opinions needed

[eddybeh]

need some opinions here, guys.... i found an old lens at home and it was not covered for years, i guess. I think there is dust inside as i tried it on my sony A100. Is there any thing i can do to repair the lens? will it infect the body as well? i put back my kit lens on to the body after trying out the old lens. will it also infect the kit lens as well?? i heard some people suggesting fungus cleaning. well, i was wondering shud i send all of them for cleaning?

[Raoul Isidro]

Let us know more about the lens: Brand name, focal length, mount system, etc...
Old lenses have coatings with a tendency to have fungal growth from the rim, sometimes called the spiders web. Open up the lens fully and look throught it and check for dust specks, spider webs, etc....
Cheers.

[BCampbell]

Not to scare you, but chances are there is actually fungus in all of your lenses. Okay, technically there are probably spores in all of your lenses, they just haven't had a chance to bloom because you've taken good care of your equipment. You may have exposed them to more because of the infected lens, but as long as you keep treating your gear well you shoudln't have a problem.

Main thing is, keep all your stuff as dry and clean as possible. That's about it. Fungus loves dark, moist places (fungus and I have that in common, but that's another story), so keep your lenses out of those places.

Cleaning fungus requires disassembly of the lens. As you can guess this is not recommended to do yourself. If the lens is otherwise worthless, go ahead. If it still has any value, have a pro clean it.

Or, you know, maybe start a truffle farm, I don't know. Good luck!

[eddybeh]

roaul: it's a minolta AF power zoom 35-80mm 1:4(22)-5.6

well, guys... i'm still a beginner, i'm not sure i need the old lens or not though my kit lens had covered the focal length of it though.. any opinions u guys can give me??

[Raoul Isidro]

Originally Posted by eddybeh

roaul: it's a minolta AF power zoom 35-80mm 1:4(22)-5.6

well, guys... i'm still a beginner, i'm not sure i need the old lens or not though my kit lens had covered the focal length of it though.. any opinions u guys can give me??

It's a cheap standard kit zoom. The kit lens on your camera may be better. Cheers!

[BCampbell]

Yep that sounds like a 35mm/full frame kit lens.

18-55mm = 30-88mm on full frame.

Having more lenses is always fun, see if you can get a quote for cleaning to decide if it's worth the effort.