Rattling 50mm f1.4

[damian_tinsley]

Hi all,

 

please help me out with a bit of advice on the 50mm f1.4 lens.

 

I have noticed for a while that the optical assembly in the lens

moves quite a bit if it is pushed / pulled / jiggled side to side.

Is this normal for the 50mm? I can hold the lens by the filter and

there is about 0.5-1.0mm of movement in the assembly that has the

optics, both from front to back and side to side. My other lenses

don't exhibit this and I would appreciate any comments on this (and

the reason for it).

 

Regards, Damian

[tjavery]

I don't know if it's normal, but mine does it too. I've had the 50mm f/1.4 for about 3 months now, and the lens assembly (inside the main barrel) seems to have become more loose as time goes on.

 

However, I've not noticed anything wrong with my photos, yet.

 

-TJ

[bestactionshots]

Mine does rattle too. I don't have any problems with it in taking pictures for its quality.

[bill_goldman]

The EF50mm f/1.4 features linear focusing, which means all of the elements in the lens move forward as a group when focusing closer and move back when focusing further away.

 

Lenses with internal or rear focusing in which the lens does not change length do not have this problem and are preferable.

 

The good news is that your pictures will not be degraded by a small amount of shifting of the lens group since all elements maintain relative alignment.

 

The bad news is that the design and workmanship of the lens is disappointing and could be much better, especially considering the cost. As I recall, the FD lenses never had this problem. I realize that an auto focus lens cannot have excessive resistance to focus movement and therefor the less resistance it presents to the focusing motor, the better for battery life and the more rapid the focusing so that may be the tradeoff.

[steve_dunn2]

<p>Some amount of play is normal. It varies from one lens design to another; while I'm not measuring either one, my 28-135's front end has way more play than my 50/1.4's front end does. When I had my 28-105 and 100-300, they also had some play. It's not applicable to my 300/4, whose front end is firmly attached (as it doesn't move during focusing), and while the front end of my 17-40 moves during zooming, it's somewhat recessed and I don't intend to poke my fingers in there and try yanking it to see what happens.</p>

 

<p>Don't get into the habit of wiggling your lenses to see how much play they have, or sooner or later you'll break one :-) Be reasonably gentle installing and removing filters and you should be fine. Enjoy the lovely optics of this lens.</p>

[damian_tinsley]

Many thanks all. Appreciate the time.

 

Damian