[jddwoods]

Hello All

It took me a few years, but I am lucky to now own all 5 SMC Prime DA Limiteds. I got two of them, the 15 and the 35 macro new, and the 21, 40 and 70 used. The 40 was a little banged up but the 21 and 70 look like brand new lenses. All take beautiful pictures but it seems that all of my questions around the build of the lenses concerns the 70 mm. No question, it takes great pictures, sharpness easily equals my 35 mm macro and my DFA 100 WR. It is the construction of the lens which keeps nagging me. The barrel has a wobble which is not too noticeable with the hood off but the hood seems to amplify it when it is on. Probably the weight of the hood and cap on the small barrel. I realize now that others have reported this and am not too worried about it, but now I noticed something else with this lens and wonder if it is an issue or not. With the lens off the camera, if you press the little lever controlling the aperture blades and then release it, I noticed that it closes instantly but it just does not feel as snappy as the other limiteds. It is like it has a weaker spring. The blades are perfectly aligned when it closes but that spring just does not feel as strong as my other lenses. The blades don't bind or hesitate at any point so I do not think the issue is buildup on the blades. Does anyone notice anything like this with their DA 70 mm? Is this normal or is this a lens soon needing a repair.
Comments greatly appreciated

Best Regards to all, John

[Na Horuk]

It is very hard for us to comment about this over a forum. I wouldn't worry about it unless it is causing problems.
Sticky aperture blades can affect the photos and cause problems, but it might not be that bad. So just take photos normally, try some burst mode maybe. It shouldn't be an expensive fix if it is needed.

(the way to test this is to select Av mode and then take photos to see if the aperture of the photo actually matches the one you chose. You can also listen to the "click"s of the mechanisms and hear if there is an odd delay or scraping)

[peterjcb]

Hello All

It took me a few years, but I am lucky to now own all 5 SMC Prime DA Limiteds. I got two of them, the 15 and the 35 macro new, and the 21, 40 and 70 used. The 40 was a little banged up but the 21 and 70 look like brand new lenses. All take beautiful pictures but it seems that all of my questions around the build of the lenses concerns the 70 mm. No question, it takes great pictures, sharpness easily equals my 35 mm macro and my DFA 100 WR. It is the construction of the lens which keeps nagging me. The barrel has a wobble which is not too noticeable with the hood off but the hood seems to amplify it when it is on. Probably the weight of the hood and cap on the small barrel. I realize now that others have reported this and am not too worried about it, but now I noticed something else with this lens and wonder if it is an issue or not. With the lens off the camera, if you press the little lever controlling the aperture blades and then release it, I noticed that it closes instantly but it just does not feel as snappy as the other limiteds. It is like it has a weaker spring. The blades are perfectly aligned when it closes but that spring just does not feel as strong as my other lenses. The blades don't bind or hesitate at any point so I do not think the issue is buildup on the blades. Does anyone notice anything like this with their DA 70 mm? Is this normal or is this a lens soon needing a repair.
Comments greatly appreciated

Best Regards to all, John

First, congrats on you acquisitions. I've got the 35 Macro & the 70 and my DA 12-24 is big but really sharp so that satisfies my needs on the wide end.

The spring on my DA70 feels just the same as my 35Macro so you may just have a weak spring. As long as it's not binding and moving smoothly there's nothing other than bringing it in and possibly replacing the spring. How do your photos look, that's the main thing. Just use it normally and if it stops working at least you'll know what the problem is. If it ain't broke don't fix it.