Loose Zuiko Zoom

[McErland]

Hey!
Bought a 35-70 f4.0 zoom from Cheapbay, with the description "loose zoom ring, should not affect quality".
But when I got it, I realized it was more or less like a tilt/shift.
The zoomring creeps about 2-4mm front to back, and it is very hard to see where the correct position is.

Thinking about opening it up and see what I can do, since it was really cheap I don't bother sending it back.
Does anyone have any experience with this? On how to do it, etc? Otherwise maybe I can make it tilt/shift even more for a fun effect?

 

[Rick A]

Aah, the reason I abhor one-touch zooms, they wear out and become sloppy. Hopefully you got it cheap enough that it doesn't matter if you bollux it up when you attempt a diy fix.

 

[MartinCrabtree]

I bought a Nikon 50-135 3.5that was supposed to be mint. When I got it the zoom would fall if the camera was tilted forward. Using a rubber band is unacceptable to me. Sent it off for a "chip" and had a CLA done while away. They replaced a felt ring in the zoom mechanism and it's like new. So taking a look may help you if you have access to parts.

 

[AgX]

As the OP indicated (wondering about zoomring shifting and lens swinging ) that lens is a two-ring zoom lens. It is not about a zoomring losing friction, but about a lens becoming wobbly, moving the optical axis.

 

[John Koehrer]

If it's just the ring that moves, it may be broken rollers.
If the entire front barrel wiggle up, down and sideways probably loose screws
holding the lens assembly to the mount.
Some zooms are pretty simple to split. Look for three screws around the tube under the zoom ring
If present, when removed; the tube will slip forward. There MAY be three screws around the outside of the exposed tube that have loosened.
Tighten 'em.

If that's not it, MARK the tube and lens mount for correct orientation when reassembling remove the
screws and the lens will split, usually just ahead of the diaphragm housing. If it's this style the screws holding to
mount should be visible.

 

[mr rusty]

My 35-70 F4 is my favourite "go-to" lens. Perhaps I have a particularly good one, but mine never disappoints. They are cheap and then some, so attempt a fix, if it works great, if it doesn't, bin it and buy another. This is a much better lens than the much smaller 35-70 F3.5-4.5. Well worth the $20-30 they are going for.

 

[McErland]

Ok, I'll try opening it up just for fun really. It is one half of the zoom ring that is movable, and it does shift the whole lens in some strange way.
Like you said Mr Rusty, it is cheap, but a great size, and I was going to use it both on my OM's and my 5D as a standard to-go-lens when I know the light will be enough.

So I will try finding some loose screws this weekend then!
THANKS!

 

[McErland]

Removing the rubber around the zoom ring a roller, and a tiny screw fell out. The other one on the opposite side was firmly in place, so I screwed it back with a tiny amount of locktite, and now it works beautifully! Also took of the front element giving a dust of with some pressured air. Checked before and after with a flashlight, and it solved some of the dust-issue I was having.

 

[MattKing]

Glad you solved the problem!

This is entirely off topic, but my initial reaction when I saw your thread title was: "Is that a name for a band?"

 

[McErland]

Haha! Maybe it's because English is my second language, and right now I'm having serious problems regarding something we call in sweden "Writing-Apart". Meaning when you are supposed to write 2 words together, you often tend to use a hyphen or write them with a space.