Is this fungus?

I was given a Kodak carousel slide tray full of old slides from the early '60s

through the early '70s.

 

I've started scanning some of the more interesting shots, and I've begun to

notice a strange "spider-like" thing on some of them. Is this fungus? Samples

below. In scanning these, is there any risk that the fungus could contaminate

my film scanner and attack other slides/negs that I plan to scan in the future

(which are currently fungus-free to the best of my knowledge)?<div></div>

Another sample.<div></div>

The original shot, uncropped.<div></div>

Yes, it is :(

 

Create master scans with digital ICE4 and you'll be fine.

I'm not really concerned about the damage to these particular slides -- they have no sentimental value to me -- but I want to be sure that the fungus isn't going to somehow "dislodge itself" inside my scanner (which is a Minolta DiMAGE Scan Dual IV; doesn't have ICE, unfortunately) and then "latch onto" other films.

 

I've been giving each slide several strong blasts of compressed air before scanning them, but as you can see, they're still extremely dirty. And that's OK; I just don't want to scan any more of them until I can be reasonably sure that I'm not going to ruin my scanner and/or my other slides and negs.

Have you tried PEC-12? Works wonders for my prehistoric slides. You may still want to quarentine them just the same.

I hadn't thought of that. Hopefully I can find it locally; B&H says they're unable to ship it due to shipping regulations. Thanks for the suggestion.

Try Adorama then. They sometimes mail things that B&H won't.

I've tried the old Kodak Film Cleaner (the 1,1,1-Trichlorethylene stuff they can't sell anymore) on that sort of fungus. No luck at all. It's in the emulsion.

John, when you say that it's in the emulsion, does that mean that there's probably not much chance of it "falling off" inside the scanner? That's the main thing I'm concerned about. These slides don't mean anything to me; I'd *like* to scan them, but I won't if there's any chance that doing so could infect the scanner or my other negs/slides.

I would worry also if the spores from the slides would flit about and also set up home in your lenses. Living in a humid climate, I keep my lenses stored in tight boxes with dessicants. Here is what I have on a lens that I just kept in a closet since it was broken:

 

<P><center><img src=http://www.geocities.com/dainisjg/fungus1.jpg></center><P>

 

Where did that fungus come from? I sure didn't carry it into the house on a bunch of slides.

I think that the UV light in the scanner would be enough to kill the Fungi. Rexton Anti-Static Film Cleaner will get them off the slides and I also use it to clean my flatbed. If you need some and are in the U.S.A. I will send it to you at $15.00 plus shipping.

 

I take PayPal

 

Larry

Yes it is.

Try plain old Listerine.

What I really want to know, do any of these suggestion Listerene, Pec-12, Rexal (or whatever) actually work? I am inclined to think not. BTW Mr. Jainis, where do you live that it's so humid? I don't want to move there.

I live on the island paradise of Puerto Rico. It is a paradise for photographers but not their equipment. You will never see plain blank skies here; the sky always contains large white fluffy clouds. That is the one thing that impresses me the most, not the rich tropical growth or the sandy white beaches populated by scantilly clad young ladies - the clouds.