Always thought the soak method for lens fungus was the only way until a retired guy set me straight

He told me to just use a UV lamp and dry heat instead of soaking in peroxide for two days. Tried it on a 50mm f1.4 from a garage sale in Cleveland last Saturday and it cleared up in 4 hours flat. Anyone else ditch the chemicals for light?

4 comments

4 Comments

emmamason11h ago

@mason_reed47 you're right to question that, I don't think a UV lamp does jack for real fungus compared to peroxide soak.

nathankim11h ago

Yeah, I was the same way actually. I used to swear by the peroxide soak method for everything, even left a Helios 44-2 in it for three days once. But I tried the UV lamp trick on a beat up 35mm f2.8 I found at an estate sale last month and it cleared up the haze way faster than I expected. I had it under a cheap reptile lamp for about 5 hours and the fungus spots were literally gone by morning. Now I'm wondering if I've been overcomplicating this whole time for those lighter cases. It definitely changed my mind on what's necessary for minor lens issues.

mason_reed4715h ago

Wait, four hours on a 50mm f1.4?

the_nancy13h ago

Oh man, is that the whole session or just what you had to spend to get the keeper? I shot a wedding once with that exact lens and yeah, the battery died after about three and a half hours of constant use.