finding out now, a lot of us don't know that much about lens fungus. I am assuming that the seller did not know about it either and thought it was dust just like I did.

Aside from the seller, which is not the topic here, I don't know how the fungus started or how long it was on the lens for. I live in Hawaii so I might guess that the beach or humidity could have contributed to it.

The 75-300 is very prone to getting fungal growths under the first element since there is a large breather hole at its perimiter. This is especially so if the lens is stored or used in a humid environment.

It's easy enough to clean, but I'd be asking for a refund.

Check this thread it might me useful
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=345304
and Dan has suggested the name of a video that canon has released it might me useful if you can find it
The best way I found to protect against fungus is to wrap lenses in news paper - worked so far

segasaturn wrote in post #3525622
Hi all. To make some replies. First of all, I don't want this to turn out into a public lynching as a moderator put it. I'm not out to get the seller and assume he never knew about the fungus. Heck, I have an MKii and until now, I never knew about fungus myself. When I met him in person, he was very nice and friendly. I have asked for a refund and will wait and see.

Acetone? My question is how do I take the lens apart? If I get no refund, the lens is worth almost nothing to me because I think I'd be too scared to put it onto any other camera, so I would be willing to take it apart. Are there any places that can show me how to take off just the front element?

If nothing else, I have a $350 Rebel which isn't that bad.

just take it to the Canon service center on Ward Ave. The Tech can help you there.

I think the question you have to ask yourself is this..... Would you sell an item on the Forum to fellow members in that condition? If the answer is no then you should get a full refund.

I know I wouldn't sell kit in that condition... at least not without telling the buyer it had a problem.

Hope it gets sorted out soon.
All the best.

Reaperman

Just wanted to say that the seller is refusing to give me a refund or any consideration, saying that this thread is biased. I even called him a nice guy....

I will admit that is my fault for not inspecting it. I drove to meet him a minute away from his house. It was dusk (people were driving with their lights on as I went home) so it was difficult to inspect the lens. Again, it was my fault as we could have easily gone inside the Taco Bell to inspect the gear. The point would have been however, that even if I saw the fungus, I wouldn't have known it was fungus at that time!

I'm frustrated and will just use the lens as is.