Tristan Howard
January 13th, 2009, 12:55 AM
Hi everyone,
I have a 28-300 mm zoom lens that I’ve been successfully using with an EF adapter XL and my XL1S for about the last 3 years. Yet, within the last few months, even with my lens and camera well in place with a Manfrotto 503 head and Gitzo 1325 carbon fiber tripod, I’ve noticed unexplained shakes in my footage. Every few seconds at apparently random intervals, the image in the view finder appears to subtly dip down and then back up. The image also dips with playback on a TV screen, so I don’t think it’s due to view finder issues while recording.
When my 28-300 mm lens is set up with my Canon 20D still camera, there are no dips. With my 16x lens, there is no image dipping. There is also no dipping with my EF 100-400 mm lens hooked up to my XL1S via my XL adapter. I know EF lenses can act odd when the adapter battery is low. I replaced the battery with a fresh one and the lens dips persisted. I’ve thus determined the problem is likely solely based in my 28-300 mm lens. That’s disappointing because it’s my favorite lens. It’s great for wildlife and keeps moving objects in focus very well with sharp resolution.
My XL adapter’s casing is subtly diagonally cracked in a small area on the top of the adapter just to the right of the right hand corner of the top part of the removable battery cover. The crack isn’t more than about ¼” long. It’s been like that for the last few years. I’ve tripped in the rocks a couple times while carrying my whole tripod-clad setup. That’s how the adapter first got cracked. Anyhow, as far as I could tell, the adapter seemed to work fine since its appearance got damaged. Still, maybe the 28-300 mm lens is more sensitive to adapter trouble than my 100-400 mm lens and some sort of adapter problem has recently manifested. Anyhow, I’m guessing either something is loose in my lens (not sure how that would have happened because my lens worked well last fall and I don’t remember subjecting it to any traumatic activity) or my lens now doesn’t get along well with my adapter.
Should I have my lens checked out and maybe repaired by a Canon repair center? Do they even do that with their big lenses? I’ve had my 20D still camera repaired by Canon several times and they’ve always been easy to deal with. Roughly how much do you think a lens inspection/repair would cost? I guess my other main option would be to try my lens with a fresh adapter. Is there anything I can do for my lens without having it inspected by a repair place? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.
-Tristan
I have a 28-300 mm zoom lens that I’ve been successfully using with an EF adapter XL and my XL1S for about the last 3 years. Yet, within the last few months, even with my lens and camera well in place with a Manfrotto 503 head and Gitzo 1325 carbon fiber tripod, I’ve noticed unexplained shakes in my footage. Every few seconds at apparently random intervals, the image in the view finder appears to subtly dip down and then back up. The image also dips with playback on a TV screen, so I don’t think it’s due to view finder issues while recording.
When my 28-300 mm lens is set up with my Canon 20D still camera, there are no dips. With my 16x lens, there is no image dipping. There is also no dipping with my EF 100-400 mm lens hooked up to my XL1S via my XL adapter. I know EF lenses can act odd when the adapter battery is low. I replaced the battery with a fresh one and the lens dips persisted. I’ve thus determined the problem is likely solely based in my 28-300 mm lens. That’s disappointing because it’s my favorite lens. It’s great for wildlife and keeps moving objects in focus very well with sharp resolution.
My XL adapter’s casing is subtly diagonally cracked in a small area on the top of the adapter just to the right of the right hand corner of the top part of the removable battery cover. The crack isn’t more than about ¼” long. It’s been like that for the last few years. I’ve tripped in the rocks a couple times while carrying my whole tripod-clad setup. That’s how the adapter first got cracked. Anyhow, as far as I could tell, the adapter seemed to work fine since its appearance got damaged. Still, maybe the 28-300 mm lens is more sensitive to adapter trouble than my 100-400 mm lens and some sort of adapter problem has recently manifested. Anyhow, I’m guessing either something is loose in my lens (not sure how that would have happened because my lens worked well last fall and I don’t remember subjecting it to any traumatic activity) or my lens now doesn’t get along well with my adapter.
Should I have my lens checked out and maybe repaired by a Canon repair center? Do they even do that with their big lenses? I’ve had my 20D still camera repaired by Canon several times and they’ve always been easy to deal with. Roughly how much do you think a lens inspection/repair would cost? I guess my other main option would be to try my lens with a fresh adapter. Is there anything I can do for my lens without having it inspected by a repair place? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.
-Tristan