New Cosina 19-35 sometimes working, sometimes battery check

[dennis_w1]

I just purchased a Cosina 19-35 (same as the Vivitar series 1) Lens to use with

my Elan II, first few shots I was getting the check battery error the then it

started working, and quit again, seems like it isn't focusing.

 

I then tried it on my EOS 650 and it won't fire at all, it just flashes BC

 

I purchased the lens from 47thstphoto, they stated they want a 20 percent

restocking few to give me a refund, or they will send me a replacement lens.

 

Should I waste my time with another lens, or eat the $20 it will cost in

restocking fees and just save up for a better lens?

[jimstrutz]

The lens seems to be defective. There should not be a restocking fee.

 

The 650 is the earliest Canon EOS design, and if the lens doesn't work with that camera, either the camera or the lens is bad. There would be no incompatibility issue involved. Besides, I know for a fact that that lens works fine on the Elan II as well. The final thing is, Cosina lenses have no record of being incompatible with newer EOS camera (like many Sigmas, and a few Tokinas), so it should work.

 

I had one other Cosina designed lens (100mm f/3.5 macro) that developed a sluggish aperture and this caused error codes on several EOS cameras. BTW, the blinking battery is used as an error code on the Elan II. Same with BC on the 650.

 

Try firing the camera in manual mode with the lens set at it's widest aperture, and then at f/8, and again at f/22. If a smaller than wide open aperture causes the error, the issue is probably the aperture. Also, a stuck focus motor might do the same thing.

 

In any case, 47th St Photo should take it back, or replace it, without any fee. As to whether you should keep it or not is your call. It's not a great lens, but it is an inexpensive lens that does a decent job. When it first came out, it was quite the sensation. A really wide AF lens for under $200 wasn't heard of at the time. I bought one and thought it was great until I could afford something that really was better.

[dennis_w1]

Jim,

 

Thanks for the kind response, I cleaned both bodies contacts and the lens contact lest night and the lens was working fine.

 

I just tried your suggestion and it fires off fine at f/8, the highest aperture selectable was f/19, so I set it there and it fired fine.

 

So maybe it was just a dirty contact?

 

Thanks

Dennis

[dennis_w1]

One more question, can I use a regular 77mm UV filter with out getting vignetting, or would it be better to look for a specific wide angle filter.

[jimstrutz]

I used a regular filter on mine, and I don't recall any vignetting, but it's been a while since I last used it. 77mm is a pretty common filter size with wide zoom, so purchasing one will probably not be a bad investment even if you return the lens.

 

Cleaning the contacts is always the first thing to try, as it's the easiest fix and is a frequent culprit. Hope that does it for you. But it still may be a sluggish aperture or something else. Set the lens out in the cold overnight and try it again at f/19, that should be a good test of the aperture. Other than that, just use it, and see what happens.