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Noise with the Pana 20mm f1.7 Lens
#1
Finally I got the well-reputed pana 20mm f1.7 lens. The body is GF1. I find that, with the camera turned on, when I move the camera (to point to different subjects), I can hear the "tick, tick, tick..." noise from the lens.

The sound is just like the pre-af noise in one of my point-and-shot cameras. But I believe that I have turned off the "Pre-AF" function in GF1. As I half-press the shutter to lock both exposure and focus, the "tick, tick, tick..." noise is still there as I move the camera. It looks like that as I move the camera the aperture is automatically adjusted to make the image on the LCD to have constant brightness--just a guess. Is this normal? is it from the aperture blades or the focus motor?



In addition, I find when MF the focus ring need to move a quite large (in fact too large I think) distance to get the subject in focus, which makes MF is very easy.



Comments and helps are welcome. Thanks.
#2
Mine makes a noise when the cam is switched on while the lens cap is still in place, and normal AF operation is somewhat noisy. But no "tick, tick", which could be due to your camera settings I suppose.
#3
It's been a long time since I used mine, but from memory any "ticking" sound is the aperture adjusting. The AF motor is more of a kinda hum-whine.



There was also a firmware update for the lens in the distant past, but I'd assume any recent sample will have it anyway. Can't remember what it did.
<a class="bbc_url" href="http://snowporing.deviantart.com/">dA</a> Canon 7D2, 7D, 5D2, 600D, 450D, 300D IR modified, 1D, EF-S 10-18, 15-85, EF 35/2, 85/1.8, 135/2, 70-300L, 100-400L, MP-E65, Zeiss 2/50, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300/2.8, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Olympus E-P1, Panasonic 20/1.7, Sony HX9V, Fuji X100.
#4
The 20 F/1.7 is a relatively noisy lens, whatever the camera settings are <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='Big Grin' />. It is far less noisy than any Canon AFD lens I have ever used. AFAIK, it is purely caused by the AF motor, i.e, switching on and off, and moving when focusing. I was a bit worried about it right at the start, too, as it is the noisiest lens of the MFT lenses and adapted ones I own. I did try an Olympus FT 35 F/3.5 Maro with adapter once, and that was really noisy, compared to the 20 F/1.7 (and very slow to focus <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='Big Grin' />).



However, one gets used to this very quickly, especially when seeing the results <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='Wink' />. So far, nobody ever made a comment about the noise the lens makes, BTW. I don't think it really is audible, or irritating, at subject distance.



Kind regards, Wim
Gear: Canon EOS R with 3 primes and 2 zooms, 4 EF-R adapters, Canon EOS 5 (analog), 9 Canon EF primes, a lone Canon EF zoom, 2 extenders, 2 converters, tubes; Olympus OM-D 1 Mk II & Pen F with 12 primes, 6 zooms, and 3 Metabones EF-MFT adapters ....
#5
[quote name='Sammy' timestamp='1342776041' post='19483']

Mine makes a noise when the cam is switched on while the lens cap is still in place, and normal AF operation is somewhat noisy. But no "tick, tick", which could be due to your camera settings I suppose.

[/quote]



Now I am sure the sound is produce by the aperture blades. As I push the "DoF preview" button I heard the same sound. The AF motor sound is very different. It occurs only in bright light perhaps because in bright light the live view needs stop down the aperture.
#6
[quote name='popo' timestamp='1342782690' post='19486']

It's been a long time since I used mine, but from memory any "ticking" sound is the aperture adjusting. The AF motor is more of a kinda hum-whine.



There was also a firmware update for the lens in the distant past, but I'd assume any recent sample will have it anyway. Can't remember what it did.

[/quote]



I checked the firmware and found that my lens has the latest firmware 1.1 installed. And yes, the sounds is from aperture adjusting rather than from the AF motor.
#7
[quote name='wim' timestamp='1342783092' post='19487']

The 20 F/1.7 is a relatively noisy lens, whatever the camera settings are <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='Big Grin' />. It is far less noisy than any Canon AFD lens I have ever used. AFAIK, it is purely caused by the AF motor, i.e, switching on and off, and moving when focusing. I was a bit worried about it right at the start, too, as it is the noisiest lens of the MFT lenses and adapted ones I own. I did try an Olympus FT 35 F/3.5 Maro with adapter once, and that was really noisy, compared to the 20 F/1.7 (and very slow to focus <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='Big Grin' />).



However, one gets used to this very quickly, especially when seeing the results <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='Wink' />. So far, nobody ever made a comment about the noise the lens makes, BTW. I don't think it really is audible, or irritating, at subject distance.



Kind regards, Wim

[/quote]



Hi Wim:



I think the "tick, tick..." sound come from the aperture adjustment not from the AF motor, see my response to Sammy and Popo. The sound is very simillar to the ticking sounds of a clock. After knowing it is normal, I need not worry about it any more.



After putting the lens on my camera, I saw a small but clear dust (or something like a dust) in the front element. I thought it could be easily remove by a blower/brush. But I found that I couldn't remove it. After more careful inspection I find that it is inside the lens. I am not sure if I should have the lens replaced or not.



Best regards,

Frank
#8
[quote name='Frank' timestamp='1342786761' post='19493']

Hi Wim:



I think the "tick, tick..." sound come from the aperture adjustment not from the AF motor, see my response to Sammy and Popo. The sound is very simillar to the ticking sounds of a clock. After knowing it is normal, I need not worry about it any more.



After putting the lens on my camera, I saw a small but clear dust (or something like a dust) in the front element. I thought it could be easily remove by a blower/brush. But I found that I couldn't remove it. After more careful inspection I find that it is inside the lens. I am not sure if I should have the lens replaced or not.



Best regards,

Frank

[/quote]

Thank you Frank, for the additional info. I use the lens wide open most of the time, or close to wide open, and haven't noticed the aperture closing sound yet.



As to replacing the lens with another: if you are not feeling comfortable, even knowing that this will have no effect on image quality, I'd suggest you replace it. It will keep on haunting you if you are not perfectly happy with this. Personally, being OCD, I certainly would <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='Big Grin' />.



Kind regards, Wim
Gear: Canon EOS R with 3 primes and 2 zooms, 4 EF-R adapters, Canon EOS 5 (analog), 9 Canon EF primes, a lone Canon EF zoom, 2 extenders, 2 converters, tubes; Olympus OM-D 1 Mk II & Pen F with 12 primes, 6 zooms, and 3 Metabones EF-MFT adapters ....
#9
Hi Wim:



[quote name='wim' timestamp='1342824624' post='19504']

I use the lens wide open most of the time, or close to wide open, and haven't noticed the aperture closing sound yet.[/quote]



Perhaps the live view on GF2 works differently from GF1 and it does not need adjusting aperture to compensate the light. On my GF1 I can notice the aperture sound so I think the live view on GF1 adjusts the aperture according to the brightness of the light. (Today I find that this is written in the user manual of GF1.)



I googled "pana 20mm f1.7 aperture noise" and found a lot of posts about this issue from Olympus users, very few posts from GF1 users (a little bit strange). Dpreview confirms this sound on Olympus Pen bodies and says that it is not a issue for the Panasonic G series bodies (not mentioning the GF and GH series).



Quote:As to replacing the lens with another: if you are not feeling comfortable, even knowing that this will have no effect on image quality, I'd suggest you replace it. It will keep on haunting you if you are note perfectly happy with this. Personally, being OCD, I certainly would <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='Big Grin' />.



After a few quick test shots, I am pleased by the lens. The images are very sharp, and the bokeh looks nice. At f5.6 I didn't find the dusk (or speck) showing up on the image. I intend to use it for a few days to see the image quality, the (no-)effect of dust at smaller aperture, and if the lens has other problems. Then I will decide if I should keep it or replace it. (Dusts are so common and it is difficult to make decison for replacement just for a dust <img src='http://forum.photozone.de/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='Big Grin' /> )



Best regards,

Frank
#10
Today I brought the lens to the seller. I checked three other copies, no one looks perfect. Every copy has more or less dust on or even inside the front/end element. Then I decided to choose the one which had the cleanest rear glass element (which is more important). The one that the rear glass appeared cleaner, also had a spot on it. I could not judge if the spot is on the outside or in the inside. The seller decided to clean it. The way the seller cleans a lens frightened me: he picked up a dry len cloth then wanted to use it on the glass. I told him to use some breath then he did it. After some work the spot went away. But I was afraid of that the rear glass element of that lens might have been cleaned hardly. So I decided to keep the original copy.



Frank
  


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