Canon posts RF lens control ring modification information

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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:
What is the Control Ring’s Clicking Sound Modification Service?
Canon’s control ring’s modification service offers RF lenses and Control Ring Mount Adapter EF-EOS R owners the opportunity to remove/reapply the control ring’s clicking sound.
Why might this be needed?
The click action of the control ring allows the user to have a sense of how much it is being turned. However, if used during video shooting, the sound of the control ring operation may be recorded.
Pricing



Model
Price*


RF Lenses
$79.99


Control Ring Mount Adapter EF-EOS R
$59.99



*Tax and freight fee are NOT included *All pricing is subject to change

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RayValdez360

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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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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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Hmmm.... will order the adapter and the 28-70mm in the next days. But paying another 150-200€ for getting this feature? :unsure:
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

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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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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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Ozarker

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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

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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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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

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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! :rolleyes:
 
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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

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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.

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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