Is this fungus?

<p>Could someone please tell me if is fungus on the lens? It's a Minolta 50mm f1.4...<br>

<img src="http://www.flickr.com/photos/34163199@N03/5859939134/sizes/l/in/photostream/" alt="" /></p>

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<p>It looks like a minor one. I'm not sure, but I had something similar on a Jupiter 8 once, and my repair guy fixed it for $13 (nt$500 in Taiwan). It's simply on the edge of the lens, it shouldn't be a problem, and probably won't affect image quality. But get it fixed as soon as possible.</p>

<p>Seems like it. If you wait long enough it may get to the center of the lens.</p>

<blockquote>

<p><em>If you wait long enough it may get to the center of the lens.</em></p>

</blockquote>

<p>Only if the conditions are right for it to grow and spread, i.e. dark and high humidity. UV light will kill it. What little is present in this lens might in fact already be dead, and may have been there for years.</p>

<p>Should be a fairly easy repair to clean it up.</p>

<p>That can be cleaned up by a repair shop. If you could unscrew that outer element you could clean it yourself. You may also be able to stop it by leaving it in strong direct sunlight for 1 or 2 days and then examining it say, monthly to check for any spreading.</p>

It may be dead (but the spores are virtually immortal), but i wouldn't count on it.<br>The conditions have been such that it grew in the first place. So unless you do something about it, it's more likely it will continue doing so that not.<br>UV will kill it. But glass is a very effective UV blocker. So unless you expose it to high intensity short wave UV, don't count on light keeping it down either.<br><br>In short: fix it, or have it fixed.

<p>Looks to me like a combination of separation of the elements which may then have let spores in. My experience is that separation gets worse over time.</p>

Are you sure about there also being separation? I don't see any.