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.  

[Waddizzle]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

I guess if it has never happened to you, it is hard to see how it could.  But one thing for sure it didn't happen the way some are saying it did.  There has to be some input, wanted or unwanted, from the user.  

Plus I don't want Canon to do anything that makes it more difficult to change lenses.  I think most/all working pros would feel the same way.  The difference between the pro needs and the hobbyist needs I guess.

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Actually, it has happened to me once before.  I was sitting, and the lens dropped into my lap.  Instead of assuming the camera was faulty, I assumed that I must have unknowingly pressed the release button.  Lenses do not release by themselves.  Lesson learned! 

Never crossed my mind to blame the camera.

[ebiggs1]

" Lenses do not release by themselves."

I have to agree, a wise man you are.  The best way to solve a problem is to identify the problem.

[schmegg]

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@Waddizzle wrote:

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

I guess if it has never happened to you, it is hard to see how it could.  But one thing for sure it didn't happen the way some are saying it did.  There has to be some input, wanted or unwanted, from the user.  

Plus I don't want Canon to do anything that makes it more difficult to change lenses.  I think most/all working pros would feel the same way.  The difference between the pro needs and the hobbyist needs I guess.

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Actually, it has happened to me once before.  I was sitting, and the lens dropped into my lap.  Instead of assuming the camera was faulty, I assumed that I must have unknowingly pressed the release button.  Lenses do not release by themselves.  Lesson learned! 

Never crossed my mind to blame the camera.

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Well, I'm not saying the camera is faulty. I'm saying the design could be better. BIG difference.

I've certainly treated the unfortunate incident as a lesson and now constantly check that my lens has not somehow become semi-detacted without my purposful input (which is what happened - and was the point of my contribution to this thread).

You may say it's the users fault - that's your opinion. I'm not looking to throw blame here, nor am I looking to defend in a fanboy like manner.

Seems to me that, after owning and using Canon bodies and lenses over three decades, and NEVER encountering this issue, it would be safe to assume that lenses do NOT get released without the EXPRESS and DELIBERATE action of the user. 

But, unfortunately, the design of the newer 5D's is such that it CAN happen accidentially. And this thread shows that to be true. Even you have had it happen!

Hopefully Canon might see past those who simply throw the blame at the user and take this into consideration in their coming designs - which is the real point of even mentioning this issue to begin with.

[RobertTheFat]

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@schmegg wrote:

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@Waddizzle wrote:

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

I guess if it has never happened to you, it is hard to see how it could.  But one thing for sure it didn't happen the way some are saying it did.  There has to be some input, wanted or unwanted, from the user.  

Plus I don't want Canon to do anything that makes it more difficult to change lenses.  I think most/all working pros would feel the same way.  The difference between the pro needs and the hobbyist needs I guess.

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Actually, it has happened to me once before.  I was sitting, and the lens dropped into my lap.  Instead of assuming the camera was faulty, I assumed that I must have unknowingly pressed the release button.  Lenses do not release by themselves.  Lesson learned! 

Never crossed my mind to blame the camera.

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Well, I'm not saying the camera is faulty. I'm saying the design could be better. BIG difference.

I've certainly treated the unfortunate incident as a lesson and now constantly check that my lens has not somehow become semi-detacted without my purposful input (which is what happened - and was the point of my contribution to this thread).

You may say it's the users fault - that's your opinion. I'm not looking to throw blame here, nor am I looking to defend in a fanboy like manner.

Seems to me that, after owning and using Canon bodies and lenses over three decades, and NEVER encountering this issue, it would be safe to assume that lenses do NOT get released without the EXPRESS and DELIBERATE action of the user. 

But, unfortunately, the design of the newer 5D's is such that it CAN happen accidentally. And this thread shows that to be true. Even you have had it happen!

Hopefully Canon might see past those who simply throw the blame at the user and take this into consideration in their coming designs - which is the real point of even mentioning this issue to begin with.

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I don't disagree with any of what you say. And since I rarely change lenses during a shoot, I don't share Ernie's resistance to a change in the release mechanism. But what does bother me is that we still don't really know what's happening, e.g. whether it's a hardware problem, user error, or both. And until the cause of the problem has been clearly identified, the risk is that an attempted fix may not solve the problem. Or that it will solve the problem, but at a cost that riles users like Ernie who need, or think they need, to change lenses quickly.

[schmegg]

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RobertTheFat wrote: 

I don't disagree with any of what you say. And since I rarely change lenses during a shoot, I don't share Ernie's resistance to a change in the release mechanism. But what does bother me is that we still don't really know what's happening, e.g. whether it's a hardware problem, user error, or both. And until the cause of the problem has been clearly identified, the risk is that an attempted fix may not solve the problem. Or that it will solve the problem, but at a cost that riles users like Ernie who need, or think they need, to change lenses quickly.

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Yeah - agree.

In my case I think it was the combination of heavy glass, black rapid, the momentum of the camera/lens combo swinging about near my hip and the button somehow being bumped by my hip. Beats me how it managed to twist enough to not simply relock after it was depressed, but logic would tell me that it must have, somehow.

So, in my case, it's easy to say I was doing something wrong with the way I was carrying the camera. And, given the body left the lens and bounced down the road ahead of me, that would seem very fair.

But, regardless, it should not happen. A lens should only come off the camera due to a DELIBERATE and PURPOSEFUL action of the user assuming it was mounted correctly to begin with. It should not be possible to accidentlly bump the camera and release the lens. And the 5D3 is the first and only camera I have ever owned where that has occurred (though I suspect the more recent 5D's would be the same).

In any case, Canon do not have a great track record for listening to stuff like this. If they do take it on board, it will be years before we see it. But I would like to think that they might do so before the 5D5, because that's probably my next 5D and I'd like to think that I might be able to return to the good old days when, once I mounted a lens, it would stay there until I remove it. 😉

[Waddizzle]

"But, unfortunately, the design of the newer 5D's is such that it CAN happen accidentially. And this thread shows that to be true. Even you have had it happen!"

Yes, it has happend to me.  Newbie error. 

I used to shoot film throughout the 1980s, but it was an expensive hobby.  It was cheaper to buy disposable cameras, and get more consistent focus.  I knew about DSLR cameras, but it didn't really click in my head that the expense of developing film was a thing of the past. 

I had just bought a camera and was feeling it out, trying out the two different lenses that came in kit.  Good thing I was reclining in the Lay-Z-Boy, and taking pictures of my toes.  That's why the lens landed in my lap. 

Another newbie error.  I was taking pictures of the Moon, and grabbed the camera with both hands to reposition it.  I was using a large lens with a tripod foot.  I had repositioned the camera several times over the course of time.  My tripod's ball head wasn't very good with a heavy, off balanced load, pointing upwards, past 60 degrees.  The ball head wanted to roll into the portrait notch because it lacked a friction adjustment.

I rolled the head into the portrait mode notch, loosened the tripod foot and rotated the camera back to landscape, when the camera detached from the lens, as I was holding it with two hands.  Obviously, when I gripped the camera on either side, I must have hit the release button.  Seeing how i had been doing that for half an hour, there's no telling when I hit the release button.

"But, unfortunately, the design of the newer 5D's is such that it CAN happen accidentially."

Wrong.  This has nothing to do with the design of newer cameras.  The location and design of the release button has remained pretty much unchanged for years.  Yes, it can happen.  But, it happens through pure carelessness, IMHO.

[schmegg]

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@Waddizzle wrote:

Wrong.  This has nothing to do with the design of newer cameras.  The location and design of the release button has remained pretty much unchanged for years.  Yes, it can happen.  But, it happens through pure carelessness, IMHO.

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Well, this is where we differ. But "carelessness" is a term that is open to interpretation.

Do you think it's careless to carry a camera and lens combination dangling at the end of a black rapid strap and walk about? If so, then I was being careless.

Regardless, it's a reasonable use case for many photgraphers and I maintain that a lens and camera should NOT seperate from each other accidentially under these conditions.

[Waddizzle]

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@schmegg wrote:

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@Waddizzle wrote:

Wrong.  This has nothing to do with the design of newer cameras.  The location and design of the release button has remained pretty much unchanged for years.  Yes, it can happen.  But, it happens through pure carelessness, IMHO.

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Well, this is where we differ. But "carelessness" is a term that is open to interpretation.

Do you think it's careless to carry a camera and lens combination dangling at the end of a black rapid strap and walk about? If so, then I was being careless.

Regardless, it's a reasonable use case for many photgraphers and I maintain that a lens and camera should NOT seperate from each other accidentially under these conditions.

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Sorry, to hear that it dropped off like that, but you were careless.  You should have checked it before you began walking about.  Do you ever check the tripod mount screw for your Black Rapid?  They can loosen up, too, if it doesn't hang cleanly.

[schmegg]

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@Waddizzle wrote:

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@schmegg wrote:

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@Waddizzle wrote:

Wrong.  This has nothing to do with the design of newer cameras.  The location and design of the release button has remained pretty much unchanged for years.  Yes, it can happen.  But, it happens through pure carelessness, IMHO.

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Well, this is where we differ. But "carelessness" is a term that is open to interpretation.

Do you think it's careless to carry a camera and lens combination dangling at the end of a black rapid strap and walk about? If so, then I was being careless.

Regardless, it's a reasonable use case for many photgraphers and I maintain that a lens and camera should NOT seperate from each other accidentially under these conditions.

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Sorry, to hear that it dropped off like that, but you were careless.  You should have checked it before you began walking about.  Do you ever check the tripod mount screw for your Black Rapid?  They can loosen up, too, if it doesn't hang cleanly.

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OK.

Thanks.

Yes - I checked the lens was mounted correctly and had been using it for about three hours prior to the incident. And yes, I check the Black Rapid screw all the time because I know it comes loose. And, knowing it comes loose makes me check it continually - and because of that I've never lost anything from the Black Rapid.

If I had had the same lack of faith in the Canon lens mount, then I would have checked the lens mount continually too and this would probably not have happened, but, unfortunately I was lulled into a false sense of security by the thirty odd years of experince I had with other Canon lens/body combinations and erroneously had faith that the lens would stay attached.

Carless newbie. That's me to a tee.

[Waddizzle]

Sorry, to hear that it dropped off like that, but you were careless.  You should have checked it before you began walking about.  Do you ever check the tripod mount screw for your Black Rapid?  They can loosen up, too, if it doesn't hang cleanly.

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OK.

Thanks.

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Again, sorry to hear about your accidents.

I use a Black Rapid Sport Strap, instead of the standard issue, Canon neck strap.  [They're selling for half price today, BTW]  But, I don't walk around with the camera hanging from my neck.  I use a holster, if I have to walk for any distance too far to hand hold the lens.

Personally, having a few pounds of camera bouncing off of my hip is very uncomfortable.  I don't use "big whites" lenses.  I've seen guys walking around with big whites banging off their hips, one on either side, and I marvel at them in wonder.  Self flagellation, if you ask me.  A holster is much more comfortable banging on my hip, than a naked camera. 

I don't use a "big white" lens, but I do use the 70-200mm and the 100-400mm lenses.  The lenses can fit into a Lowepro Toploader Pro 75 AW II still mounted to a 1D series body, or a body with a battery grip, with no problem.  It's far more comfortable, and a lot safer.  I know that I can easily get into the flow, become a little careless, and not be as attentive as I should with some details, when getting the shot is all that matters at the moment. 

I know that I can unknowingly hit the lens release button.  I know that I can forget to periodically check and secure the lens mount.  I know that getting into a flow, can be my worst enemy and my best ally.  I know all of this stuff, so I take precautions.