"Foggy" lens?

[Shawn7656]

So I bought a Minolta X-700 a couple days ago at a flea market that came with 5 lenses. I was just cleaning up and testing the lenses out when I put the 28-70mm 3.5-4.5 slide-to-zoom on and it looked like it had a fog filter on it . I cleaned the outer glass but it made no difference. Looking through the lens it looks as if the middle element is foggy but I'm not sure if it's actually condensation or a flaw in the glass itself. I'm gonna try throwing the lens in a container with some silica gel (I tend to have a lot at my disposal as I work as a stockman and find them everywhere lol) and see if that helps.

Does anyone else have some suggestions to help fix the problem?

[sk66]

It's probably mold.... it's a gonner

[Shawn7656]

Well that'd be a sad day indeed... I guess I wouldn't miss it too much as the 28-200 and the 50mm I have are amazing, but when it comes time to sell the camera that one will just have to be thrown out or sold ridiculously cheap

[ravncat]

if you cant see any striations, then it's possible that it's in a pre-mold state and can still be cleaned. Most likely it will need lens elements replaced.

[Shawn7656]

Not worth it for me to replace parts on the lens I'm sure. I could probably only get like $50 max for it since it's an off-brand haha