Batch of CZ16-80 showing fungus issue?

Last saturday, I was going to take pictures of my family and bang! My CZ 16-80 had developed fungus in the second front element (see "What Annoyed You Today" topic). I left the lens under the sun throughout the day, and from now I'll see how it goes. Also in the meantime, I will check the warranty period given to the lens by SonyStyle Brazil, where it has been bought. I'm not very optimistic, anyway, and it's probable that this lens will have to make a trip to my trustworthy camera service - which by the way is not the authorized Sony service center.

On the other hand, I've checked all other lenses on my camera bag; every other lens seem to be OK, including my fastest glass that I have (85mm f:1.4 and 50mm f:1.7). I've virtually scratched my head throughout the day on the issue, since the only other time I had fungus in a lens of mine was when I stored it inside a wood drawer in a very humid January (Brazil's summer). How come that the much older lenses I have have developed no fungus (mind you, the 50mm and the 85mm are first generation Minoltas!) and such a new lens like the ZA16-80 has got fungus?

Just did a little research and found that a batch of these lenses is showing this very issue. Quoting the text:

"The lens coating will looks like snowflake. The reported incident serial number are starting in the range 384xxxxx~387xxxxx."

Just checked my S/N of my CZ16-80. Double bang! It's 3860722. Interestingly, my copy has been bought from Sony Style Brazil (no grey market) exactly to keep me safe from these issues. Do you think am I entitled to an exchange or a refund?                                                 

Edited by stiuskr - 20 June 2011 at 01:28

I would expect Sony to take care of this issue, warranty or not. Let us know how it turns out. My continued future relations with camera manufacturers are weighed against reported issues such as these, and how they are resolved.

My 16-80 is 384xxxx

Tubal wrote: I'd get a little more info before I assume that a "batch" of lenses was bad. What is the sample size? 2? 4? I'm guessing that the 384xxxx-387xxxx would include ALL CZ1680's. I can't imagine them making more tan 40,000 of them? So it makes sense that your lens would fall within that range. Maybe 1680 owners can check their s/n and see if they fall in this range.

Please, read the link I've posted. "Recently there are many posts from Taiwan, HK and China forums discussing the fungus problems in CZ 16-80."

The post date is Dec 31st, 2010. Could someone at Dyxum that has contact with Taiwanese/HK/China owners confirm how much users have talked about this issue?

Just a note that I've edited the title, changing it from a declaration to a question.

FYI: Mine is 382*****

Update: just called Sony Style Brazil again, since they have not called me back, differently from what they had promised me last Monday (June 20th). In short, this is the situation:

1. Sony customer service in Brazil is a disgruntling mess. If you go to their service site to locate a service shop, they won't show anyone for Alpha. The attendent instructed me to select "Cybershot/Handicam" service instead!

2. Doing this shows me a list of 5 "premium" service centers (I won't even bother looking for the non-premium ones). Of these 5 service centers, just one of them will service Alpha equipment.

3. Differently from what the Sony attendent told me, they won't open a case with Sony Brazil to replace the lens which is definitely part of a suspect batch, even when I argued that the fungus is a hidden vice of the product that has just manifested 14 months after I've bought it. So if I really have to replace the lens it seems that I will have to deal with Sony by myself.

5. By law, from now on I have 90 days to receive a free repair - I don't like this alternative, since the fungus can always reappear - a refund or a replacement, but I'm not holding my breath. Taking such cases to the court is normally the only way to deal with this kind of issue here, since business just ignore the law and leave the issue to be decided by a judge, and here in Brazil this may take months even in the fastest courts.

Anyway, I'm thinking about sending the lens to the authorized service just to know what they will tell about this issue. My fear is, when they see the fungus they will just return the lens with the magic word "misuse" and will refuse even to do the free repair which I'm entitled to. What do you think?