Canon lens jumpin'

Tim Joy

Veteran
I just got a lens on ebay- Canon FD 24mm 2.8, and when i focus back and forth, the image "jumps" a little bit, as in, shifts in a diagonal direction.

Also, it feels like the focus sticks slightly in the middle of the range. Is something loose inside? Something is definately wrong with the lens, I know, but anyone know how I could fix it, or if it's just dead.

Thanks
 
what 35mm adapter do you have? If it's the brevis, then it could be the fd lens mount. The newer fd lenses(non silver ringed) fit kind of loose on the brevis. So when you focus you get some wiggle which causes a shfiting motion in the footage.
 
My Nikon AI 50mm f/1.4 jumps when I rack focus sometimes. There is about a millimeter of play in the focus ring - just enough that when it "catches" the image jumps.
 
It's a DIY adapter, using a canon SLR camera body and mount. I have several other lenses that do not do it, so I know it's the lens. It so annoying because otherwise it's a great lens, but now it's unusable if I need to focus during a shot.

The seller sold it "as-is" probably for this reason, but denies that it happened before he shipped it. It was very well packed and doubtful that anything happened during shipping. He rated it a 9.5 out of 10, and still sticks to that story... so what am I to do? cut my losses and move on I guess.
 
I've been through several fd duds, including ones with wobbly focussing. Zooms seem to get the most abused. These lenses are ancient. For slr users I don't think a smooth focus barrel is that crucial, so the guy who sold you the lens may not of even considered or noticed the importance of a little wobble, of course for us video guys it competely makes it unusable. Try selling it to KEH as a bargain grade lens, or ebay.
 
I've only had one 50/1.4 Nikon sample out of four that didn't jump when you went to roll the focus barrel. This phenomenon has nothing to do with the lens mouth, bad samples of lenses or used lenses are the culprit.

Keh.com ROCKS by the way.
 
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