lens mould

[douglas]

I have got an old OM lens, which has a little bit of mould. I know to keep it away from other lenses etc. but I read (somewhere?) that if you put the lens in the freezer for a week,this will kill off the mould, though of course it will not remove it.Anyone know more about this. If this is not possible, for the minimal price I paid for it, it will become an experiment in taking a lens apart!

[inkista]

Never heard of the freezer method. Heard more about using UV to kill the fungus. And that just keeps it from growing--it doesn't clean it off the elements. For that you physically have to get in there and remove the stuff, and you might spread spores, so do it away from the other lenses. Problem is that sometimes fungus eats into the coatings, and/or gets into the adhesives and rubber gaskets and the like. But hey, if it's an Oly OM 50/1.8 or something similarly cheap-as-dirt and no-good-as-is, why the hell not disassemble and play with the parts?

BTW, I'd recommend going through this website to find the exploded parts diagrams to see if you actually want to try tackling disassembly/reassembly of a lens.

[douglas]

Thanks Inkista. I'm not sure about UV light but will add it to freezing! I may well take it apart there are sites that describe the proper cleaning materials...then I would have to get it together. Never mind winter is coming with long evenings to pass with such a project!