Disassemble El-Nikor 75mm 1:4 Lens

Is it the "N" version or the older version of the lens? Also, can you tell where the fungus is? There are only 4 surface you have easy access to:

1 - outer front
2 - outer rear
3 - inner (near aperture) front
4 - inner (near aperture) rear

If it looks like the fungus is in an inner surface, ie between lens elements in front or rear groups, you don't want to mess with it. If it's on an inner surface near the aperture, then it's possible to clean it. That said, fungus is tricky stuff. Sometimes it hasn't damaged the lens surface, but often the coatings will show permanent evidence of fungus damage. By the way, are you sure it's fungus? True fungus infection starts from central location (usually a piece of dust) and spreads outward in sort of random/fractal looking patterns. If it really is fungus, you may just want to send the lens back if you are within your return period.

If after all the above you still want to try cleaning the lens, I can go through a step by step, but do let me know which version you bought.

Finally, if the fungus is light, ie only in a small area, then it won't matter much to the image quality anyway and it might be good just to leave it alone. Put the lens in direct sunlight for a few hours and the fungus will be killed and won't spread any further. You are likely to do more damage to the lens attempting to remove the fungus than the fungus has done already!

Heh. Guess I don't have to email the guy I was talking about; he's already replied here.

Nice to have you here.

Here's how it works: I'm basically the preacher. Rmpsrpms is the serious thinking behind what we're doing, the man who introduced the whole methodology you're pursuing. He's going to be remembered as the guy who put state-of-the-art coin imaging in the hands of budget-conscious collectors. I was proselytizing before him, but it was about $500 bespoke Macro lenses and additional hardware for higher mags.

Yep, if it goes from center to edge of a surface it's pretty extensive. Most likely the fungus has attacked the coating. Being on an inner surface you have a chance to fix it but it may be better to send it back if you are still able. Of course if you didn't pay much for it you could give it a go, but I'd give it less than 50/50 chance of working out well. With that extensive an infection I'd give the seller a hard time as well, especially if he advertised it as free of dust/scratches/fungus like most do..Ray

Bummer. I don't see any EL-Cheapo 75mm EL-Nikkors on ebay right now. Hopefully one will come up with a decent price soon.

Ray, I took the liberty of providing Bob with your email. He's a VAMworld member known to me; we were originally discussing this offline before he decided to register here. For the record, Bob, Ray built the rig I use.

Here's how it works: I'm basically the preacher. Rmpsrpms is the serious thinking behind what we're doing, the man who introduced the whole methodology you're pursuing. He's going to be remembered as the guy who put state-of-the-art coin imaging in the hands of budget-conscious collectors. I was proselytizing before him, but it was about $500 bespoke Macro lenses and additional hardware for higher mags.

Actually, SD and I worked together over many months defining and refining what was really needed, and useful, for coin photography, and it was all well-documented on this forum. I was a newbie with some ideas and some spare equipment, and Dave gave me feedback and guidance as I tried and tested and evaluated setup after setup, lighting method after lighting method, until we had something that really worked well for our needs. His steadfast belief in Canon made me switch from my beloved Nikon, and it was the best thing that happened to my coin photography. I was struggling to get clear photos of Cents at 0.8:1, let alone variety detail shots at 4:1. So don't listen to him above, he's just being humble...Ray