I have an F350 with a Fujinon HS18x5.5BERM 1/2" HD lens. Occasionally, and what feels like at random, the servo zoom hitches at about 10mm when zooming out. If I put the zoom into manual mode, the hitch isn't there, which of course narrows it down to the servo. The problem is that the hitch corrects itself overnight and the problem disappears. It reappears at random at some other time, but always around the 10mm mark.

I've talked to Abel Cine Tech and they ask me to look into the housing, but I do not see any debris or broken gears. The problem is that I cannot get the problem to repeat itself on demand. Of course, it shows up again when I'm out on a shoot, never at the shop. I can send the lens to Abel, but I'm afraid they won't be able to recreate the problem since I can't either.

Has anyone run into a problem similar to this? The only thing that I can guess is that it might have something to do with humidity or heat, but even that seems unlikely.
Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks,
Ray Ellis
Videographer
Raleigh, NC USA

Hi I had once some dirt under the rubber Lens covering which made the Lens turn hard.. I moved the rubber and found the small dirt, since then no more probs...
Ciao Matthias

Ray,

Do you have a zoom preset limit set on the lens? Perhaps the preset On/Off switch is loose, defective or not fully switched off.

cheers

Morton

Thanks Morton and Ciao. I tested the zoom limit switch and settings...everything looked fine. The switch was off, but I turned it on and set both a wide and tele limit. The zoom recognized the limits. I reset them to the far ends of both tele and wide then turned the limit switch off. The zoom seems to be working fine. No dirt anywhere that I can tell.

This problem is like when you take your car to the mechanic and it stops making that noise you always hear. As soon as you leave the service station, the noise starts back up. Based on the history of this problem, it won't show back up until the next shoot day.

Ray Ellis
Videographer
Raleigh, NC USA

Yea, I think we've all been in that situation with one thing or another at some time. Keep us posted on how you make out.

cheers

Morton

This problem is like when you take your car to the mechanic and it stops making that noise you always hear. As soon as you leave the service station, the noise starts back up. Based on the history of this problem, it won't show back up until the next shoot day.

Moisture inside the lens handle could cause this. RF interference can cause unwanted movement of the zoom servo as well.

I would definitely put in a call to Fujinon about it. My early lens had a problem and was replaced with a new one, no questions asked.

-gb-