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16-35 f2.8 II Noise on focus ring

leorait
Apprentice

Hello!

I've been photographing for a couple years, and after some time suffering in events and architecture with only the 50mm, i've maneged to buy  16-35 f2.8 II and life got a lot easier 😄

I've picked up a second hand lens from 2015, but  it was in perfect conditions, and i believe the problem it is showing has nothing to do with its prior conditions.

For the first 3 months the lens was perfectly fine, but just yesterday i was inspecting the lens out of the body for dust, and i realised the focus ring was making an unusual sound, is like there is something making pressure when rotation is applied to the focus ring, sometimes it sounds like dust and other times it sounds just like gears turning, but it is all very subtle.

The wird part is that this sounds doesn't happen when the lens is on the camera and turned on, just when it is off and when the lens is tilted upright or at some angle. It also doesn't affect autofocus, and the zoom ring is perfectly fine

There is a minor looseness on the on the focus ring, and sometimes it looks like this is to blame, cause depending on wich side you put pressure when rotating the ring, it makes the noises.

 

I've searched some forums and found some quite related issues, mainly with de 27-70 II, and most people said is just fine. The lens itself is ok, no loss of sharpness neither any signals of damage.

I do believe the lens is fine, but i wanted to know if someone else had this problem or could know better what is happening. As the problem seens minor, and canon services are WAY expensive here in Brazil, i dont wanna take the lens to inspection.

Thanks!

26 REPLIES 26

Waddizzle
Legend
Legend

"The wird part is that this sounds doesn't happen when the lens is on the camera and turned on, just when it is off and when the lens is tilted upright or at some angle. It also doesn't affect autofocus, and the zoom ring is perfectly fine." 

 

First, the lens is designed to operated when it is connected to a camera and power is applied.  Two, once upon a time I knew a guy who was a world class pole vaulter, and was full of amusing tales that were full of wisdom. 

 

This guy once told me about how he had a sore shoulder that would change from an ache to an excrucciating burn if he held his arm up in a certain way.  He then proceeded to demonstrate the arm position that would cause this pain.  I though to myself, "Gee, that looks painful to do." 

 

He said that the doctor had told him that if it is painful to move your arm just so, then DON"T move your arm just so.  In other words, stop twisting the focus ring on your lens when it is not connected to the camera.  It was not designed for such treatment.

--------------------------------------------------------
"The right mouse button is your friend."

ebiggs1
Legend
Legend

In spite of the "wisdom" of a pole vaulter, Smiley Frustrated I am afraid the only true course for you is a visit to a real Canon Service facility.

Without actually trying your specific lens neither I nor anyone here can tell you it is fine or it is broken.  But I can say the ones I have used, are no different than any similar lens.

On or off the camera should make no difference.

EB
EOS 1DX and 1D Mk IV and less lenses then before!

"Without actually trying your specific lens neither I nor anyone here can tell you it is fine or it is broken."

 

Of course, that cannot  be said with any certainty.  I happen to own the lens, and while my copy does make slight sound when the ring is turned, it is not a troubling sound.  It is smooth, quiet swoosh, similar to two sheets of paper rubbing together.

--------------------------------------------------------
"The right mouse button is your friend."

Is the lens set to AF or MF when you're fiddling with the focus ring? As others have hinted without saying it outright, some lenses can be safely focused manually while set to auto-focus, and some can't. Usually it's the more expensive lenses that can, so one would suppose that it would be fine on an "L" lens like the 16-35 II. But it might be worth checking, The lens's instruction sheet ought to warn you if turning the ring with the lens set to AF or not mounted could cause damage.

 

Since you're reluctant to pay to have the lens serviced now, and since it seems to be performing correctly despite the noises, letting it ride for the time being may be a sensible strategy. If and when you have to have it serviced, most of the cost will probably be for labor. So if further use breaks a gear that isn't broken yet, it may not have much effect on what you have to pay.

Bob
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA

Bob from Boston,

"... one would suppose that it would be fine on an "L" lens like the 16-35 II. But it might be worth checking,"

 

No "L" lens that I have owned or used, which is most of them, has a problem with full time MF.  That this feeble mind can recount anyway.  The 16-35mm has full-time manual focus override (even in AF mode).  It also makes no difference if it is on or off the camera.  I can't quite pull the trigger on one but I do like it very much.  The only point that makes me want it over my current ef 17-40mm f4L is f2.8.

EB
EOS 1DX and 1D Mk IV and less lenses then before!

" Usually it's the more expensive lenses that can, so one would suppose that it would be fine on an "L" lens like the 16-35 II." 

 

I believe that any USM lens can be safely focused manually, even when the switch is set to AF.  Now, as far as what the behavior should be when the lens isn't mounted on the camera....who knows?  I see no reason to piddle with it, though.

--------------------------------------------------------
"The right mouse button is your friend."


@Waddizzle wrote:

 

I believe that any USM lens can be safely focused manually, even when the switch is set to AF. ...


I think I'd believe that about any of the new STM lenses; I'm less convinced that it's true of all USM lenses. The L's, yes; the others, maybe.

Bob
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA

"I think I'd believe that about any of the new STM lenses; I'm less convinced that it's true of all USM lenses. The L's, yes; the others, maybe." 

 

Really?  My EF-S 10-22 f/3.5-4.5 USM, and a cheap 70-300 USM, don't mind being turned.  But, my EF-S 18-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS STM, which I gave away to one of my sons, I'm almost pretty sure didn't like being turned when set to AF..  Curiously, though, the non-IS STM lenses that I have in my bag right now don't seem to mind.  That would be both pancakes, 24mm and 40mm, and the latest "nifty fifty."

 

I'm not sure if there is any conclusion to be drawn.  It varies from one lens to the next, it seems.

--------------------------------------------------------
"The right mouse button is your friend."

The EF-S 18-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS STM is a focus-by-wire design that requires the camera to be live our the lens to be wakened from its sleep mode. Full Time Manual, FTM, focusing is available, but only after AF completes.

 

"Without actually trying your specific lens neither I nor anyone here can tell you it is fine or it is broken."

 

Of course, that cannot  be said with any certainty."

 

Well just don't you bet your life on it.  Anybody that thinks they know so much as to trouble shoot a lens without handling or examining it is deeply mistaken.  It doesn't matter if you do have one. I have used them, too.

 

EB
EOS 1DX and 1D Mk IV and less lenses then before!
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