what causes the Fungus infection?

just wondered what causes the fungus infection on lenses?

Air, water and food, warmth would speed up the grow.
There is nothing special of being a lens, I don't fungus will discriminate

Fungus spores are all around us all the time - what causes it in lenses is when they are stored in high humidity/dark conditions that are ideal for the spores to start to grow - the fungus then eats the lens coating and on older lenses the glue/cement etc as well

To avoid it keep your lenses dry - if you have been out in damp weather leave them in a dry room out in the open for 24 hours - I use silica gel sachets and put these in my kit bag and where i store my lenses.

oh and the last thing is dont worry too much about getting fungus on your lenses - basic sensible storage will avoid it.

thank you very much...

What is the best way to store a lens btw?

I store some in my kit bag and some in the bedside cabinet and have never had any problems - i always use silica gel sachets in both situation to soak up any moisture. I get them from e-bay and a years supply would cost about £10. you can get differant sizes - i use 2 100g sachets in my kit bag and have reciently bought 100 1gram sachets which are small and useful for slipping next to or on lenses. I replace them about every 3 - 4 months

You can put silica gel in the oven to dry it out and then reuse it.

I tried that one but it was a bit unsuccessful but i will give it another go

Somewhere dry, well aired and not too hot or too cold. Preferably with occasional exposure to daylight too.

In fact lenses like the same sorts of conditions humans do, which makes sensible storage quite easy.

Just confirms my opinion about how un-sensible the weather is here in Colombo (temp. consistently 27-30c; humidity 65-85%). I have my kit stored away in a weathertight Peli case with a large dehumidifier inside. I know it's dark which isn't good, but there's no way I'm exposing them to this climate for any length of time. Have already had two coats wrecked due to mould in the three months I've been here. And am mildly paranoid about fungus attacking my lenses. Had a friend who lost £thousands of Nikon kit in Ghana just a few months after his arrival there.

If anyone has any tips on lens storage in high humidity conditions - these would be much appreciated. I had read in a very old (1980s) article by some jungle-based photographer that what I'm doing & occasionally exposing them to sunlight is a good idea. But I'm really not sure that exposure to sun is at all sensible.

How about this:

arrange for an airtight box with shelving that permits free circulation of air within it.

Have a vent at the top permitting air to escape and another at the bottom, permitting air to enter.

Fit the bottom inside of the box with a socket for an electric light bulb adequate to cater for an old-style tungsten light bulb (35 or 30 watts should do it).

Ensure there is a heat baffle above the globe (when fitted) so the whole contraption doesn't catch afire when in use.

Attach the contraption to a wall or stand it on a stand.

Space you lenses -loosely- on the various shelves, close the door and turn on the light bulb.

As the bulb lights, it will heat the air in the box thus reducing its relative humidity (moulds will not thrive in low humidity). The warmed, relatively dry air will circulate within the box with some air escaping through the upper vent as it is displace by cooler air entering by the bottom vent. (if one of the vents is fitted with a baffle, the rate of air escape/entry can be regulated.

Refinements (optional):

Fit the box with a thermometer (to keep an eye on the temperature in the box), a hygrometer (to keep an eye on the relative humidity), and the lamp with a variable resistor (so you can adjust the amount of heat generated).

Voila!!!!

Calcium Chloride works better than silica gel.

A dry enviroment is the only way to stop mould.

Strong UV kills the spores.

Regards

Some excellent tips above, I'll just add:

It's very sensible. Sunlight contains UV rays which, as pointed out, will kill the spores. Regular blasts of sun will do your lenses many favours.

Many thanks for the feedback guys, and in particular for your detailed explanation of an appropriate set-up Banjo. That sounds like just the ticket - and if I had suitable nous I'd do what you say. Unfortunately, when it comes to DIY I've got two left hands (actually more like one:lol.

So that brings us on to Calcium Chloride - is this obtainable from a chemist, K10D? And what form does it take?

At the moment I've got something like this link, in my Peli case. No sign of any problems yet.

Though judging by what you say Hefty, perhaps it would be good to be exposing the lenses to the sun every so often. The reason why I haven't done this, is because I seem to recall reading somewhere that exposure to direct sunlight was bad for lenses.

If I am to expose them - I assume it will be best in mild early morning/late afternoon sun. Should I remove the cap in order to expose the elements to the sun, or is this not necessary?

Remove the cap and expose them to bright sun if you can. Just be careful what's behind the lens as it will focus the rays like a magnifying glass and if there's paper / dry leaves / etc behind then you could easily have a fire on your hands.

Exposure to direct sunlight is only bad for lenses if you're trying to take a picture at the time as it leads to flare, it shouldn't cause any damage to them though.