RPZ 17mm-50mm v2 front ring is loose.

[Daniel Mimura]

The 114mm front of my RED Pro Zoom 17-50 has a lot of play in it and is getting worse (all over the course of a 4 day shoot.) Has anyone else had this problem and know how to fix it? I use clip-on matte boxes most of the time, and I feel like eventually, it's just going to fall off, along with the matte box and whatever filters are in it.

I see three screw holes in the front, but I don't see any other place to tighten or screw anything on it. Do I have to take this in for servicing or is there a way to fix it myself? The 3 screws are very tight, I can't get them to unscrew...which leads me to believe this isn't even the part that has started to loosen.

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks!

 

[Daniel Mimura]

Anyone?

 

[Chad Lancaster]

Ask Red support or send it to Duclos

 

[Cameron Currier]

We recently had the same issue with our 50-150mm. Should be a fairly simple fix so long as you have the right tools (spanner wrench) and a bit of basic knowledge of lens assembly. The screws that tighten down the front hood are most likely below the lens ring that surrounds the front element. We don't have the 17-50, so I'm not familiar with the lens itself, but this should be true with most lenses. That lens ring should be able to be gently unscrewed and removed with a spanner wrench to reveal the screws that need to be tightened. This is not a complicated procedure, but be sure to be gentle and use the proper tools. Look for the notches in the ring and use a spanner wrench to unscrew.

Here's a quick overview of what I'm talking about I just found on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pap4DtsGJAU

At about 1:20 he goes over what I'm talking about.

Good luck!

 

[Daniel Mimura]

Thanks for your reply!

I'll look at that---I'm away from my lens for the long weekend, but when I was looking for how to adjust it, I was looking at screws, not looking for something to be unscrewed with a spanner wrench.

This is a repair i'd like to do myself---both because I want to be able to fix it in the field---and b/c I suspect that if I get it tightened...it's eventually just going to come loose again.

 

[Domenic Barbero]

We recently had the same issue with our 50-150mm. Should be a fairly simple fix so long as you have the right tools (spanner wrench) and a bit of basic knowledge of lens assembly. The screws that tighten down the front hood are most likely below the lens ring that surrounds the front element. We don't have the 17-50, so I'm not familiar with the lens itself, but this should be true with most lenses. That lens ring should be able to be gently unscrewed and removed with a spanner wrench to reveal the screws that need to be tightened. This is not a complicated procedure, but be sure to be gentle and use the proper tools. Look for the notches in the ring and use a spanner wrench to unscrew.

Here's a quick overview of what I'm talking about I just found on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pap4DtsGJAU

At about 1:20 he goes over what I'm talking about.

Good luck!

Glad you guys got that fixed cam. My pl mount still needs a repair from those guys. Still confused as to how that all happened. haha

 

[Cameron Currier]

Glad you guys got that fixed cam. My pl mount still needs a repair from those guys. Still confused as to how that all happened. haha

Oh no! Sorry to hear, Domenic. I wish I was on that shoot to keep an eye on things and make sure all our gear was safe...

But as far as most manual lenses, go, Daniel, they are usually of a fairly simple design that can be repaired rather simply so long as you are careful. Automatic lenses can be a nightmare and I tend to stay away from them. I like having a lens that if something comes loose or out of alignment, it's a simple fix of unscrewing one piece and tightening another. Old SLR lenses can be found cheap and can be great fun to take apart and learn the in's and out's of a lens.

 

[Daniel Mimura]

Okay, I fixed my lens. When I had messed around with it on set in the brief spare time I had, I had loosened the screws on the front and it still seemed loose... well, yes, I had to unscrew all three screws which removed the ring...then underneath that, there are three other screws (silver stainless steel, not black like the three screws on the front 114mm ring.). Two of them had gotten loose.

I tightened all three back down (very carefully adding loc-tite to them). I almost always run my matte box with a clip-on to save weight, so I can imagine these coming loose again without the loc-tite. I now have added the tiniest size phillips screwdriver to my camera bag in case I need to fix it again in the field.

Thanks, Cameron and Dom for the feedback!

I will include pix for other people who may have this problem in the future, since I didn't find anyone else on here that has had this problem...waiting for the pix to load into an album I created on reduser.

 

[Cameron Currier]

Congrats, Daniel! I feel lots of minor lens issues can be fixed at home so long you have the right tools and patience. It can save you a good deal of money, too!