Is there any hope for this lens?

[Captain Slack]

Awhile back, my uncle gave me his old Canon AE-1 and a couple of lenses. One was a 50mm and the other was a Vivitar 70-210mm Series 1 zoom. Unfortunately, the Vivtar was stored in it's case and the elements are coated in fungus:



Is it possible to clean this out? Would it be worth my time to do so?

[Martolod]

yeah sure. 30-06 soft point should clean that sucker out ,no problem

[PFMcFarland]

Technically, I prefer something in 45 caliber.

The thing about taking a zoom lens apart, and then getting it back together in proper order isn't too hard to do. But getting the focus correct is another matter, because you have to do it at both ends of the focal length. Much easier to do on an optical bench than by the traditional eyeball method. And lots of times that fungus has invaded between cemented elements, which cleaning then requires a lot of time, and an alignment rig for re-cementing. Then there is the issue of etching of the glass by the fungus.

I wouldn't mess with it. But there is one method that doesn't involve dismantling the lens. Get a strong UV emitting light bulb, and shine it through the lens for a few days. This will sometimes actually evaporate the fungus. But if that doesn't do the trick, then you have a paperweight.

PF

[LarryD]

Most likely if you want to try it will be an adventure if you succeed or fail. A replacement is not that far away and I know I have picked up some for pretty cheap. 3rd party zooms go for pennies on the dollar on ebay.

[Captain Slack]

I might try the UV bulb. I'm not out anything if it doesn't work.

[Brian]

Is it deep into the lens, or on some of the outer elements? I've gone in 1-element deep on the S1 70~210 before. Deeper on the 85~240 (maybe?) Vivitar.

With the Canon FD mount: I found out the hard way there are lots of Ball Bearings that will fall out once the rear mount is off. I much prefer RF lenses!

[melek]

If you can remove that rear group without having to remove the rear assembly, it might be easy to clean. Otherwise, it probably is not worth salvaging. I like the idea of the UV bulb.