5D lens moount tolerances

I hope I am not being too anal here but maybe I am.

I just got a 180 macro lens for my 5D and noticed that on a tripod there was movement. Enough that I felt the tripod needed adjusting. I found the body to lens mount was wiggling. Not a whole lot but maybe a 32nd or even 64th of an inch. I have no other lenses which are long but my 17-40, 24-105 also wiggle a very little. The long lens seems more pronounced. I went to my dealer and their shelf 5D also has the same wiggle but maybe half as much. Mine is a bit older (6 months) and I tried a 70-210 they had and it wiggled. The problem seems worse on the tripod but photos are fine. Mind you this is a new camera and I am thinking maybe if things were machined better the photos would be even better.

Canon Canada tells be lenses should fit snug so to send the new lens and body in. I will likely sent it all to them in the fall for a check over (mainly because of this) when I can find some time to part with it.

So my question to you all is how is your fit. I expect no wiggle but feel I am being way to anal. Especially as I just check an old A1 I have , it has less wiggle and my beloved Leica M4-2, it has more wiggle.

Since I typed all this, despite having just looked at my film bodies, I will still put this out there to see how tight your fit is. I feel better already. I will likely send it in in the fall to have it bench checked anyway.

Thanks.

Since the camera to lens joint would be classified as a soft joint, I'm guessing you are talking about angular alignment between the lens centerline and camera body.

Tolerance stackup between the lens and body should allow small flex angles (under 0.5°), but the joint shouldn't allow you to move the lens along its centerline, or perpendicular to the centerline.

My lens / body interactions vary from very snug, to very flexible. I haven't observed IQ issues, or electrical contact problems in any situation.

I'm guessing there is very little chance Canon will find anything far enough out of tolerance to justify replacing parts.

Another test you can try: Test a lens/body combination after leaving it sit out in the summer heat, then repeat the experiment after cold quenching the camera in the fridge for about 4 hours. See how much difference the temp makes. 40° to 100° can make a lot of difference!

CanonAndy

Thanks it is a rotational movement not perpendicular. You are right the temperature differences might be enough to affect this when I feel a bit like I have nothing to do I will put the camera in the fridge. If my wife sees it there I will be writing you all from my new home in the institution though .

The amount of difference in the wiggle between hand help and tripod mount feels substantial but that is only perception as it is the same amount but it is strange how one perceives these things.

When I first got my 70-200f2.8L, I thought the fit was a tad loose on the camera (10D at that time). This is because all my other lenses were so snug ftting that I just expected it. Having bought several more lenses since then, and tried many bodies, and moved to another body myself (camera, not me), I have determined that there is a wide variance. The manufacturing tolerances are such that if the body mount and the lens mount are both at the loose end of their tolerance range, ther'll be a little play. Unless it is visibly allowing angular mis-alignment between body and lens that would affect the perpindicularity (is that a word?) of the sensor to the lens barrel, I wouldn't sweat it. A little rotational rattle won't bother anything that I have seen through my experience with my 10D and my 70-200.

I am feeling better all the time. Sometime some of us (me) get a little to worried about nothing at all. I think I will go back to those seashell photos I was fooling arount with. come on compact flash transfer those files to the desktop.

Thanks again for the nerosis soothing words.