Leica Elmarit 19mm Lens issue

[irfan_laharwal]

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I recently bought this lens from a collector, however, there appears to be somnething along the edges of the front element, probably fungus. Please take a look at the enclosed picture and advice me what to do!</p>

<p>Regards<br>

Irfan </p>

[stuart_richardson]

<p>It looks more like lens separation or haze than fungus to me, but that is hard to tell without seeing it in person. There are not so many options. The first of course is to shoot with it and see how the pictures come out. I would guess that they will be more or less fine, but with a higher propensity for flare and perhaps lower contrast. The next option would be to get the lens checked by a qualified repairperson. They will be able to tell you if it is lens separation, fungus or just haze. If it is haze, it might just clean up easily and you will be done with it. If it is fungus, it may have permanently etched the glass...depending on how long it has been like that. Some fungus cleans up easily. It all depends on how long it has been there. Haze can be caused by the evaporation and redeposition of lens lubricants and other matter inside the lens. Usually a good repair person can remove it with no damage to the lens. <br>

Overall, I would suggest you shoot with it and see what kind of results in has in real life. Then you can bring it to a repair person and see what they have to say about it. That's really all you can do! </p>

[robert_hooper1]

<p>This looks like the early stages of lens separation to me. Usually you see this in older lenses, but if this lens was stored in the wrong conditions for a long period of time, separation could occur. I would return the lens if possible.</p>

[Robin Smith]

<p>You have attempted to clean it off I hope? It's difficult to tell from your shot, but it looks just like smeared glass. This is a very common occurrence when people clean lenses and perhaps don't do the best job. The edges of a lens are more difficult to get clean.</p>

[MTC Photography]

<p>Try lenspen to clean the lens, and see whether you can remove this whitish ring around the<br>

edge.</p>

[markus_keinath1]

<p>The image is not very good, but I seem to see some fern like structures?<br />Please look on my German fungus sites with <a href="http://www.4photos.de/camera-diy/glaspilz.html">fungus example shots,</a> and <a href="http://www.4photos.de/camera-diy/glaspilz_reinigung.html">2.</a> and <a href="http://www.4photos.de/camera-diy/glaspilz-apo-rodagon-50.html">3.</a></p>