28-135 USM IS Maintenance question

[kenwchan]

Hi there,

Just purchased this lens used. It seems to be ok but when I tried rotating the zoom ring, everything seems to work ok but if I rotate the ring _slowly_, it seems not lubricated enough to zoom in or out smoothly. It kinds of "hops" if you know what I mean. I kindof just figured this out after I bought the lens.

Is there any maintenance that can be performed to help in this respect? Some sort of WD-40 or lubricant I can squirt/apply somewhere?

Thanks,
Ken

[Dante King]

I have this lens and have not experienced this. I woul dlike to know as well just in case this ever happens on a new lens.

I might GUESS, that it will loosen up a bit over usage. Sounds a bit odd though.

Oh I would definately keep away from squirting any lubes in there.

[robertwgross]

If you think about the zoom function and the way that it uses a cog wheel to move the lens parts, you will see what the "hopping" might mean. There is one other possibility, and I had this on one lens that is very close to the 28-135 IS. The zoom was getting kind of cranky, and then one day it got worse, and then POP. It broke. It would not zoom and would not focus. I called Canon and then sent it in. They replaced some screw that holds the cog in place, and I had it back in a week.

---Bob Gross---

[slin100]

Hi there,

Just purchased this lens used. It seems to be ok but when I tried rotating the zoom ring, everything seems to work ok but if I rotate the ring _slowly_, it seems not lubricated enough to zoom in or out smoothly. It kinds of "hops" if you know what I mean. I kindof just figured this out after I bought the lens.

My copy behaves this way. It just doesn't seem possible to rotate the zoom ring smoothly. I think it's the design. The lens extends quite a bit when zooming, so you're moving quite a bit of mass.

In contrast, my two L zooms are buttery smooth. That was probably not what you wanted to hear. :p

I would not recommend using any lubricants. Just zoom to 135 and clean the exposed barrel with cloth. That's probably about as much as you should do.

[kenwchan]

Thanks all for your replies.

I guess I'm stuck with it, although it seems to be "loosening up" a bit the more I use it.

Cheers to all
Ken