Considering buying a used Fujifilm 16mm F1. 4 but the listing says ‘fungus growth inside lens, does not affect image quality. Priced accordingly.’ How worried should I be?
Considering buying a used Fujifilm 16mm F1. 4 but the listing says ‘fungus growth inside lens, does not affect image quality. Priced accordingly.’ How worried should I be?
Depends on how much you like tinkering with stuff AND with the specific lens.
In my experience most fungi in lens are either toward the front elements or towards the rear elements. Some lenses only require a few screws to undo the front and/or rear elements. If you are able to remove the affected elements, it is fairly easy to disinfect and remove the fungus, then wipe with a microfiber.
The elements toward the middle of a lens, generally speaking are harder to get to because you have to either disassemble the front or rear to get to them and also the zoom mechanism and autofocus motor tend to be toward the middle, so you have that to deal with as well if the fungus is toward the middle elements.
I once bought a canon 180mm macro for $400 because it had fungus. It was otherwise in excellent condition and it only took about 10 minutes to clean.