How to Remove Lens Fungus from a Camera

Digital cameras, and all cameras, as well as camcorders, can suffer from fungus on and behind the lens. This is a troublesome experience, and causes pictures to come out either dim or disfigured. If left uncorrected for too long of a time, the lens will suffer damage and need to be replaced to regain it’s normal function.

There are many myths that surround the presence of fungus on a lens, the largest of which is that once a lens is infected with fungus, it can’t be fixed. This is untrue – though it may seem difficult to repair, it is rarely too late. The second biggest myth is that the fungus can propagate and infect other lenses, hence the reason many camera repairmen won’t work with camera’s that have a fungus infection – they believe that it will spread to other cameras and infect their work area. For anyone who understands the nature of how fungus thrives, they know this isn’t true.

It will, however, spread to your other gear, as you are keeping them in an environment that facilitates growth.

If your camera has a lens fungus infection, the following article will teach you how to fix the problem.

Items Needed:

Infected camera
Clean work space
Killing Agent

Step 1: It’s highly recommended that you find someone to clean your lens for you. The only way to completely kill the fungus is to disassemble the lens. This is a very careful process and can very easily result in a ruined lens. If you don’t have experience disassembling lenses, I highly recommend that obtain a manual of how they work, how they are constructed, and the proper way to disassemble them.

Step 2: You need a clean workspace. This space should be dry and clean. White paper is a good medium to work on, as it will easily show small pieces that may be misplaced or that roll.

If you need a temporary fix and are unwilling to disassemble your lens, you can try leaving them in bright light to kill the fungus. There is no guarantee that this will work, however. It can be hard to kill fungus, and in many cases, you may need to replace the lens.

Some people prefer using hydrogen peroxide, this isn’t the best way to kill the fungus – it can be an effective ‘after wipe’ to make sure you get any remaining impressions. Be aware, however, that peroxide may damage certain lenses.

Another solution, if you’re okay with minor damage to the coating, is to do a mix of 50% ammonia, 50% peroxide and clean the lens. You’ll have to buffer out the resulting minor coating damage. A good way to do this is will lens polish and a soft piece of cloth, such as cotton.

Step 3: Once you’ve tried to eliminate the fungus, the odds are you still have a residue that will cause the fungus to reappear. This cannot be helped. You can, however, slow the process down greatly by altering the environment you keep your lenses in. Store them in dry air – air tight boxes are even better. Use dessicate packets to absorb moisture. Also, try to keep the lenses in bright light. Darkness will cause the fungus to grow rapidly.

Tip: If you are getting messed up effects due to fungus around the rim of the lens, reduce the aperture.