"Wobble"in Front Portion of Canon Zooms

[jerrybrendle]

Is it a normal and acceptable situation for some Canon EF zooms to have their front section to have some play or wobble in respect to the rest of the lens itself?

I have seen this in several Canon zooms, and am now starting to notice it in my 28-135 IS as well. Looks like this wouldn't be acceptable whatsoever in precision optics such as Canon lenses claim to be.

 

[RichW]

It is a consumer zoom lens afterall. Shouldn't affect the image quality. Actually I think my 24-70L has a little play in it. Good luck,

Rich

Is it a normal and acceptable situation for some Canon EF zooms to
have their front section to have some play or wobble in respect to
the rest of the lens itself?
I have seen this in several Canon zooms, and am now starting to
notice it in my 28-135 IS as well. Looks like this wouldn't be
acceptable whatsoever in precision optics such as Canon lenses
claim to be.

 

[jerrybrendle]

Is it a normal and acceptable situation for some Canon EF zooms to
have their front section to have some play or wobble in respect to
the rest of the lens itself?
I have seen this in several Canon zooms, and am now starting to
notice it in my 28-135 IS as well. Looks like this wouldn't be
acceptable whatsoever in precision optics such as Canon lenses
claim to be.

Has no one else ever noticed this or considered it to be a problem?

 

[russod]

Rich

Is it a normal and acceptable situation for some Canon EF zooms to
have their front section to have some play or wobble in respect to
the rest of the lens itself?
I have seen this in several Canon zooms, and am now starting to
notice it in my 28-135 IS as well. Looks like this wouldn't be
acceptable whatsoever in precision optics such as Canon lenses
claim to be.

I was also concerned when first using the 28-135 IS. but after a close inspection it appears just the extention barrel and a clear lense at the ft have some free play and has no bearing on the lens groups futher back.

 

[GtoJon]

Is it a normal and acceptable situation for some Canon EF zooms to
have their front section to have some play or wobble in respect to
the rest of the lens itself?
I have seen this in several Canon zooms, and am now starting to
notice it in my 28-135 IS as well. Looks like this wouldn't be
acceptable whatsoever in precision optics such as Canon lenses
claim to be.

Has no one else ever noticed this or considered it to be a problem?

--
GtoJon -
Happy Holidays!!

 

[steaktaco]

the image stabilizer is supposed to have some springy play to account for handheld shake. i think.

Is it a normal and acceptable situation for some Canon EF zooms to
have their front section to have some play or wobble in respect to
the rest of the lens itself?
I have seen this in several Canon zooms, and am now starting to
notice it in my 28-135 IS as well. Looks like this wouldn't be
acceptable whatsoever in precision optics such as Canon lenses
claim to be.

Has no one else ever noticed this or considered it to be a problem?

--
GtoJon -
Happy Holidays!!

 

[Rick Stipa]

My 28~105 lens had it and it would appear to be "normal" from what I can tell by all the msg's I read. In my experience, it did not have any negative impact on the lens performance. However, I find it to be unacceptable no matter what "consumer level" or cost of the lens(the old Canon FD lenses did not have this).

I have kept my 28~105 for times when I need/want to carry a more compact set-up, saved enough money and got a 24~70L lens. It has almost no movement at all and I'm more than happy with the quality of this lens.

Image stabilizer is for camera "shake" not lens "wobble" or "missalignment" of the front element.

Is it a normal and acceptable situation for some Canon EF zooms to
have their front section to have some play or wobble in respect to
the rest of the lens itself?
I have seen this in several Canon zooms, and am now starting to
notice it in my 28-135 IS as well. Looks like this wouldn't be
acceptable whatsoever in precision optics such as Canon lenses
claim to be.

Has no one else ever noticed this or considered it to be a problem?

--
GtoJon -
Happy Holidays!!

--
Canon 10D, 75-300IS, 24-70L, 550EX
Canon G3, 420 EX

 

[jerrybrendle]

I have kept my 28~105 for times when I need/want to carry a more
compact set-up, saved enough money and got a 24~70L lens. It has
almost no movement at all and I'm more than happy with the quality
of this lens.

Image stabilizer is for camera "shake" not lens "wobble" or
"missalignment" of the front element.

Is it a normal and acceptable situation for some Canon EF zooms to
have their front section to have some play or wobble in respect to
the rest of the lens itself?
I have seen this in several Canon zooms, and am now starting to
notice it in my 28-135 IS as well. Looks like this wouldn't be
acceptable whatsoever in precision optics such as Canon lenses
claim to be.

Has no one else ever noticed this or considered it to be a problem?

--
GtoJon -
Happy Holidays!!

--
Canon 10D, 75-300IS, 24-70L, 550EX
Canon G3, 420 EX

That's right, even older Canon zooms didn't have (or supposedly need) this looseness, which simply tells me that it's poor construction with more built-in slack and tolerance that shouldn't have to be there in a top quality optical device!

 

[Detlev Rackow]

the image stabilizer is supposed to have some springy play to
account for handheld shake. i think.

No, the IS moves one group of lenses internally. The "loose" fronttube of the 28-135 is due to a little mechanical slack which lowers the price of manufacturing. However, it does not affect image quality.

Bye,

Detlev

 

[Don Schultz43010]

Hi Guys:

Perhaps the reason there's a difference in lens construction is because of the material used (metal VS plastic), I would think the expansion and contraction rate of the two materials would be very different (heat related), therefore different tolerances in construction.
Don.

Is it a normal and acceptable situation for some Canon EF zooms to
have their front section to have some play or wobble in respect to
the rest of the lens itself?
I have seen this in several Canon zooms, and am now starting to
notice it in my 28-135 IS as well. Looks like this wouldn't be
acceptable whatsoever in precision optics such as Canon lenses
claim to be.

 

[jerrybrendle]

Is it a normal and acceptable situation for some Canon EF zooms to
have their front section to have some play or wobble in respect to
the rest of the lens itself?
I have seen this in several Canon zooms, and am now starting to
notice it in my 28-135 IS as well. Looks like this wouldn't be
acceptable whatsoever in precision optics such as Canon lenses
claim to be.

But, does the optical center of lens elements not need to remain in very precise alignment with each other ia an optical system such as a lens? Does this "free play" not totally negate this basic rule?

 

[jerrybrendle]

Is it a normal and acceptable situation for some Canon EF zooms to
have their front section to have some play or wobble in respect to
the rest of the lens itself?
I have seen this in several Canon zooms, and am now starting to
notice it in my 28-135 IS as well. Looks like this wouldn't be
acceptable whatsoever in precision optics such as Canon lenses
claim to be.

Maybe more forum readers that are highly knowledgable concerning this issue are out of the bed this morning and on the forum. I have yet to get what I consider a really in depth explination as to why this doesn't present imaging problems. Sorry to keep re-hashing, but I would really like to know more about this "wobble" thing.

 

[Rick Stipa]

Jerry, try posting your question in the lens forum. I can't remember names, but I know there are a few very knowledgable people there that may have your answer. I'd be curious to see what you find out also.

Best of luck....

Rick

Is it a normal and acceptable situation for some Canon EF zooms to
have their front section to have some play or wobble in respect to
the rest of the lens itself?
I have seen this in several Canon zooms, and am now starting to
notice it in my 28-135 IS as well. Looks like this wouldn't be
acceptable whatsoever in precision optics such as Canon lenses
claim to be.

Maybe more forum readers that are highly knowledgable concerning
this issue are out of the bed this morning and on the forum. I have
yet to get what I consider a really in depth explination as to why
this doesn't present imaging problems. Sorry to keep re-hashing,
but I would really like to know more about this "wobble" thing.

--
Canon 10D, 75-300IS, 24-70L, 550EX
Canon G3, 420 EX