used Canon 70-200 f4 IS making noise

Tonez · May 29, 2018

Hello, so I just bought a used 70-200 f4 IS off eBay with a selling that had 300+ reviews at 100% and when taking it out of the box I noticed something in there was moving slightly when turned over.

When the lens is vertical and slightly tilted to one side you can hear a little clunk sound. Maybe it's the IS and is normal?

Also when the "IS" is on the sound it makes it rather noticeable and of course I can feel the moving parts from the IS. I can hear it working, I guess which may be ok, but does this possibly mean the IS is going bad or am I overreacting?

I did a quick search and it seems other people have had a clunk and sound from IS.

I took a few shots inside my house and the image seems pretty sharp. Is this normal behavior or should I be worried? It definitely sound like a moving element.

Thanks

OldSchoolNewSchool · May 29, 2018

My experience with Canon lenses with IS is that some of them make nearly no noise at all, while others make quite a bit of noise. And it's all normal. It probably depends on the model of lens. Perhaps if you can get together with other Canon owners, have them listen to the sound to see if it's abnormal.

J A C S · May 29, 2018

This lens is known for that. There are many related threads. You should be concerned when the noise stops. ;-)

Steve Balcombe · May 29, 2018

Tonez said:
Hello, so I just bought a used 70-200 f4 IS off eBay with a selling that had 300+ reviews at 100% and when taking it out of the box I noticed something in there was moving slightly when turned over.

When the lens is vertical and slightly tilted to one side you can hear a little clunk sound. Maybe it's the IS and is normal?

Also when the "IS" is on the sound it makes it rather noticeable and of course I can feel the moving parts from the IS. I can hear it working, I guess which may be ok, but does this possibly mean the IS is going bad or am I overreacting?

I did a quick search and it seems other people have had a clunk and sound from IS.

I took a few shots inside my house and the image seems pretty sharp. Is this normal behavior or should I be worried? It definitely sound like a moving element.

It's probably ok. The IS in this lens is quite noisy, and most people try it for the first time indoors in a quiet room so it can be very noticeable!

The clunk could be the IS group not correctly parked. Attach the lens to a body and half-press the shutter so you can hear the IS operating. Take your finger off the shutter and wait for two seconds - the whirring sound should stop and you may hear a click as the IS group parks itself. Remove the lens from the body and see if it no longer rattles.

If you remove the lens from the body without waiting two seconds, it has no power to park the IS group so it remains 'floating' and you may hear it moving about. While I can't say for certain if that could do any damage, I wouldn't want to leave it in that state so reattach it to the body so it can park properly.

Arthur Stanley Jefferson · May 29, 2018

Mine and my friends both make a noticeable whirring rattling noise when in use, always have. Reminds me of a roulette wheel sometimes ☺Great, great lens though, enjoy it

RogerZoul · May 29, 2018

I have this lens and both sounds are normal. Not to worry.

BlueRay2 · May 29, 2018

i wouldn't worry about the noise unless it is unreasonable! i have numerous canon IS lenses and they all make the "clunk" noise when IS is used.

curlyone · May 29, 2018

Hi , if you turn off the IS , the lens should behave as a normal lens, when i use mine ,with the IS on , the image in the viewfinder appears to move or jump when focusing, not worth fixing, but i still use it.

J A C S · May 29, 2018

curlyone said:
Hi , if you turn off the IS , the lens should behave as a normal lens, when i use mine ,with the IS on , the image in the viewfinder appears to move or jump when focusing, not worth fixing, but i still use it.

Don't fix it because this is the way it should be.

curlyone · May 29, 2018

Hi , JACS, I bought that lens in 2006 ,New , good for atleast the first 6 years, didnt use it for a while, started to use again, thats when i noticed its change in behavior, whining when focusing and image jumping the viewfinder, camera repairer told me about the problem, said he could fix it , but not worth it, its still working fully ,today.

ctransj · May 29, 2018

the lens makes noise when he took out of the box, not when it is mounted on the camera.

Tonez · May 29, 2018

J A C S said:
This lens is known for that. There are many related threads. You should be concerned when the noise stops. ;-)

Ok good, yeah I was a bit worried since I have other IS lens that are completely silent attached or detached from the camera. What I mean by detached is the slight clunk sound the lens (assuming it's the IS device) makes when rotating it with your hand.

RogerZoul said:
I have this lens and both sounds are normal. Not to worry.

Awesome, glad to have such positive reply's here and ready to go shoot!

J A C S · May 29, 2018

Tonez said:
J A C S said:

This lens is known for that. There are many related threads. You should be concerned when the noise stops. ;-)

Click to expand...

Ok good, yeah I was a bit worried since I have other IS lens that are completely silent attached or detached from the camera. What I mean by detached is the slight clunk sound the lens (assuming it's the IS device) makes when rotating it with your hand.

Mine does that, too. BTW, I got it shortly after it was released, no problems so far.

Tonez · May 29, 2018

J A C S said:
Tonez said:

J A C S said:

This lens is known for that. There are many related threads. You should be concerned when the noise stops. ;-)

Click to expand...

Ok good, yeah I was a bit worried since I have other IS lens that are completely silent attached or detached from the camera. What I mean by detached is the slight clunk sound the lens (assuming it's the IS device) makes when rotating it with your hand.

Click to expand...

Mine does that, too. BTW, I got it shortly after it was released, no problems so far.

Ahh what a relief to hear ;-) thank you

Steve Balcombe · May 30, 2018

Steve Balcombe said:
The clunk could be the IS group not correctly parked. Attach the lens to a body and half-press the shutter so you can hear the IS operating. Take your finger off the shutter and wait for two seconds - the whirring sound should stop and you may hear a click as the IS group parks itself. Remove the lens from the body and see if it no longer rattles.

I've checked mine now - there is a slight rattle even when the IS is correctly parked. So nothing to worry about.

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used Canon 70-200 f4 IS making noise

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