Whether it is still usable with the fugus or not is immaterial at this stage. A bit of fungus on the front elements might not really means it can spoile your shots or if only abit of fungus only just start to appear. The problem is that fungus will dissolve the special coating that is on the elements! That is your biggest problem. When fungus left on the lens for too long a period especially when you shot some pictures and it still looks fine and you rather wait it out abit longer since it can be costly to get the lens services might seem a good idea. The problem is what the fungus will do to your lens permanantly as in leaving it without a coating..that means a marking you will see on the lens like some root system of a tree. heheh.. I had that with one of my old Soligor lens which I have not used in a long time..( well gave up but can't find a buyer for it years ago) So fungus got into the lens and I just simply put it in a dry box..suffice to say the fungus persisted in growing! anyway..after like a few months have passed and I decided to open it up and try to clean it myself. Old lens are alot easier to open and service compared to newer lens with all the AF motor and all. Anyway...when I got to the effected elements, I use cleaning liquid to wipe the elements and the fungus was gone but now I see the "foot print" it left behind on my lens. You know how you can see that greenish or purplish hue on your lens element when the light hits it at an angle...well I see nothing in those area where the fungus was. It totally "ate" away the coating!. :bsmilie: I can laugh about it as I considered this lens worthless and junk. But imagine if that was a 70-200 VR zoom!