Is fungus contagious?

[Samuel Berger]

I hear that fungus jumping from one lens to another is a myth. Well, is it? How likely is it that spores will spread and take root in neighbouring lenses?

I just bought a used Yashica super 8 and it smells strongly, musty. There's not much evidence of fungus on the lenses. It came from Florida. I'm now paranoid that I imported fungus into my previously uncontaminated office.

[Jon O'Brien]

Your office should be fine. Those spores are everywhere in the air, anyway.

I'd just keep the Yashica in a separate place. I separate my best stuff from anything that has fungus in it. A Kodak K100 I've got has a little bit of fungus in the viewfinder. I don't have fungus in any of my lenses.

I've been concerned in the past about the possibility of fungus and mildew. Earlier this year we had a lot of rain and I bought sealable plastic boxes and reusable silica gel bags.

Then again, I've filmed with a Canon 1014XL-S that had been kept just in a camera bag for something like 30 humid Queensland summers and the camera was completely fine. No fungus anywhere.