Inner fungal bloom issue, 6 month old Canon ef 70-300 L

nelsonal wrote:

I've cleaned out a bunch of lenses, newly formed fungus that's right behind the front element usually isn't a difficult repair. You might not want to do it yourself (taking apart an expensive lens isn't high in my list either), but I'd be surprised if you couldn't find a repair shop either in Thailand or back in the UK that would do it inexpensively, if the warranty isn't going to be valid anyway there's. A lot of UV light will kill any living spores in the mean time, if you have access to a UV source.

Hi Nelson, have you any idea haw much UV light is needed to kill off the fungas spores? I will have access to UV striplights in a couple of weeks when I make it to BKK.

I don't know what you consider as inexpensive, but I find what you say about having it cleaned reassuring and will look into that on my return to UK in a few weeks time. 'm in the middle of nowhere here and only in BKK for 3 days before setting off to India for the last 4 weeks of the trip. I hope that it won't worsen significantly in that time.

Thanks for your reply

RedFox88 wrote:

From reports I've read on here there's a good chance that if sent to Canon for warranty service, it would be declined since it is not a defect in the lens it self. Where the moisture got inside the lens is anyone's guess. Could have been when you had it or when Canon had it but they probably have a very controlled assembly area for lenses.

Yes I feel that would also be the result if I shipped it underwarranty, we all know that companies don't want to do after sales work if they can avoid it.

The reason I suspect this could be a factory fault is the one mark (the worse one) on the very edge of the front element looks like its the start of this problem, letting moisture in and then spreading to the front of the inner 2nd element, though I don't fancy arguing my case with Canon as they refuse to do the work.

Why on earth do Canon not have a worldwide warranty though, it seems very unfair that the only place the warranty stands up is in the original country of purchase. I think its very poor for an international top end camera manufacturer.

Thanks for your reply mate

Thanks to everyone else that has helped out by replying to this thread

sanderspics wrote:

RedFox88 wrote:

From reports I've read on here there's a good chance that if sent to Canon for warranty service, it would be declined since it is not a defect in the lens it self. Where the moisture got inside the lens is anyone's guess. Could have been when you had it or when Canon had it but they probably have a very controlled assembly area for lenses.

Yes I feel that would also be the result if I shipped it underwarranty, we all know that companies don't want to do after sales work if they can avoid it.

The reason I suspect this could be a factory fault is the one mark (the worse one) on the very edge of the front element looks like its the start of this problem, letting moisture in and then spreading to the front of the inner 2nd element, though I don't fancy arguing my case with Canon as they refuse to do the work.

Why on earth do Canon not have a worldwide warranty though, it seems very unfair that the only place the warranty stands up is in the original country of purchase. I think its very poor for an international top end camera manufacturer.

Thanks for your reply mate

Thanks to everyone else that has helped out by replying to this thread

It is possible that this problem was initiated by poor storage in high humidity at the dealer you purchased it from.  And one of the reasons why the warranty situation varies from country to country is because manufacturers can not control, and therefore guarantee, the condition of stock once it gets outside their official channels.  I'm not saying the place you purchased it from was unofficial but if you are purchasing in a country where you don't know the dealers very well you do need to be careful.

Depending on the intensity a couple hours should kill it off.  Generally sunlight is intense enough over a few hours to do the job, so with UV bulbs much closer I would think any exposure would help but an hour should more than do the job (it won't, unfortunately, keep reinfection from happening).

If it's just on that first element, it would normally be under an hour to do the job (and I'm including time for me to figure out how the lens should be disassembled), so with overhead I would expect something on order of $100 in the US (googling reveals estimates of $50-$150 depending on severity).  I would expect that you could find more repair options for this issue in the tropics but I could be quite wrong about that.

sanderspics wrote:

Why on earth do Canon not have a worldwide warranty though, it seems very unfair that the only place the warranty stands up is in the original country of purchase.

My guess is because the different countries may be individual business units so you bought it from Canon USA and not Canon Asia for instance.  Canon Japan makes the camera but distributes and sells them to Canon USA, Europe, etc. ... maybe.  Then Canon USA sells them to store. .. maybe.

OhioBob wrote:

They are talking about humidity controled cabinets. When not in use store your lens's in them to keep them dry. You take them out and shoot as always but when you get back home you put them back into a dry enviroment to keep the mold spores from growing.

I putted such a little bag with something salty in my lens bag for my L lens. you see that some times with new shoes. is that a good idea?

greetings

Telhma wrote:

OhioBob wrote:

They are talking about humidity controled cabinets. When not in use store your lens's in them to keep them dry. You take them out and shoot as always but when you get back home you put them back into a dry enviroment to keep the mold spores from growing.

I putted such a little bag with something salty in my lens bag for my L lens. you see that some times with new shoes. is that a good idea?

greetings

Well, a bag of silica gel, to absorb moisture, yes.  But remember to dry the silica gel out occasionally in an oven at low temperature so that it continues to work.

meland wrote:

Telhma wrote:

OhioBob wrote:

They are talking about humidity controled cabinets. When not in use store your lens's in them to keep them dry. You take them out and shoot as always but when you get back home you put them back into a dry enviroment to keep the mold spores from growing.

I putted such a little bag with something salty in my lens bag for my L lens. you see that some times with new shoes. is that a good idea?

greetings

Well, a bag of silica gel, to absorb moisture, yes. But remember to dry the silica gel out occasionally in an oven at low temperature so that it continues to work.

Or if you can't get hold of silica gel, rice works or so I'm told. (Presumably not rice bought from a hessian sack in a humid climate?)

RedFox88 wrote:

sanderspics wrote:

Why on earth do Canon not have a worldwide warranty though, it seems very unfair that the only place the warranty stands up is in the original country of purchase.

My guess is because the different countries may be individual business units so you bought it from Canon USA and not Canon Asia for instance. Canon Japan makes the camera but distributes and sells them to Canon USA, Europe, etc. ... maybe. Then Canon USA sells them to store. .. maybe.

if you read canon's financials they certainly do.  it would be nearly impossible to fiscally manage that with such a widely varying international currency situation.