56mm f/1.2 - Aperture stopped clicking

[T-Man]

Something bizarre happened today. I was taking pictures with my XF 56mm f/1.2 (non-APD) coupled to an 11mm Fujifilm Macro Extension Adapter on X-Pro1. Camera locked up during focussing and the aperture ring felt sticky. Upon restart the aperture ring stopped clicking. Tried on three other bodies (X-E2, X-T1, and X-T10) same issue, and more than often the camera OS freezes requiring reboot.

 

It happened to my Xf 18mm f/2 once while using it on an X-E2 body. I had the same 11mm Macro Extension Adapter coupled. At the time the lens was still within dealer's return period and was exchanged by the store. BTW, I do use both (11mm and 16mm) Macro Extension Adapters quite frequently.

 

Any of you guys ever had this happen? Is there anything I can do to fix my lens or do should I send it in for warranty repair?

 

 

Cheers!

[Aswald]

I suspect that the clicking is mechanical and nothing to do with the electrical connectivity between the lens and body.

 

I don't use the macro extension tube and have never had aperture clicks jamming on mine.

 

It is very odd that it happened to you twice and on different lenses.

[T-Man]

Thank you for your response. You are correct about the aperture ring. Through external manipulation a tiny metal strip and a ball bearing came out. The ring is not sticky any more; it is moving freely, without any clicks. I am shipping it in the morning to Fuji for repair.

 

A clarification is in order regarding my original post. The XF 18mm f/2 did not have any aperture ring problem; it was only causing my camera to freeze.

 

Cheers. 

[Aswald]

Ok. Sorry to hear about your 56 but glad you found the ball bearing and metal piece.

 

Mind to share what may have happened to cause such a damage? I have the 56 too. Do I have any cause for concern? Thanks.

[T-Man]

As I mentioned in the original post, "I was taking pictures with my XF 56mm f/1.2 (non-APD) coupled to an 11mm Fujifilm Macro Extension Adapter on X-Pro1. Camera locked up during focussing and the aperture ring felt sticky. Upon restart the aperture ring stopped clicking. Tried on three other bodies (X-E2, X-T1, and X-T10) same issue, and more than often the camera OS freezes requiring reboot."

 

Spoke to Fujifilm support/repair in New Jersey today. Shipping the lens out today for repair with the 11mm Macro Extension Adapter. They offered to replace both with reconditioned items, but I have opted for repair. Assuming warranty repair. Don't know how long the whole thing will take. Will update.

[T-Man]

This was a very pleasant experience in dealing with Fuji repair. Total turnaround time (including shipping) was ten days. Fuji replaced the aperture assembly and the mount. In my opinion the aperture is no longer as loose as it was.

 

Omer...

[romi.gilles]

have either of those lenses been used heavily?

 

(Sent from another Galaxy via Tapatalk)

[T-Man]

have either of those lenses been used heavily?

 

(Sent from another Galaxy via Tapatalk)

 

No. In fact, very sparingly. The f2/18mm lens started giving me errors within two weeks of purchase; it was replaced. The f1.2/56mm was purchased in February this year.

[romi.gilles]

though i haven't used either of mine heavily, i hope i don't run into a similar issue especially with another 18mm i just picked up, used.

 

(Sent from another Galaxy via Tapatalk)

[Trenton Talbot]

Gotta love forums.

 

– After a short run on highway 85, my car stopped and won't turn back on. There's a clicking noise coming from under the hood, black smoke and some flames. Just a little, I haven't tried to put them off yet. Oh, and it also leaks gasoline.

– Oh dear, oh dear, I've been driving on highway 85 too! I hope it won't happen to me!…

[romi.gilles]

or...

 

Person C: i had to take a short run on Hwy 85 but ended up getting stuck in heavy traffic.

Person D: gosh! i have to take Hwy 85 later. i hope i don't get stuck in traffic, too.

 

also...

 

Person A: my X-T1 has horrible nav buttons.

Person B: i hope my pre-ordered X-T1 doesn't have horrible nav buttons, too.

 

yes, you've got to love forums.

 

(Sent from another Galaxy via Tapatalk)

[T-Man]

Hi Romi- I highly doubt it that you'll run into the same problem. I experienced the problems with the f2/18mm immediately. It was one of the first few Fuji lenses I had purchased and I ignored the "freezes" first few times as user caused error. In fairness, Fuji has been really good to us; both my daughter and I, shoot with X cameras (not exclusively though) and we have every single XF lens there is. The above are the only two problems I have faced. BTW, every once in a while the EVF on my black X-E2 fails to 'kick-in' when the sun is behind me and is directly shining on the EVF sensor. I don't make a big deal out of it but my daughter's silver X-E2 does not act this way; neither does either of the X-T1 cameras nor the X-Pro1. Given that XT-1 and X-Pro1 are different beasts, the only explanation I have come to is the latitude (tolerance) in manufacturing QC; the black X-E2 was purchased in November '14 and the silver in March '15. To reiterate, I am very happy with Fuji's service.

 

Spoke to a Fuji Medical Imaging sales representative at my wife's hospital, he gave me a plausible reasoning for camera errors and freezes as experienced by me: electrical contact short. Since XF lenses are designed to signal aperture setting to the camera, a loose connection (when not clicking and thus, not locking) can cause a short and loss/corruption of data. I find it logical and it does satisfy my inquisitiveness about the experience.

 

Cheers!

[romi.gilles]

i get the EVF switch lag on my GX7 as well, but no issues on my black X-E2. very annoying when i'm trying to quickly capture a shot but end up missing it especially when i'n not using a lens with the DOF scale.

 

i get the issue where when using AF with my damaged 27mm, the lens locks up when the forward element is fully racked out and brings up the screen to shut the body off. (i did open it and repair what i could so the forward element no longer full pops out. but i can only use it in MF, now.) anyway, i can get out of that error screen by clicking on image preview then clicking out of it and it just goes back to capture mode.

 

so, the used 18mm i bought had delivered last week and what a terrible feeling everything. the aperture ring had such a high torque to turn. i thought it was seized at first. while it was very tight at full stops, i almost thought there were no third stops in between - no notch feeling there. i usually fine focus manually with a single finger under the lens, but with this, i couldn't even do that. three-fourths of the focus rotation was so stiff in a grindy way - a metal-to-metal feel like when your brake pads run thin and the warning tabs grind on the rotor. and the rest of the rotation was somewhat smoother, so i knew the lens was obviously a lemon. on top of that, in certain angles under fluorescent light, i would get a very dark bronzish bar that ran across two-thirds or one-third of the image which was so weird. i couldn't replicate that with any of my other lenses or even with the new 18mm i just got today. luckily, i was able to return it to the seller to get my money back. i found another 18mm that was brand-new in the original packaging which includes Fuji's warranty (for better piece of mind) which was hardly a few dollars more than the lemon i got that was so bad i couldn't even make lemonade with.

 

(Sent from another Galaxy via Tapatalk)

[AdamRasheed]

This was a very pleasant experience in dealing with Fuji repair. Total turnaround time (including shipping) was ten days. Fuji replaced the aperture assembly and the mount. In my opinion the aperture is no longer as loose as it was.

 

Omer...

How much did it cost to repair?

[Mervyn]

Instead of on the 56 I had this with my 23f1.4 after using it on a sandy beach. Not with ball bearings coming out, but it did stop clicking for a while. A couple of days later the problem kind of fixed itself and from then on the aperture ring clicked perfectly again. I do find the aperture ring a bit loose; I prefer the more stiff rings of the newer WR lenses.

Edited July 25, 2017 by Mervyn

[Melv]

Did you do anything to help the lens ''fix itself'' ?

[Mervyn]

@Melv - No, I didn't do anything special. I used a little blower to remove the small grains of sand, and I turned and moved both the focus and aperture rings. After doing that the aperture ring clicked again. My guess is that it was a grain of sand that was stuck underneath the aperture ring that was causing the problem, most likely it had nothing to do with the ball bearing.