I have both sold equipment to, and purchased equipment from, KEH for over 20 years, and never had a single problem.

I was unlucky with my purchases from KEH and sent most of them back. Never bought any "Ugly" graded merch either. Then I discovered Roberts/UPP and never had a problem again.

I have been buy ng from KEH since 1983! Great company!

First off, thank you for sharing this experience. The thing is, if I ever end up buying something that has fungus in it on purpose for a bargain, I'd probably leave it that way just as an experiment to see the effect on the image as the fungus grows. However, if I buy something that I want at a bargain and it turns out to have fungus in it. if the lens is fully manual, I am very confident about disassembling it and cleaning the fungus with the right solution. However, if the lens has electronic contacts, I'd a tad less confident, and if it has a lot of tech like IS, programmable buttons, or LCD display, I'd just return it because I wouldn't be confident that I won't nick something off.

nice video, fun unboxing. I wouldn't worry too much about the fungus, it's not going to grow like a plant. If you can determine if it's near the front or back you might want to try cleaning it. I've had success in the past as a complete novice using youtube videos as tutorials. I'd be more concerned about the wobble, if you're doing extreme closeup work it might throw your focus off on one side or the other. It's also a good indication the lens was probably dropped and the helicoid has been damaged internally. I'd return it and get a Laowa 100mm, that lens is super sharp and gives 2:1 macro reproduction.

i have had really good luck buying bargin and ugly from keh. glad you did too. cheers, the Rabbit. =:3

If you are in Ontario you can try crossborder shipping to reduce those import fees a bit

That's a fantastic lens, a magical product. Shoot some pictures and look at the result. Probably stopped down you see no problems.

How much was the shipping and import duties on this if you don't mind me asking. I'm also in Canada and I thought about ordering a small inexpensive lens from KEH for under $40 US, , but after looking into the shipping that KEH charges for shipping to Canada, exchange rate, taxes and import duties the cost of the lens would have tripled from the original price.

For some merchants, "ugly" means a few dings and scratches which have no bearing on function nor image quality. But for some other merchants, "ugly" means a piece of half broken crap which is almost unusable.

I've bought a lot gear from KEH but it's been Bargain and above quality. I've been very happy with my purchases. I've never bought any of their UGLY. Their site says that UGLY is not covered by their warranty. Can it be returned if you don't like it and YOU pay shipping? If so, it may be worth a try sometime.

I am now too scarred to purchase ugly.....Let me tell you why. My first purchase from KEH was a bargain grade D3s and arrived in quite good order....just missing rubber cap to remote connector. Them I purchased Nikon 80-400 G in bargain grade with a noted damage to front ring. On arrival the ring had a missing section but not too bad. What wasn't mentioned was weather seal next to bayonet mount was lifting in one small section. The movements of lens seemed to be good and free without stiffness. Then for a third time I decided to try a bargain grade Nikon 24-70 G ED also with damage to front ring. This time the damage seemed to be easily 1/3 of ring broken off (most likely dropped damage) and on mounting on camera....auto focus works fine but manual focus seems to freeze until using auto focus and then it works for a bit. Will see if frees up and usually use auto focus anyway. Bit dust in glass which is to be expected. I think 24-70 more an ugly grade than Bargain grade. But can't be too fussy as not buying exc or as new grades. But now unsure if taking a chance on ugly is worth it as in Australia , with our weak dollar and shipping generally cost of item doubles by time it gets here.........But am happy with the body though....Its a beast

I'm a UPP man. Great lenses with honest ratings.

I dont think people will stop milking these types of videos

Waiting for Hasselblad 80mm CB f2.8. Hoping for clean optics.

I am slightly puzzled. When they rate a lens, KEH can either see fungus or not, and the listing should surely say if it's there. As for fungus, easy to kill it an stop active growth. Not always so easy to get into a lens and clean it!

Import charges? From Canadian customs or someone else?

You can kill the fungus with uv light. Will not remove what is there but will keep it from growing. Good luck. M

I wonder if you can put it an ozone treatment and kill the fungus so you don't have to worry about it getting worse

I’ve been very curious about this because the lenses are like 50% cheaper

tutorial on how to clean fungus?

Wish You well on growing your Channel. Congrats on getting what looks to be a good copy of a great lens. Why they would ship it without at least a rear cap is a little ridiculous. Those electrical contacts can get easily damaged, cheap pouch notwithstanding. KEH has always been very conservative with their ratings, and reputable. Why they had to go ‘political’ is a shame, IMO. To each their own, but it conflicts with my personal beliefs and views, and I would not feel comfortable dealing with them going forward. Leave it sit in the Sun for awhile, for a number of times, and the UV should help with the Fungus/mold. Peace!

Was it decentered?

I’d worry the fungus could infect my camera or other lenses…

Talk, talk, talk.

KEH is really overhyped compared to MPB, BH or Adorama. They are honest mentioning that UGLY means FUNGUS

This man looks green. ZOLTAN 🫱🏼🫲🏼