Old Lens Rattle?

[wuyeah]

Hello, I have an old Nikon Lens marked: Nippon Kogaku Japan Nikkor-S Auto 1:1.4 f=50mm

and I just notice there is a slight rattle sound when i shake it. Should I repair/Service the lens or it is a normal for old lenses? Thanks.

[jose_angel]

<p>Does it work correctly? If so, and specially if you can live with that rattling sound, just forget it.</p>

<p>Don`t know if it is a loosen part, or wear, or just the "natural", "inherent" lens noise (in certain lenses the shutter blades rattle even new). Some of my Nikkors show anykind of noise when shaked. Nikkors are not "full tight" type lenses, even older ones.</p>

<p>I have a 50/1.2 that have a loosen part (a ball bearing, I guess) and works perfectly. Thanks God I don`t need to use it so often, that noise makes me mad.</p>

[kevin_chow1]

<p>Some of my modern lenses rattle a little when shaken gently as well (18-55, 70-300). Generally, the "rattle" I get is a dull sound, not a higher-pitched rattly sound you might get if there is something small/metallic like a broken component or a ball bearing bouncing around.</p>

<p>As Jose said, if it works correctly in regular shooting, I wouldn't worry about it.</p>

[bruce_rubenstein]

<p>Sometimes the retaining ring for the front element group loosens up and will move slightly and make that "clunk" when shaking the lens. If you have the right spanner, or can improvise an appropriate tool for tightening the ring it's a trivial job. If you really like the lens, I would send it out for an overhaul. They'll take the lens apart and replace the old dried out grease, clean the lens elements/groups (out gassing of the lens lubricants put a haze on the glass surfaces) and get the lens working like new.</p>

[Michael R Freeman]

<blockquote>

<p><em>"...there is a slight rattle sound when i shake it."</em></p>

</blockquote>

<p>So stop shaking it. :-) ;-)<br>

http://images.cheezburger.com/completestore/2011/4/3/0e9573d3-a80b-472c-b19c-45a57c092207.jpg</p>

<p>Seriously though, you are probably just hearing the very small movement of the stopdown levers within the lens. I'm not familiar with the specific internals of the Nikkor-S Auto, but most Nikon small manual focus primes have levers that fit into slots, or forked levers that fit over pins to control the aperture. There needs to be a very small amount of play between these components. So if you are just hearing a slight "tick" or similar noise, it's unlikely to be anything to be concerned about. On the other hand, if you are hearing a loud clunk and/or your focusing action is "loosey-goosey", then it might be time for a general CLA service.</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>Any auto-diaphragm manual focus lens will rattle at least a bit when shaken. They're full of springs, levers, ball bearings in metal raceways, etc. Auto-focus lenses are even more rattly since the helicals aren't heavily greased.</p>

<p>The only lenses I've owned or handled that didn't rattle when shaken were presets - altho' if you try to shake 'em like a martini it'll probably loosen up the diaphragm blades.</p>

[keith_b1]

<p>Being the age that it is, that lens probably has about 60 tiny ball bearings in the auto-diaphragm mechanism. If it works fine, leave it alone.</p>

[ian_gordon_bilson]

<p>Michael and Lex pretty much nailed it ; all my AI lenses rattle a bit,for the reasons given.<br>

The tell-tale sound for a loose element is : if you shake the lens front-to-back,and hear a dull "thunk.thunk" -you may have a loose element. If you hear a "tink-tink",it's the old Nikkor Shuffle,and no reason for concern.</p>