Lenses falling off Canon 6D

[borderjack]

I was in Chicago last fall at a nephew's wedding. I was shooting some pictures of the wedding dance when I was bumped by another guest. Next thing you know my 24-70 lens was bouncing off the floor. I know the lens was locked in as it was functioning perfectly at the time (it just auto-focused an image and was re-focusing for another when I got bumped) My hand was nowhere near the lens release button and I cannot figure out how this may have happened. Also, if it was not locked in place, my lenses do not autofocus.

I had it repaired the lens and am using it again. I had put this out of my mind until a long-time friend an professional photographer of 40 years+ called and asked about the accident I had with the lens falling off. He had thought I was crazy when I told him the story originally. He then proceeded to tell me he just had the same thing happen with his 6D and a 100mm Macro lens.

He was shooting some high school team photos when his lens came off the camera.

I am wondering how many other 6D owners have had this happen. Is there a lock issue? 

[Waddizzle · Accepted solution]

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@diverhank wrote:

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@Waddizzle wrote:

"But pressing the release button alone isn't enough to make the lens come off. The lens must also be rotated counter-clockwise about 60º. "

Exactly.  Releasing a lens from a properly functioning lens mount requires a "double action" to release it.

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In my case the double action was: 1. accidentally touched the release button and 2. the bouncing rotated the lens. This was my 100-400L f/4.5-5.6 II and the tripod mount helped with the bouncing and gravity.

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Ow.  Ow.  Ouch.  I hope that lens wasn't a total loss.  Anything is possible, but "double action" means concurrent events, not sequential events.

[RobertTheFat · Accepted solution]

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@borderjack wrote:
I looked at the strap today, It is a CarrySpeed. I love way the strap allowed me to get the camera up and ready, but didn't like the way the camera flopped around as it is with most straps especially when a long lens is attached.

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Some have reported that the flopping around caused their cameras to unscrew themselves from the mount, which would be an absolute deal breaker for me.

[TTMartin · Accepted solution]

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@borderjack wrote:

Not using a Black Rapid strap. I was using a sling strap that is no longer sold in the USA and forget the name. The sling fastened to the bottom camera mount and is one of the best I have found. 

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So far it seems that straps that attach to the tripod mount seem to be a common factor with the camera and lens coming detached. This could hardly be considered a Canon design flaw as Canon doesn't design their lenses or cameras to have the straps attached that way. 

As designed by Canon the camera has strap attachment points, and lenses that are too large to hang from the camera's mount unsupported have their own strap attachment points.

As seen in this photo from the-digital-picture.com

Those that want to second guess Canon engineers and attach their straps to the tripod mount which they aren't designed for are suddenly surprised that the camera and lens don't performed as designed. 

[TTMartin · Accepted solution]

Were you using a Black Rapid Strap?

[kvbarkley]

Usually it is a 5DMIII:

http://community.usa.canon.com/t5/EOS/Accidental-Lens-Release/m-p/17139#U17139

[diverhank]

I too like your friend used to think it was crazy or the user had done something wrong to have a lens fell off until it also happened to me.  In my case I was lucky enough I caught it in mid-air by pinning it against my arm and my body.

What happened in my case was that I was walking around in rough terrain with considerable bouncing motion and my finger had brushed by the release button (without me knowing it) and the lens became unlocked but it did not fall out yet.  After a while, because of the bouncing motion, the lens came off.  Part of my workflow now is to occasionally twist the lens to see if it's locked.

I think it's a semi-design issue...the lens release works great normally but can come loose in some situations.  Not sure what the fix can be though...

[TTMartin]

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@diverhank wrote:

I too like your friend used to think it was crazy or the user had done something wrong to have a lens fell off until it also happened to me.  In my case I was lucky enough I caught it in mid-air by pinning it against my arm and my body.

What happened in my case was that I was walking around in rough terrain with considerable bouncing motion and my finger had brushed by the release button (without me knowing it) and the lens became unlocked but it did not fall out yet.  After a while, because of the bouncing motion, the lens came off.  Part of my workflow now is to occasionally twist the lens to see if it's locked.

I think it's a semi-design issue...the lens release works great normally but can come loose in some situations.  Not sure what the fix can be though...

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Was a Black Rapid Strap involved with your incident? 

[TTMartin]

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@borderjack wrote:

I was in Chicago last fall at a nephew's wedding. I was shooting some pictures of the wedding dance when I was bumped by another guest. Next thing you know my 24-70 lens was bouncing off the floor. I know the lens was locked in as it was functioning perfectly at the time (it just auto-focused an image and was re-focusing for another when I got bumped) My hand was nowhere near the lens release button and I cannot figure out how this may have happened. Also, if it was not locked in place, my lenses do not autofocus.

I had it repaired the lens and am using it again. I had put this out of my mind until a long-time friend an professional photographer of 40 years+ called and asked about the accident I had with the lens falling off. He had thought I was crazy when I told him the story originally. He then proceeded to tell me he just had the same thing happen with his 6D and a 100mm Macro lens.

He was shooting some high school team photos when his lens came off the camera.

I am wondering how many other 6D owners have had this happen. Is there a lock issue? 

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Let me guess you use a Black Rapid Strap? If so that seems to be the common thing with people complaining about lenses detachng from their cameera. 

[borderjack]

Not using a Black Rapid strap. I was using a sling strap that is no longer sold in the USA and forget the name. The sling fastened to the bottom camera mount and is one of the best I have found. I just recently switched to the Spyder Holster and love it. In either case, nothing there to even come close to the lens release button.

[RobertTheFat]

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@borderjack wrote:

Not using a Black Rapid strap. I was using a sling strap that is no longer sold in the USA and forget the name. The sling fastened to the bottom camera mount and is one of the best I have found. I just recently switched to the Spyder Holster and love it. In either case, nothing there to even come close to the lens release button.

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Have you had the lens come loose since you switched to the holster?

[borderjack]

Not so far. I am much more diligent in checking to see if the lens is locked. Not just when I first take it out of the bag or change lenses, but each time I bring it up to my eye. Love the holster, I have the dual setup and carry the %d on one side and the 6 on the other.

[TTMartin · Accepted solution]

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@borderjack wrote:

Not using a Black Rapid strap. I was using a sling strap that is no longer sold in the USA and forget the name. The sling fastened to the bottom camera mount and is one of the best I have found. 

---

So far it seems that straps that attach to the tripod mount seem to be a common factor with the camera and lens coming detached. This could hardly be considered a Canon design flaw as Canon doesn't design their lenses or cameras to have the straps attached that way. 

As designed by Canon the camera has strap attachment points, and lenses that are too large to hang from the camera's mount unsupported have their own strap attachment points.

As seen in this photo from the-digital-picture.com

Those that want to second guess Canon engineers and attach their straps to the tripod mount which they aren't designed for are suddenly surprised that the camera and lens don't performed as designed. 

[borderjack]

I looked at the strap today, It is a CarrySpeed. I love way the strap allowed me to get the camera up and ready, but didn't like the way the camera flopped around as it is with most straps especially when a long lens is attached.