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Why does nobody talk about how a dirty focus ring can fake a dead AF motor
Brought in a Canon 24-70 last month that a customer swore had a dead autofocus motor, quoted him $310 for the swap and he almost walked. Before ordering the part I ran the ring by hand and it felt gritty, like sand was packed in there, so I pulled the front barrel and found dried drink syrup and old grit jamming the helicoid. Cleaned it, relubed it, and the AF snapped back to life, total bill came to $45 and he tipped me a twenty. I have now seen the same thing four times this summer, twice on Nikon glass, and every single one got misdiagnosed as electronics by somebody who never turned the ring by hand. The tell is simple, if the ring drags or clicks but the contacts test fine, clean it before you quote a motor. Has anyone else run into this on the newer mirrorless zooms or is it just older glass?
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joseph_west5922d ago
the AF snapped back to life" for 45 bucks while the other guy wanted 310, that is the whole repair shop business in one sentence. Honestly the worst part is that grit is probably from some kid with a soda at a wedding, and now it lives rent free inside a $2000 lens forever. I have seen it on an RF 24-105 too, so it is not just the old stuff, the focus by wire ring still gets junk in the same gap. Cheap fix, big drama, love it.
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