DPReview.com is closing April 10th - Find out more

Damage to Canon EF 50 mm f/1.4 USM

Started Apr 30, 2022 | Questions thread
OP JJCuriosus New Member • Posts: 6
Re: Damage to Canon EF 50 mm f/1.4 USM

Ray UK wrote:

What happens when the 1.4 is damaged, is as follows:

As the front assembly rotates during focusing it relies on small lugs which run in sloping grooves of plastic tube affixed to the main body. This plastic tube is quite flimsy and any pressure on the front can cause this to be damaged by the lugs.

If the damage is only slight then focusing will still work but the lugs will cause an indentation in the grooves so the focus will tend to stick in this position, this can usually be felt when using manual focus

If the lens has sustained greater damage then the plastic tube will be broken and the front section will not turn at all, so neither AF or MF will work.

Damage caused by pressure on the front of the lens will not affect the lens sharpness unless of course if the lens is unable to focus.

Thank you for the in-depth explanation. I think I understand the inner workings of this lens much better now. There seems to be no serious damage but I'll be on the lookout for indentations making the focus stick.

Keyboard shortcuts:
FForum PPrevious NNext WNext unread UUpvote SSubscribe RReply QQuote BBookmark MMy threads
Color scheme? Blue / Yellow