Accidental Lens Release

[michaelgirman]

  My 24-105L just fell off my 5D mkIII and rolled into the Seine.  The lens release button is way too sensitive and it is so easy to accidentally unlock without realizing it.  I went to twist the zoom ring and the lens rotated and dropped off.  Blogs are full of compaints of this occurance on mkii's.  

  This is definitely a design flaw.  It's not user error.  The button should be relocated or made to require more force to release  or have a detent position.  

  It's a shame that you have to gaffer tape a $2300 lens to a $2000 camera.  Be forewarned.  

[schmegg]

Just asking because the first time I had this issue it was possibly because I was carrying two cameras and had the 5D3 on the black rapid and it was bouncing around a bit.

I know you find it difficult to believe, but it CAN happen.

I'm not here to bash or make up stuff. I've been shooting for over thirty years. I know what I'm doing and I can tell you that it's more than possible for a lens and 5D3 body to detach accidentally.

If it hadn't happened to me I guess I'd find it a little difficult to believe too.

[ebiggs1]

"I know you find it difficult to believe, but it CAN happen."

Oh, on the contrary, I believe you. I did not mean to imply, if I did, it couldn't happen.  It has just never happened to me.  I had the 5d2 for quite a while but I had the 5d3 only for a short while.  I am not a 5d expert to ask by any sense.

[TCampbell]

I still have my 5D II which uses the same release button (same size, same position) and as I compare my 5D II and 5D III buttons, they feel "about the same" and if anything... I think the spring on the 5D III is a tiny bit stronger.

Rationally, I think we'd all agree that if a person were to just attach a lens to a camera and come back to check on it after several years, the lens would still be solidly attached.  Without something to push in on the button, it's not going to release the lens.

Something must have pushed the lens release button.  

I use a Black Rapid strap and if I'm using a lens with it's own tripod collar then the strap is attached to the lens mount instead of the body mount (I attach the strap to whatever component has the most weight).  As the camera rests at my side, I'm inspecting the position of the button and since it's in that crease of the side of the camera body and lens, nothing at my side can touch it... I've tried.  I've deliberately moved it around to see if there's anything that could possibly "catch" on the edge of my camera and hit the button -- but nothing can hit it.

If I carry any spare accessories, they're in a pack that's either around the opposite side of my body or my back -- but nothing is ever on the same side of my body as the camera.

Given that force = mass x velocity, I can imagine that if the camera were allowed to swing and did hit something on that same side of your body, that it could hit the button with enough force to release the locking pin and since the camera would be syspended by the lens and not the body, the force might also allow the body to "twist".  That would require something for the camera to hit (it certainly can't do this on it's own).  The problem with that scenario is that even if Canon made the button twice as hard to press, it wouldn't be enough (a 5D III with an EF 70-200mm f/2.8 lens is a lot of mass... it hardly need much velocity to result in enough force to press the button.)  

You wouldn't have this issue when using a factory neck-strap because the camera isn't allowed to twist... it has to hang lens-side facing away from your body if you sling it on your shoulder.   I still prefer my Black Rapid strap though... I can wear a heavy camera and lens all day long (vs. a basic neck strap.)

I have heard lots of horror stories about cameras becoming detatched from the Black Rapid strap too.  Usually these stories involve either the mounting bolt wasn't torqued down enough (or worked it's way loose) and I've also heard people report that the carabiner clip coming unlatched (even though they have the threaded sleeve to lock it -- people claim that works it's way loose too.)  I've never had either of these incidents but it scared me enough that I found myself constantly re-checking the security of it.  Ultimately I switched Black Rapid's arca-swiss style mounting clamp (which I think works much better.  Now I don't have to remove the dovetail plates from my camera bodies and lenses anymore.)

I suppose if you wanted to make sure this can't happen anymore, you could mold a guard around the button.  You'd need to know someone with a 3D printer and scanner.  Make an impression of the camera body & lens release area with modeling clay, scan it, then use the scan to create a guard.  Use some strong 3M adhesive to adhere it to the camera.  (there are some staggeringly strong 3M adhesives.)

[RobertTheFat]

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@TCampbell wrote:

I still have my 5D II which uses the same release button (same size, same position) and as I compare my 5D II and 5D III buttons, they feel "about the same" and if anything... I think the spring on the 5D III is a tiny bit stronger.

Rationally, I think we'd all agree that if a person were to just attach a lens to a camera and come back to check on it after several years, the lens would still be solidly attached.  Without something to push in on the button, it's not going to release the lens.

Something must have pushed the lens release button.  

---

In principle, it's also possible that there's a weak part in the latch mechanism that sometimes breaks and thereafter allows it to appear that the lens is latched when it isn't. Has that been ruled out in the cases reported in this forum?

[schmegg]

Hi Tim.

Rationally, I think we'd all agree that if a person were to just attach a lens to a camera and come back to check on it after several years, the lens would still be solidly attached.  Without something to push in on the button, it's not going to release the lens.

Yes - absolutely. 

I use a Black Rapid strap and if I'm using a lens with it's own tripod collar then the strap is attached to the lens mount instead of the body mount (I attach the strap to whatever component has the most weight).

Exactly what I do too. And I think this is part of the key to why it has happened to me to be honest. I think, had the body been attached to the Black Rapid then the lens release button probably wouldn't have been pressed - at least not as easily. Also, the twist necessary would be less likely I feel.

Given that force = mass x velocity, I can imagine that if the camera were allowed to swing and did hit something on that same side of your body, that it could hit the button with enough force to release the locking pin and since the camera would be syspended by the lens and not the body, the force might also allow the body to "twist".

Yes - exactly what I think is happening.

You wouldn't have this issue when using a factory neck-strap because the camera isn't allowed to twist.

Yes. And that's what I'd expect Canon would say if I had tried to get the damage fixed under warranty. And that would be perfectly reasonable too.

I have heard lots of horror stories about cameras becoming detatched from the Black Rapid strap too.  Usually these stories involve either the mounting bolt wasn't torqued down enough (or worked it's way loose) and I've also heard people report that the carabiner clip coming unlatched (even though they have the threaded sleeve to lock it -- people claim that works it's way loose too.)  I've never had either of these incidents but it scared me enough that I found myself constantly re-checking the security of it.

Yes. Again, me too. 🙂

I've never had any real issue with the base bolt coming loose, nor the carabiner. I do torque it down well and it's only once been slightly looser than when I initially torqued it down - but still many turns left before it would have detached.

Now I also check the lens is securely mounted as well. And I have found twice more that it wasn't, but luckily it was still mostly in place and required much more turn before it would drop - so I just clicked it back in place (and then worried about it and rechecked it every few minutes for the rest of the day)

It sounds like we do similar things with regards to how we carry our gear. So I guess I've just been unlucky. It certainly hasn't happened when I have my 7D on the Black Rapid. And it's never happened with any other body either. So you can imagine my concern and my thinking that perhaps it's a 5D3 thing.

When this has happened  I've been shooting motorsport and I've been moving about quite a lot - briskly travelling from corner to corner with the 5D3 and 100-400 on the Black Rapid attched to the lens tripod mount. And I have the 7D as well, sometimes firing off some shots as I'm moving from place to place. So the 5D3 is just hanging there during these times and banging against my hip as I'm moving around.

Anyway - if nothing else, hopefully someone might read this and start checking the security of the lens mount if they do the same as we do regarding carrying their gear. And I hope that they might be spared what happened to me (and others) by finding it before they experience their 5D3 body bouncing along the ground beside them! 🙂

Thanks for the detailed reply too - much appreciated. I felt, first time, you were dismissing it as purely user error (and I can understand skepticism on this issue). But I can only assure you that I'm genuine and that I'm also quite fastidious regarding making sure my gear is securely attached when I'm moving about with it. Which is why it was such a surprise after thirty odd years to have this happen.

At the end of the day I have a fully functional 5D3 - so I was lucky I guess. And it's now beaten up, so I can treat it harder than I ever normally would and not worry about the effect on it's secondhand value. I'm taking that as the bright side and looking at it 'glass half full'. 🙂

[schmegg]

Hi Bob.

Can't rule it out for everyone, but in my case, it seems the mechanism is fine. It still requires a push and feels, if anything, slightly stiffer than my 7D.

When mounting a lens, it clicks in nicely and feels very solid and secure.

It's a fairly simple mechanism - which is good. I like that. 🙂

So I'm sitting here trying to think of how Canon could have done it better, and there is no easy answer - particularly when I consider Tims point about gloved use in very cold environments.

Maybe just slightly smaller and less protruding, like the 7D, might be enough? Not sure. Hmm.

[FloydSpellman]

Just stumbled across this forum ...

My new 85mm just released from a 5D mk III body and smashed itself to bits.  Had been using it all morning on a car shoot for Mercedes.  This about the 5 or 6 time I've found a lens to have come unlocked on this body although I've managed to notice that they were loose before they fell. 

I've am a pro shooter in Australia for the last 15 years.  

Don't kid yourselves.  The release button is poorly designed.  It's way too large.  For all you naysayers, it can happen to you.

Floyd S

[FloydSpellman]

"I'll be surprised if any of my lenses ever come loose when I don't mean them to."

You certainly will be.  Take it from me.

Floyd S

[ebiggs1]

"I've am a pro shooter in Australia for the last 15 years.  

Don't kid yourselves.  The release button is poorly designed.  It's way too large.  For all you naysayers, it can happen to you."

Pro or not, I am still surpeised how this happens.  I am not trying to say you can not have it happen but I really don't see how.

I shoot both Canon and Nikon.  The button is very sinilar on either.

I think I am siding more with Tim Campbell on this.  Some "user error" is involved.  "Don't kid yourself!"

[Edward]

Same thing has happened to me several times particularly when handling big white lenses...the button is to large and a second action to prevent accidents would be welcomed.