Blackmagic Forum

OK I sold a Canon 100mm 2.8 macro lens to a guy who tells me that it is rattling too much. From my research these lenses are known to rattle when held upright. I had the lens for maybe a month and hardly used it. I was aware of the rattle but was told that it was normal. Everything about the lens is perfect apart from the fact he thinks it rattles too much.

He tells me that it's an inner barrel stabilizer defect. Does this sound right? I don't know enough about the construction of lenses to know if this is even something that could be an issue. I just want to be sure before I have to send him money for repairs.

I will also contact Canon to see what they say.

Edit: Yes it is an IS lens. Just saw that I didn't mention that. Apparently the 100mm is rattles more than a lot of other lenses.

Brad Ballew wrote:OK I sold a Canon 100mm 2.8 macro lens to a guy who tells me that it is rattling too much. From my research these lenses are known to rattle when held upright. I had the lens for maybe a month and hardly used it. I was aware of the rattle but was told that it was normal. Everything about the lens is perfect apart from the fact he thinks it rattles too much.

He tells me that it's an inner barrel stabilizer defect. Does this sound right? I don't know enough about the construction of lenses to know if this is even something that could be an issue. I just want to be sure before I have to send him money for repairs.

I will also contact Canon to see what they say.

Many lenses with built-in IS make a rattling noise, as expected, especially when powered off. And yes, Canon is the best source of information about features of their lenses.

Brad Ballew wrote:OK I sold a Canon 100mm 2.8 macro lens to a guy who tells me that it is rattling too much. From my research these lenses are known to rattle when held upright. I had the lens for maybe a month and hardly used it. I was aware of the rattle but was told that it was normal. Everything about the lens is perfect apart from the fact he thinks it rattles too much.

He tells me that it's an inner barrel stabilizer defect. Does this sound right? I don't know enough about the construction of lenses to know if this is even something that could be an issue. I just want to be sure before I have to send him money for repairs.

I will also contact Canon to see what they say.

Edit: Yes it is an IS lens. Just saw that I didn't mention that. Apparently the 100mm is rattles more than a lot of other lenses.

IS lenses do rattle. It's quite unnerving if you've not had an IS lens before. It's because there is a floating lens element inside. As Peter alluded to, it can be worse when there is no power as they use electromagnets to gyroscopically 'position' the lens element.

Is there an Inner Barrel Stabilization system that is not related to the IS? When I mentioned that the IS worked properly on the lens he said," the IS is perfect.. its just rattling inside..
Exact defect is.. Inner Barrel Stabilizer Defect."

Just want to be sure this is a real problem.

Brad Ballew wrote:Is there an Inner Barrel Stabilization system that is not related to the IS? When I mentioned that the IS worked properly on the lens he said," the IS is perfect.. its just rattling inside..
Exact defect is.. Inner Barrel Stabilizer Defect."

Just want to be sure this is a real problem.

If IS was defective surely it wouldn't be 'perfect'. Sounds like he's talking through his.....

Owen Davies wrote:

Brad Ballew wrote:Is there an Inner Barrel Stabilization system that is not related to the IS? When I mentioned that the IS worked properly on the lens he said," the IS is perfect.. its just rattling inside..
Exact defect is.. Inner Barrel Stabilizer Defect."

Just want to be sure this is a real problem.

If IS was defective surely it wouldn't be 'perfect'. Sounds like he's talking through his.....

That's what is confusing me. If the lens as an "Inner Barrel" why would it need a stabilizer? Unless of course it was some how connected to the IS which apparently it's not because the IS is "perfect". So does an inner barrel require a stabilizer?

So I got to thinking that maybe the rattling was a bit more than it should be. However, after reading many many forum post by people who were freaked out by the amount of rattling (which I interpret as being a lot) and being told be Canon reps that it was fine... I am just a little bit suspicious of the whole thing. He says that he has an authorized Canon technician on staff at his store who will fix it. I asked that I get a detailed report of what the problem was written by the tech.

I did contact Canon via here: https://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/professi ... p_by_email

Let me know if there is a better way to contact them. I don't want to just call.. I want an e-mail response from them in writing if the problem is in fact a faux.

Then again, it could be a legit problem and I could have no idea what I am talking about. Which is why I am seeking answers. We will see.

Hi Brad,

I just wandered into this post without knowing what it was about and I was well amused when I read that it was about the rattling of the 100mm macro. I purchased the 'L' version of this lens and let me say that it is an absolutely stunning lens. However the rattling too freaked me out. It didn't rattle for the first 2 weeks of use but then on a shoot I noticed it starting to rattle. My gut sank when I saw (heard) this but something told me not to worry (possibly the fact that it was working fine). The funny thing is I don't notice the rattling as much now. Just tell him it's the IS and not to worry.

H

I talked to a Canon Tech who told me that the IS was probably just disengaged. He couldn't think of any other good reason why there would be rattling apart from a loose screw or the IS being disengaged. He said sometimes if you take the lens off a camera while it's still on that the IS will remain loose and rattle quite a bit. The solution: put the lens on a camera.. turn it on, activate Is, turn off camera, and remove lens.

He didn't seem to know what I was talking about when I mentioned "Inner Barrel Stabilizer".

Interesting...

That would be it Brad, I noticed that happened mine when I took it off the camera while swapping lenses. It doesn't seem to be noticeable now. I was quite stressed when it happened though!

Hugh