70-200mm 4L, should it rattle?

[catcher]

Hi,

 

I just received a 70-200mm 4L I won from ebay. The auction description said

that it was brand new, only opened to inspect. And the lens does look nice.

 

But there's an obvious rattle to the lens, like perhaps an internal element is

loose? Just a very light shake and you can hear it easily. I wouldn't have

expected this from an L series lens and am wondering if I should return it.

 

The packing wasn't great--it came in its original box, with that box inside

another. But there was minimal padding inside the original box and lots of

obvious movement.

 

Anybody else's lens make a rattle noise?

 

Thanks

[digitmstr]

>>But there was minimal padding inside the original box and lots of obvious movement.<<

 

WHen I bought mine from B&H it came with the original Canon boax and foam. There was NO play whatsoever inside the box. Your should have been the same if indeed everything was original.

 

Also, no...there should be no rattle.

[sandy_labana]

Mine has no rattle even after some rough use. Hope you can get your

money back. Sandy

[jaco_fender]

No rattles whatsoever with mine.

[delwyn_ching]

I ordered mine last year from B&H Photo. The lens, if labled as brand new, should be neatly wrapped in a plastic bag with a dissicant (moisture absorber) and fitted into a styrofoam cube. The lens case, hood and instruction manual are all neatly individually wrapped in a plastic bag.

 

The lens and accessories are placed in the original Cannon Lens box with very little or no movement at all. To this day, the lens does not rattle and works fine. You should send it back and get a refund.

[catcher]

Thanks for the responses, that's what I figured. I've contacted the seller.

[haltedsisyphus]

I bought mine new 8 months ago from a well-known, reputable dealer. According to the date code, it was manufactured in 2006.

 

If I give a mild shake to my lens while holding it close to the rear element I can hear a quiet, low-pitched rattle sound from the front. My guess is that something inside near the focus ring can move back and forth. (When I hold the lens near the front element and shake there is no sound.)

 

However, with 8 months of ample use the lens has not shown any problems with picture quality or focus speed/accuracy. Since problems in shooting never showed up, I figured that the sound was just part of how the lens was constructed.

 

I would be curious to know whether this is similar to what you experience. If so, let me know if you find out that this might actually a symptom of some problem (or indication of likely future problem), and what that problem is so I could send in the lens for a check-up before the warranty expires.

[neil_v.]

When I first received my 70-200/4L (from B&H, USA warranty version) a few months ago, I noticed that rotating the lens 90 degrees (as if it were attached to the camera body and one was moving from landscape to portrait orientation), caused a soft knock sound.

 

I don't know the mechanics of the lens, but the knock sounded like it could've been something inside the tube loose enough to wiggle around and hit the side of the tube rather than only move smoothly along the length of the tube.

 

Initially, I had a difficult time getting consistently sharp shots, which made me suspicious of the knocking noise. However, that was probably due to the 70-200/4L being heavier than my prior long lens. I still have occasional soft shots, but I just attribute those to fallible handhold technique and always take 2-3 exposures at a time

(in burst mode) to be safe.

 

If most people's 70-200/4L lenses have no discernible knock sound when rotated, perhaps I should send mine in while the warranty's good and the weather's bad.

[PuppyDigs]

I've owned over 25 Canon lenses, including the EF 70-200 4L. All of them yield a soft rattle

when shook in a quiet room. Every single one. No exceptions. The mechancials have more

play than the old manual lenses of yesteryear. I assume the looser drive train requires less

motor torque to intiate AF. Keep pumpin that puppy 'n maybe something will come loose...

 

My fav noob question is about barrel play on from element extension focus zooms. They

work that plastic barrel back 'n forth over 'n over until it's really got some serious wobble...

[pjmeade]

My 70-200/f4 is 18 months old and has always had a slight noise of moving components about it, I wouldn't call it a rattle.

[catcher]

Hmmm,

 

Well, I suppose maybe it's more of a "knock" than a rattle? It does sound like it's coming from the front of the lens, more or less. However it does it no matter what--whether zoomed in or out, focused in our out, af on or off, etc. Whether I'm gripping the front or the back or in the middle--it's always there.

 

And I do want to emphasize I'm not shaking the thing to smitherins. A gentle rock back and forth and the knock/rattle is audible.

[jon_austin]

These lens noise issues may be some of the most difficult to quantify (and qualify) of all gear questions with the limited capabilities of the written word.

 

I owned a 70-200/4 for three years (only selling it recently when upgrading to a 70-200/2.8 IS), and don't recall it ever making a sound.

 

If one of my lenses made a disturbing noise, I'd go to camera store and compare it to a new copy of the same model (and maybe get a second opinion from a knowledgeable salesperson, if I could find one).

 

If in doubt, send it back and get a refund. Nothing spoils my fun more when playing with one of my toys than worrying that it might be defective somehow.

[peter_rowe]

This question was asked some time ago and most responses said theirs did in fact rattle. I didn't think mine did so I got it out and sure enough it did. It is more like a light "knock" or "cluck" when you gently roll from side to side like a propeller while holding in center.

[J.W. Wall]

Take it to a shop and ask?

[KenPapai]

FYI - the 70-200 2.8L does not rattle at all, totally silent.

[catcher]

Alright, I've relaxed.

 

My brand new (less than 2 weeks old, straight from reputable dealer) 100mm usm macro has a similar sort of noise--a faint knock towards the front. My 75-300mm does it--not a tight lens to begin with by any means, but holding all the wobbly parts firmly and giving it just a gentle shake I can again hear a faint "knocking" that sounds very similar to the 70-200mm (again, a different noise from all the "creaks" of such a lens). So this must be completely normal as several of you have suggested. I suppose I just wasn't nearly as paranoid until I bought this lens, never ahd listened closely enough to notice.

 

So thanks for the responses.

[pawel_kazmierczyk]

now, you got me curious...

 

I have checked out the 70-200/4L which has served me happily for the last year. Yes, there is a sight knock if you shake it. On the other hand, I had never notice it unitl tonight, and the pix have been OK.

 

The upsot is: take the lens out into the field and shoot. Maybe do the ruler test to see if there is the backfocus/frontfocus (mind you, this is normally due to the camera, not the lens....)

 

If the lens takes good pictures, then just relax. Afterall, you bought it for the pictures it makes, not the sounds :))

 

Pawel

[matt_nicolls]

I found this post in response to my hearing a rattle in my 400mm promaster. So, I took it apart to see what was up. Once I got past the first few layers of the internal mechanism, I found a plastic hub that seems to control the shutter, inside it were a bunch of small steel balls (bearings) to assist in the rotation. The space between the bearings allow them to roll back and forth and make a rattling sound. Seems to me that if they were to manufacture these with less space between them, this wouldn't happen. Anyway, I have to go try to figure out how to put this thing back together :)

 

-Matt