# Canon posts RF lens control ring modification information



## Canon Rumors Guy (May 21, 2019)

> Canon has finally released information about their RF lens control ring modification that was announced alongside the EOS R last year.
> The service is a reasonable $79 USD. This service would likely benefit some video shooters. There’s no mention of what it would cost to put a modified lens back to its stock form.
> 
> From Canon USA:
> ...



Continue reading...


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## PureClassA (May 21, 2019)

I wonder if on the lenses themselves this de-clicking would go beyond just removing the sound and actually give you a de-clicked aperture for smooth changes while shooting instead of hard 1/3rd stop bumps


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## Mt Spokane Photography (May 21, 2019)

There is likely a ball bearing that they remove in 5 min. Most of the charge is likely for handling.


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## FramerMCB (May 21, 2019)

PureClassA said:


> I wonder if on the lenses themselves this de-clicking would go beyond just removing the sound and actually give you a de-clicked aperture for smooth changes while shooting instead of hard 1/3rd stop bumps


Excellent question!


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## RayValdez360 (May 21, 2019)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> There is likely a ball bearing that they remove in 5 min. Most of the charge is likely for handling.


the charge is paying peopel to sit in a room to take apart sensitive and "expensive" electronics and putting it back together. They worded it as a service.


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## jvillain (May 21, 2019)

PureClassA said:


> I wonder if on the lenses themselves this de-clicking would go beyond just removing the sound and actually give you a de-clicked aperture for smooth changes while shooting instead of hard 1/3rd stop bumps


Canon anounced this service when they released the first R lenses and that is why they were offering it, smooth transitions rather than steps for film makers. This article is the first I have heard about it being about sound. If many people ask for the service hopefully they will create a separate SKU that doesn't have the ball to begin with. It would be a special order I am sure but certainly easier than sending your lens in.


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## xps (May 21, 2019)

Hmmm.... will order the adapter and the 28-70mm in the next days. But paying another 150-200€ for getting this feature? 
The price ist 3250 € here for the 28-70, so this modification should have been added without extra payment....


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## max_sr (May 21, 2019)

xps said:


> Hmmm.... will order the adapter and the 28-70mm in the next days. But paying another 150-200€ for getting this feature?
> The price ist 3250 € here for the 28-70, so this modification should have been added without extra payment....



They could have designed the ring with a switch to let anyone chose, if they want it to be declicked or not. But then they wouldn't get 79 additional $$.


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## stevelee (May 22, 2019)

max_sr said:


> They could have designed the ring with a switch to let anyone chose,



That's like the ring around the lens of the G7X II. Some things still seem to move in discrete steps even with the clicks off. But I'm not sure, since I haven't tried it in a while. Whatever I wanted to do, maybe a smooth zoom, didn't work as I had hoped. So I don't bother with it.


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## ohm (May 22, 2019)

PureClassA said:


> I wonder if on the lenses themselves this de-clicking would go beyond just removing the sound and actually give you a de-clicked aperture for smooth changes while shooting instead of hard 1/3rd stop bumps


It’s still digital so perfectly smooth transitions aren’t possible.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (May 22, 2019)

ohm said:


> It’s still digital so perfectly smooth transitions aren’t possible.


Electromagnetic apertures are certainly smooth, nothing is absolutely perfect, but they are the smoothest and smallest increments available. They can be made to move in as small of increment as you are willing to pay for.


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## kaptainkatsu (May 22, 2019)

They've been doing this since release. It's nice to see an official announcement and pricing. But yeah it would be nice if they just had a declick switch like some sony lenses have


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## Ozarker (May 22, 2019)

max_sr said:


> They could have designed the ring with a switch to let anyone chose, if they want it to be declicked or not. But then they wouldn't get 79 additional $$.


That is a great idea! Maybe that will happen on the II versions. My Olympus lens has a sort of control ring on the front for switching between manual focus and AF (Pull back for manual and push forward for AF). Something similar could be done, I guess, with the new canon RF lenses (later releases) except it could switch from clicked to de-clicked, engaging or disengaging the hard stops. Good idea you have there, in my opinion. I don't shoot video, but I think it is a great idea.  It would sure be nice. It would add another useful function to the control ring. From what I've gathered, people with the new RF lenses like the control ring feature. That would make it even better.


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## YuengLinger (May 23, 2019)

max_sr said:


> They could have designed the ring with a switch to let anyone chose, if they want it to be declicked or not. But then they wouldn't get 79 additional $$.


I doubt the volume of work they do for this makes the narrow profit margin for each service worthwhile for Canon. In other words, they are covering their costs, but not doing this to make money. 

There must be another reason for the service, such as, "Whoops, our growing number of video customers aren't going to like that sound. We'll offer to correct it for those who want, and in the meantime figure out a better way to implement the control ring feature."

But your main point, that to click or not click should be a simple user choice, is right on.


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## takesome1 (May 23, 2019)

YuengLinger said:


> There must be another reason for the service, such as, "Whoops, our growing number of video customers aren't going to like that sound. We'll offer to correct it for those who want, and in the meantime figure out a better way to implement the control ring feature."



Really it is "Whoops we have done this over and over again with our DSLR's ever since video has been introduced. We keep finding out that people want lenses that do not make noise and we we never pay attention, we learned nothing and need to put out a fix".


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## Ozarker (May 24, 2019)

takesome1 said:


> Really it is "Whoops we have done this over and over again with our DSLR's ever since video has been introduced. We keep finding out that people want lenses that do not make noise and we we never pay attention, we learned nothing and need to put out a fix".


Hmmmm.... I didn't realize any of the EF lenses needed aperture control declicked for video. So, nahhhhh!


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## mb66energy (May 24, 2019)

PureClassA said:


> I wonder if on the lenses themselves this de-clicking would go beyond just removing the sound and actually give you a de-clicked aperture for smooth changes while shooting instead of hard 1/3rd stop bumps



EOS R

Newly supports the 1/8-stop aperture adjustment during movie recording with RF lenses
(from: https://hk.canon/en/consumer/the-launch-of-the-new-eos-r-system/news at roughly 20% from top of page)

While the R supports a higher granularity of f-stops for video I do not know if it is also supported with the "clicking" ring or not. But Canon thought to implement a finder granularity.


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## koenkooi (May 24, 2019)

mb66energy said:


> EOS R
> 
> Newly supports the 1/8-stop aperture adjustment during movie recording with RF lenses
> (from: https://hk.canon/en/consumer/the-launch-of-the-new-eos-r-system/news at roughly 20% from top of page)
> ...



In an interview Nikon mentioned a nice feature: the Z zooms use the AF motor to fake being parfocal when zoomin, it keeps to the set focus distance at all zoom settings.


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## transpo1 (May 25, 2019)

ohm said:


> It’s still digital so perfectly smooth transitions aren’t possible.



It would be amazing if they could get a reasonable approximation of a smooth aperture pull.


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## dirtyvu (May 25, 2019)

will this change the feel of the control ring?


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## GulliNL (May 27, 2019)

CanonFanBoy said:


> That is a great idea! Maybe that will happen on the II versions. [...]


They already did it, on the G7X II, 3 YEARS AGO!! And yet they still forget that they did. It was the first thing I said when I read it in the announcement; 'why do they make it click-only when they already to a switch that makes click and smooth available in 1 ring??'.

IMHO this should be a free fix instead of a service for extra charge.


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## Ozarker (May 27, 2019)

GulliNL said:


> They already did it, on the G7X II, 3 YEARS AGO!! And yet they still forget that they did. It was the first thing I said when I read it in the announcement; 'why do they make it click-only when they already to a switch that makes click and smooth available in 1 ring??'.
> 
> IMHO this should be a free fix instead of a service for extra charge.


Maybe so, but it isn't a fix... it is a modification to a lens that already exists. I think the price for the modification is fair: $79. Better, though, if there were a switch or clutch in future lenses so that one can switch between "clicked" and "declicked". Maybe there will be. It would be real nice. Of course, everybody thinks what they want should be free, but it isn't free to Canon. Labor costs, and it isn't just the labor of the guy sitting at the bench doing the mod. The ring on the G7X series isn't available off the shelf to RF lenses, as you seem to suggest it should be. It would have to be a completely different design. It would probably have to be some kind of clutch design like the ring on the Olympus lenses because of where it is located. A ring located on the body would be cumbersome due to the shape of the lenses and the room available.

This company will declick for $50, but it would probably void the warranty. Then again, can they do RF lenses? Don't know.
https://www.ducloslenses.com/pages/cine-mod

Of course we could say that if we are paying over $2k for a lens it should already come that way. Then again, were I a video guy paying more than $2k for a lens, I don't think I'd get spun up about paying $79 to mod it into the specialty lens I want. The price of 10 lattes from Starbucks or a night out with my honey.  A switch or clutch installed in factory would cost more than $79, I think. Then there would be stills shooters complaining about having to pay for a feature they'd never use. Canon can't win. Canon could also create a new SKU for the specialty lens. That would also cost more.

Don't know why you say Canon "forgot". No they didn't.


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## GulliNL (May 27, 2019)

I mean they should have done it in the first place, I find it an omission which they could fix.


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