will the mysterious fogginess inside go way?

[nhodgkinson]

I am collecting some Zeiss Contax primes for video work. I am trying to get the best quality examples I can find as I will then spend time and money, in some cases more than the value of the lens, in having them de-clicked and cin-moded.
I have had a lot of bad luck on e bay with 2 "Mint" lenses arriving with fungus but the 50mm f1.7 that arrived this morning seems to be good in every way except when I shone a light through it to check for fungus I saw that one of the convex internal elements had looked what looked like the mist coursed by condensation, like when you breath on glass.

At first I thought it was condensation or cleaning marks but both front and back are perfect and when I looked closely it's clearly on a surface inside the lens somewhere.Dose anyone know what this is? Is it condensation? Will it go away or is it something that I don't know about, like the beginning of some kind of fungus?
As it is it will I'm sure soften the image a little.
I did some test shots and the lens seems to be fine, it did not soften the images as far as I can tell. F1.7 is soft but I don't think that's down to the mist. I looked through some other 50mm lenses and could't find any others with this round patch of fog inside.

 

[mcap1972]

I have a similar fog on one of my primes. Could that be some condensation?

 

[Derrel]

I think that might be accumulated out-gassing from lubricants found inside of the lens mechanism. I don't think it's fungus, and I'm pretty sure it is NOT condensation. An honest, experienced lens seller would have listed this as what it is: front and rear glass excellent: has internal hazing.

"internal hazing" is an issue that many older lenses suffer from. it can be from lubricants inside the lens OR from simple things like leather camera or lens cases; plastic, foam, or vinyl products; wood or wood cabinet finishes. The tanning chemicals in leather, the petroleum base products used to make foams, paddings, and vinyls, and so on--all of those things can cause very small amount of off-gassed chemicals, which eventually, work their way inside of a lens. Equipment stored for long times inside of closed cases or cabinets, and so on, may easily develop internal hazing.

 

[nhodgkinson]

I think that might be accumulated out-gassing from lubricants found inside of the lens mechanism. I don't think it's fungus, and I'm pretty sure it is NOT condensation. An honest, experienced lens seller would have listed this as what it is: front and rear glass excellent: has internal hazing.

"internal hazing" is an issue that many older lenses suffer from. it can be from lubricants inside the lens OR from simple things like leather camera or lens cases; plastic, foam, or vinyl products; wood or wood cabinet finishes. The tanning chemicals in leather, the petroleum base products used to make foams, paddings, and vinyls, and so on--all of those things can cause very small amount of off-gassed chemicals, which eventually, work their way inside of a lens. Equipment stored for long times inside of closed cases or cabinets, and so on, may easily develop internal hazing.

Good to know and thanks for the reply I contacted seller and he felt I was going over the top and that I would see this in most old lenses if I shone a light through them and that it was not a good practice. I started shining lights through my lenses when they arrive after I found an element completely fogged over with the dewdrop stuff. The image was just a little soft but it was not easy to see when looking through the lens, then i shone a bright light through and suddenly the lens was opaque. I'm new to photography and I make all this stuff up as I'm going along so I feel a bit daft when I'm called out on something. The seller was very helpful though and I sent this it back for a full refund, it was a Zeiss Contax 50mm f1.7. These lenses are so sharp and so cheap and there are so many of them about it made no sense to have one that was not spot on.