> Thanks for the advice re the fungus - I assumed that to be the case. But > let's say that that lens *was* a 50 1.2 in that condition. At £19 ($30) > would it have been worth buying? What about at £40 ($60)? Where is the > cutoff, assuming a strip down and de-fungus action taken? > > Thoughts?
Cotty, It's never worth buying a lens that has fungus. Two basic reasons: 1. Even if it's cleaned, there's no guarantee the fungus won't come back. 2. The fungus can spread to other lenses stored with the afflicted lens. Plus, it's either impossible to re-sell the lens; either that, or (assuming you don't inform the buyer about the lens's history) it's unethical. You'll hear various stories on the internet about how people have successfully had lenses cleaned or used them with no problems, etc., or shined sunlight through the, or stored them with ammonia, or whatever, and I'm not saying you'll absolutely always have problems, but as a general rule I think it's just better not to mess with fungus. Mushrooms and penicillin excepted. --Mike
