Agfa Color multi-coated 1:1.4 50mm

I have this lens from way back when I bought a Agfa Selectronic (I think) SLR, that was a rebagded Konica as a teenager.

1:1.4 should be good in low-light situations, but the pictures come out very bad. Peering through it I can see that there is some kind of foggy residue inside the lens.
Is it possible to clean such a lens myself?
How much does cleaning a lens cost?
How much would a decent quality 50mm/1.4 run me?

Thanks!

Martin Stein said:

Peering through it I can see that there is some kind
of foggy residue inside the lens.

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Might be fungus . . . that would be bad.

Martin Stein said:

Is it possible to clean such a lens myself?

Click to expand...

I'm not qualified to answer this one

Martin Stein said:

How much does cleaning a lens cost?

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Probably more than the lens is worth

Martin Stein said:

How much would a decent quality 50mm/1.4 run me?

Click to expand...

I just paid $209 for the SMCP-FA 50/1.4 from Adorama. After the $50 rebate shows up it will be $159.

Chris
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http://www.pbase.com/sinnettc

Hi Martin, I recently picked a beautiful old SMC 300 f/4 for next to nothing. I got it so cheap because there was a lot of fungus on one of the inner elements. I took it to a very competent lens repair man. He charged me $70 to disassemble, clean / remove fungus and adjust the lens. I was happy with this, as it would have cost me much more than that to buy a clean good working replacement. My understanding is that there are several varieties of fungus and some of them do irreparable damage, so I guess I got lucky.
Dave

It does sound like fungus. Have a read here http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~Srawhiti/pentax50mmf1.4.html for a walk-through of cleaning a Pentax 50mm f1.4

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Steve

http://www.pbase.com/steephill

Thanks a lot for all the tips. I guess I'll take the sucker apart on the weekend. I was always curious how lenses looked inside.

If you've got another lens or camera you might take pictures as you go through the steps. Then you'll not only know what goes where, but you can post pictures for the rest of to vicariously share your adventure.

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Chris
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http://www.pbase.com/sinnettc