Sand in my lens? What to do?

[Austin Dickson]

On my last shoot I started to feel some friction on my focus ring, it wasn't as smooth as it used to be and felt very rough compared to the iris and zoom.
Now that I'm at home it feels like there is some sand under the ring. As I turn it it sounds like grains of sand grinding somewhere and it gets worse at certain spots as a turn it. Some places as I turn it I don't feel the friction at all.

This is sound feel is worrying me, but what worries me more is how much this might cost to fix. What is the best way to fix this? Send it in to cannon or find somebody local? What do you think it will cost to fix?

Thanks everyone,

[Chris Soucy]

The lenses on the XH series cameras (and quite a number of other Canon camera's) are actually sealed units inside an outer sleeve which have the servo controls.

When I say "sealed", I mean SEALED. The only connection is electronic, to the inbuilt servo(s).

Unless the degree of gunk is such that the controls no longer function (and that would have to be one heck of a lot of gunk), there's nothing whatsoever to worry about.

Yes, you could spend a considerable amount of dosh having them stripped down and re - built, but at the end of the day, they won't work any better than they did before.

My advice?

Forget about it. If it's sand, it will eventually break down and vanish.


CS

[Austin Dickson]

Thanks, I'm very glad there is nothing to worry about.

[Andy Gordon]

I've had a grain of sand stuck to the inside of the front lens element TWICE. Fortunatley it's possible to unscrew it and give it a blast of air, this part is definitely not sealed.

[Chris Soucy]

You may well be right, it appears the lens assembly behind that front element is the sealed unit - guess it worked out more cost effective to simply replace the front element in the event of a mishap, than the entire lens assembly.

On the XL1s the whole thing was sealed, no field serviceable parts whatsoever.

Problem with the lens?

They just dropped out the entire unit, took a factory sealed brand new/ refurbished unit, whacked it into the sleeve and hey presto.

The defective/ faulty unit went back into the container of the new one and was shipped straight back to Japan.

The techies wouldn't even touch it.

Guess people were baulking at paying for the entire unit when the inevitable happened and that front element took a knock or scratch (and believe me, I would have baulked too!).

The reason I know was that my brand new XL1s had a very esoteric fault with the lens, the techies just couldn't figure out what was going on. They replaced the lens assembly, but the "New/ Refurb" unit was itself faulty (it looked like someone had flicked fag ash into it during reassembly, there were bits of sh*t everywhere).

Needless to say, I was effing ropeable!

The second time, I took it in personally and actually sat with the tech who replaced it.

I was somewhat gobsmacked to see the entire innards slide out of that sleeve as a sealed unit, tho' guess I shouldn't have been, it makes sense.

Looks like I'll have to change my spiel and say "MOST of the lens is sealed".

Still doesn't affect the rings tho', there's still no mechanical connection between them and the lens itself, so the rings can get as grunged as they like and really no problem.


CS

[Sjoerd Banga]

Hi Andy,

You really had sand in your XHA1 lens and fixed it yourself? Can you confirm this?
I also have a piece in my lens and it's too visible to use the camera profesionally.

Thanks,

Sjoerd Banga

[Tripp Woelfel]

Originally Posted by Sjoerd Banga

I also have a piece in my lens and it's too visible to use the camera professionally.

Sounds like a warranty issue, if your camera is still under warranty. From what I've read here and elsewhere about "sand in the lens" issues, they are generally sand under the focus/zoom/aperture ring issues. Chris is right that the sand in those places will generally work its way out.

If you have something between the glass it sounds like you'll have to send it to Canon for repair.