[cold weather] CV35 1.4 sloooww focus

[Spicy]

hey all,

just got back from shooting with my photography club in one of the tourist areas here. the weather's been pretty cold the past couple days, and i had my 35 1.4 out and was having trouble focusing at anything approaching reasonable speed.

the lens has been fine throughout my use with it, but today (it was probably 20*F/-5*C) going through the whole range was really slow. i often struggle with nailing the focus quickly to get a shot, but today i missed more shots than i usually seem to, due to slow focusing.

the barrel and oil/lubricant just didn't seem up to the task. i don't think there's anything wrong with it, just wanted to comment and see if anyone else had any similar experiences.

that is all.

 

[santino]

Well, that's just too normal.
Even a manual shift car is more "tight" at winter conditions until it warms up 😉

 

[wilonstott]

My CV 35/1.4 does it too.

Thus, may we grieve together.
In time, and God willing, we will rebuild.


/s

 

[Tom A]

Cold weather will "thicken" the helicoil lubricants and stiffen the focus noticebly. However -5C should not affect it that much. Do some quick back and forth focus turns (all the way close focus to infinity) before setting out and it should help.
I the past I used to have one set of M4P's "winterized" - all the lubricants removed and very light coating of lithium or carbon based lubricant substituted. It did help - but those cameras had to be dedicated to cold weather shooting - or relubed with onset of spring! Using them in "normal" weather caused excessive wear as they were running "dry" and the minute expansion in + degrees of metals would wear quickly.