Last evening I noticed noise when manually focusing my 70-200S lens. I tried to record this a few times with a cell phone but in spite of it being loud enough to hear the sound didn't come through clearly in any of these attempts, so I was able to get a recording of it using the camera's own microphone by taking a short video with the camera:
You can hear this repetitive, "machine gun" sound as the focus changes here, but note that this sound occurs really when manually focusing. It's loud enough that now that I'm aware of it I notice it, but it's quiet enough that even if it has been happening the whole time I wouldn't have noticed it in most environments.
When using autofocus, the focus is generally fast enough that while there is sometimes an audible sound associated with it, it doesn't go on for several seconds like in my example and you don't really notice it. Even if the AF hunts, it is generally moving quickly enough back and forth that it doesn't sound this way. Put differently, when using AF it sounds exactly like what I've come to expect from almost all the lenses I've ever owned. By the way, I have tested and this is not VR related.
I have owned this lens for about 2 months, purchased as a Like New from KEH and have used it extensively since then but haven't noticed this before - however, I also don't think I have tried to manually focus before with this lens and if I have it was likely in an area with enough ambient noise that I may not have heard it - so it may have been happening the entire time. I can find no fault with the focusing performance or behavior and it seems to function properly.
I did a few tests and found that while all of my lenses except my 85 1.8 make some kind of low volume sound most do not make a sound like this one except my 70-180, which makes almost the same sound but at a quieter volume. In other words, the lens with the most similar focal length makes the exact same sound just quieter.
I have also found a few other people asking about their 70-200S because they found it made what they variously described as a "clicking" or some similar noise. For instance, https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4547355#forum-post-64750965.
In addition, while experimenting to test this all out I also noticed a quiet, metallic "twang" which occurs frequently when the zoom ring is turned to 200mm. Unlike the focus ring, which only operates when the camera is on, this happens also when the camera is off and so it is of course entirely a mater of the physical mechanisms inside the lens. This is also fairly quiet so that I don't know if I'd have noticed it before and may have only noticed it because I was paying close attention after noticing the focus ring noise. This video is one I had originally recorded to try to demonstrate the other sound, so it is at the end, around the 1:05 mark and onward.
On the one hand, the lens appears to work normally and the sound is identical to, just a bit louder than, my 70-180 which was purchased brand new and also operates totally normally and several other people have reported what seems like the same sound. On the other hand, I can't be certain it has been there the whole time and, well, it's a noise coming from the focus system on an expensive lens, and the other sound also bothers me but again it may have been there the whole time.
Thus, I am posting simply to ask for others' experiences and hopefully some kind of corroboration either that this sound is one they also experience or as a long shot if there is something wrong someone else that has experienced it and can corroborate that it's a repair in need of being done. I'm a bit disinclined to just ship it off for a repair without hearing a few more reports one way or the other! Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.
You can hear this repetitive, "machine gun" sound as the focus changes here, but note that this sound occurs really when manually focusing. It's loud enough that now that I'm aware of it I notice it, but it's quiet enough that even if it has been happening the whole time I wouldn't have noticed it in most environments.
When using autofocus, the focus is generally fast enough that while there is sometimes an audible sound associated with it, it doesn't go on for several seconds like in my example and you don't really notice it. Even if the AF hunts, it is generally moving quickly enough back and forth that it doesn't sound this way. Put differently, when using AF it sounds exactly like what I've come to expect from almost all the lenses I've ever owned. By the way, I have tested and this is not VR related.
I have owned this lens for about 2 months, purchased as a Like New from KEH and have used it extensively since then but haven't noticed this before - however, I also don't think I have tried to manually focus before with this lens and if I have it was likely in an area with enough ambient noise that I may not have heard it - so it may have been happening the entire time. I can find no fault with the focusing performance or behavior and it seems to function properly.
I did a few tests and found that while all of my lenses except my 85 1.8 make some kind of low volume sound most do not make a sound like this one except my 70-180, which makes almost the same sound but at a quieter volume. In other words, the lens with the most similar focal length makes the exact same sound just quieter.
I have also found a few other people asking about their 70-200S because they found it made what they variously described as a "clicking" or some similar noise. For instance, https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4547355#forum-post-64750965.
In addition, while experimenting to test this all out I also noticed a quiet, metallic "twang" which occurs frequently when the zoom ring is turned to 200mm. Unlike the focus ring, which only operates when the camera is on, this happens also when the camera is off and so it is of course entirely a mater of the physical mechanisms inside the lens. This is also fairly quiet so that I don't know if I'd have noticed it before and may have only noticed it because I was paying close attention after noticing the focus ring noise. This video is one I had originally recorded to try to demonstrate the other sound, so it is at the end, around the 1:05 mark and onward.
On the one hand, the lens appears to work normally and the sound is identical to, just a bit louder than, my 70-180 which was purchased brand new and also operates totally normally and several other people have reported what seems like the same sound. On the other hand, I can't be certain it has been there the whole time and, well, it's a noise coming from the focus system on an expensive lens, and the other sound also bothers me but again it may have been there the whole time.
Thus, I am posting simply to ask for others' experiences and hopefully some kind of corroboration either that this sound is one they also experience or as a long shot if there is something wrong someone else that has experienced it and can corroborate that it's a repair in need of being done. I'm a bit disinclined to just ship it off for a repair without hearing a few more reports one way or the other! Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.
