Mould Inside Lens

[photo2010]

Hello,

My DSLR Camera got dunked in saltwater when I fell over. Anyway I dunked the camera and lens into distilled water for 30 seconds then again in fresh distilled water. Probably left it too late and corrosion probably already started. The screws on the bottom outside of the camera body are white now! :S

I used hair drier briefly on camera body, wrapped in paper towels and place inside zip lock bag with rice to absorb moisture.

I did the same (only didn't use the hair drier) on the lens and placed in a seperate zip lock bag. I have now noticed what looks like mould on the inside of the lens glass.

What should I do to atleast try and save the lens!??

Should I rinse the lens really well in distilled water again and dry it better and as fast as possible with hair drier, then zip lock bag with silica packs and put into fridge?

Would really appreciate some help so I can get the job done and get the worry off my chest (even if it dosen't work) atleast I've done something!

Thanks Heaps!

[ricktas]

lenses with fungus are basically dead. Do not keep in anywhere near any of your camera gear (fungal spores are tiny and easily transmitted). You can attempt to get it professionally cleaned, but i would get rid of it (rubbish) if it was mine.

Also depending on the time between the salt water bath and the distilled water bath for your camera body, you might find it will still corrode and be a nice paperweight in the near future. Sorry! But camera's and salt water are not good, and I don't know of a single person who has done this and had the camera survive longer than a couple of months.

[alextdel]

lenses with fungus are basically dead.. I haven't had any experience of this but I got the same advice that Ricktas is giving when I did a photography course at the beginning of the year. The photographer/tutor was talking about lens storage. She had a $6000 lens that was not worth fixing following fungus from being some time in a very humid region during a photo shoot. The fungus showed as fine powder in the lens - she kept it to show students but kept it well away from all her camera equipment.

[lazzam]

I've had a Tamron 28-300mm tele with mould on the lens sitting in my camera bag for a few months now. Having just read your posts I've now moved it into isolation. I hope it's not too late.

[mongo]

What Rick says is generally correct. However, depending on the severity of the mould, Mongo has had some good success cleaning it and getting it to stay off for many years. That is not to say it will not return in years to come – but possibly not.

The other factors are: -
1. the value of the lens. It can be very expensive and more than the lens warrants to have it cleaned. Then, there is no guarantee it will stay clean. When a lens is considered “dead” and there is nothing to lose, Mongo has often opened the lens up fully by dismantling it and cleaned it using various solvents on the elements and coatings which are not harmful and reassembled it. Mongo still has one or two lenses he has done this to and they still perform perfectly. However, this is not obviously doable by most people.

2. The mould is not the only problem. In most cases, it is the mould that is the only problem and can sometimes be fixed as indicated above. However, in your case, it is likely to be far more than just the mould. Mechanical parts have been exposed to salt water (and even fresh water) and as such will no doubt suffer to some degree. So your lens may be dead from multiple injuries – not just mould which happens to have showed up earlier than all the other problems which are surely to come. Lens lubrication is highly specialised and will be very difficult in these circumstances.

There may be other factors but Mongo is pretty certain you will not be able to get past #2 above so there is no point in discussing the others. Sorry to hear about your problem.

Yes, it can be contagious so do not put it anywhere near your other good equipment

BTW – out of curiosity, which lens was it ???