Photography Thailand Forum

[Adrian Baker]

I have recently noticed that I appear to have mould growing on the internal surfaces of some of my lenses.  Can someone advise me please, where to go for Canon servicing in Thailand.  Thanks.

[Marc Schultz]

Hi Adrian. Lens mold in Thailand can be a big problem because the high humidity in the country can cause mold if lenses are left tucked away in a closet and not used often enough. In order to prevent mold from growing though the lens needs to be kept in an environment where the humidity remains less than 55%. Since humidity in Thailand is at above 80% most of the year it is a real challenge in general.

I keep all my equipment in dehumidifying cabinets that regulate humidity and keep it an average of 40% inside the cabinet environment. These cabinets are a low cost investment in comparison if you have expensive equipment to protect. The attached link shows one company in Thailand that sells them: http://www.apsphotoshop.com/index.php?mn=product&fn=product&cat=10&lng=en

As for your molded up lens, you can go here for info about Canon in Thailand: http://www.photographythailand.com/Forum/index.php?topic=153.0

Hope this helps.

[Adrian Baker]

Thanks for the information Marc.  It should be mentioned, that not only is the high humidity here a problem, but this coupled to air-conditioning makes the problem worse, due to the condensation which forms when the lenses are taked from a cool room to the steamy outside atmosphere.  this coats the elements with a film of water, obviously, but also whatever fungal nutrients might be floating about in the air at the same time. Even after the condensation disappears, much of this "fungus food" will be left behind, so any fungus spores that happen to have found their way inside your lenses can multiply.  This means that while the dehumidifier cabinets are a good idea, they may not, by themselves, be enough.  The equipment really should be kept at the ambient indoor temperature, which will then prevent the condensation.  I am particularly bad at doing this, as I only have one air-conditioned room in my house, which is where I spend a lot of my time at home, and the camera stays with me for security reasons.  I will have to invest in some security measures, elsewhere in the house, as well as a dehumidifier cabinet.

[Marc Schultz]

That is good additional information and you are probably right that even after the humidity is dried out there may be food remaining on the lens for fungus to feed on. But the fact that fungus can not grow in levels of humidity below 55% means that lenses kept in a dehumidifying cabinet should be safe even if there is something remaining for the fungus to eat on the glass elements. As an attest to that, I can say that I have kept always about 10 lenses or more in my dehumidifying cabinet for the last 5+ years and I am yet to find any fungus growing on any of them.

I did though once buy a lens on E*Bay from a man in Sri Lanka who promised me in advance the lens had no fungus on it. When the lens arrived it had the biggest spore of fungus I had ever seen right below the top lens element. He claimed the fungus must have occurred during shipment. It was only in transit for 2-3 days and the technician at Canon camera told me that would eliminate that possibility. In any event, he was responsible enough to pay for the cost of the cleaning to have it removed. And because I had it cleaned so quickly, there was no permanenet damage caused by the fungus to the coating on the glass.

Hope that helps...

[Adrian Baker]

You've raised another point, about which I am unsure.  Although I only recently became aware of the fungus, or what appears to be fungus, I'm not sure how long it's been there.  While this may seem a little strange, it's been the rainy season for some time now, and because of this, the camera hasn't seen much daylight for some time (my work is all travel related, so good weather shots are essential).  It has to be said that the fungus does not look the same as your pic, but being pretty much ignorant of all the different varieties of fungus, this in itself means nothing.  It appears as a blurry smudge, but quite obviously on the inside face of one or more lens elements, so for this reason, I believe it to be fungus.  Nothing else could have invaded the lenses in this way, I'm sure.  All this leads to the fact that I am unsure whether permanent damage will have been done to the lens elements, and what, if anything, can be done to save them if it has.

[Marc Schultz]

Maybe it is not so important if it is fungus or hazing from dried humidity or both. Best thing to do is just take it in for a cleaning as soon as possible. If after the cleaning it shows some permannet damage to the lens element you may want to consider replacing the element. Sometimes inner elements on lenses, the ones that are stacked 2-3 pieces of glass sealed together and can not be separated, then the cost of replacement of those pieces of glass could be more expensive and sometimes cost prohibitive. Unfortunately you just have to take it in to be cleaned and see where it leads I think and then you can asses what to do better from there. Hopefully it all comes off during the cleaning and that is the end of it. Got my fingers crossed for you.

[Chris Savery]

This is an interesting subject about which I know nothing. I once saw a small (approx. 14" x 18" front size) glass-front fridge like storage unit at Fotofile (3rd floor), that was likely a humidity store. Does anyone know what those small ones sell for here? I haven't had trouble so far but it could strike anytime - knowing the conditions here. Another thing I wonder is if fungus won't grow at lower tmeperatures so that you could place a lens in a ziploc bag inside a fridge and that would be sufficient. That wouldn't work if you used it everyday as it likely isn't so good to continually heat and cool them but I wonder if you only used a lens every so often if that would work out - any ideas about that?

And another question - if you sealed them inside a plastic tuperware style box with silica-gel - how would that work and how much gel for how long - no doubt a complicated question but if someone has experience with this to get some idea of feasibility, that would be helpful too.

Thanks,
Chris :)

[Marc Schultz]

Sorry I can't give a scientific answer, but neither of those things would work I am afraid. The fridge has condensation issues with hot air going in all the time and mixing with the cold air inside and the silica-gel only can absorb humidity for about 2-3 days as far as my experience with it goes and then it becomes saturated, which means it can no longer absorb any additional humidity and must be dried out in a microwave. After you dry it out 2-3 times though, it loses its viscosity as well and it is time for the bin. I once bought the more expensive silica-gel from B&H for use when I travel and it was really no better after a few uses. I basically don't even bother with silica-gel any longer if my lenses are only going to be out of the cabinet for a week on a trip and will be in use most of the time.

A range of cabinet prices are available on the link I provided below and I think and if you have valuable lenses to protect it is worth the investment. The ones selling at MBK are digital and more swish looking as well as being more expensive. Otherwise, as long as you don't tuck your lenses away in a stuffy closet somewhere and you use them regularly you could take your chances and you might be O.K.

Hard to say for sure though I am afraid.

[Ellen Agger]

Hi. I'm very interested in this subject, but I'm going to be travelling for two months so won't have access to either microwaves (or other means to dry the silica gel I may carry) or dehumidifying cabinets.

Can those of you who shoot digitally and who travel for more than a week at a time give me some advice on how to prevent condensation/fogging and eventual possible fungus/mould problems on my lenses? I've been reading about this online, but have not gotten a clear picture of the best approach.

Generally, I won't be staying in air con places, but may go into them from time to time. Should I put my camera into a plastic bag when going in? When should I take it out of that bag after going outside? Should I wait 30 minutes until the camera "warms up" before shooting? What about the small silica gel packs that I have already in my camera bag? It sounds like they'll become quickly saturated and no good unless I can dry them by leaving them in sunlight for some time. It sounds like a good idea to remove the camera from the camera bag at night to give it a chance to dry out.

I'd like to figure out a routine that I can use to prevent problems, so any advice is most welcome. Thanks.

Ellen