Iinfinity lock on my Canon lens

[januaryman]

Well, I finally scored a Canon 50/1.8 lens (attached to yet another Canon P). This is the first lens I had that uses the infinity lock on the barrel and it is driving me nuts. Worse than the infinity lock on the Kiev camera body.

So my question is, can this be overcome? Is there a way to disable the mechanism? I see a screw underneath the lock "button" and wonder if tightening this will work?

If not, I need to have the entire camera CLA'd by Mark Hama - can HE do anything about it, would you think?

Thanks in advance.

 

[dexdog]

I don't think that tightening the screw will have any effect. Short of taking out the screw in question and completely removing the infinity lock, I am not sure that there is much else that you could do.

 

[kully]

I removed the infinity lock on my Canon 50/1.4 the second day - it annoyed me to distraction.

I'm sure your 50/1.8 has a similar mechanism as my 50/1.4 so all you need is a screwdriver and pliers (I used a pipe wrench). Apply pliers to the knurled knob and unscrew the screw on the other side, be careful of a little spring that will / may fall out. Assemble the pieces once they are off the lens and pop them in an empty film canister in case you ever need them / sell the lens on.

Two minute job, even for a clumsy fool like me.

 

[januaryman]

Sounds like even I might be able to do this. Thank you both for the responses.

 

[payasam]

The alternative is to leave it alone -- you should soon get used to it.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Looks like the one on my 35/2.8 can be removed, too, and I may think about it. They also annoy me to no end. I think I'll try it for a while first, though.

 

[dexdog]

I wish that I could get used to infinity locks, but I can't. I use an SLR frequently, and can't get used to having those annoyig infinity locks on my RF cameras. I take them off my most frequently-used lenses. I am also a big fan of the late-model Canon LTM lenses, in part because they don't have infinity locks.

 

[John Shriver]

Please do not remove the infinity lock button. You will lose it. The next owner who may want it will be pissed.

Just fill in the small notch that it catches on with wood or styrene, held in with a drop of super glue.

But, I will advise you that you will slowly damage the two skinny brass bars that go through the focusing helical, and the lens will get "twisty" over time. Part of the reason for it is to give you someplace to apply torque to unscrew the lens that isn't torquing the helical. There's not enough rim at the back of the lens to twist it directly.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

John, I can assure you that I won't lose it. I have the case for the 35 as well, and it can go in there if I ever take it out in a film canister. I highly doubt I'll even take my lens off the camera. 🙂

 

[John Shriver]

But will your heirs re-associate the button with the lens?

Of course, filling in the catch is easier than removing the button, and doesn't require a spanner wrench.

 

[januaryman]

Filling in the catch sounds like an easier solution. I'll play around with it for a while and then decide. Thanks all for the responses.

 

[pfoto]

The alternative is to leave it alone -- you should soon get used to it.

Not true. I have only ever had one lens with an infinity lock - an old Elmar - but I found it made the lens competely unusable (and I tried). I never got used to it and I'll never buy another.

 

[Fraser]

infinity lock

infinity lock

I had a canon 50mm a while back and I didn't like the infinity lock at all it drove me mad!. What I did was cut a small bit off the end of a biro refill then cut it down one side length ways and slipped this on the moving part of the lock to stop it engaging can't remember which side it goes on but it worked great and did not cause any damage.

 

[rogue_designer]

I guess the way I focus - the lock is in a quick place for me to easily disengage. Most of the time I leave the lens on about 15ft anyway, so the lock isn't engaged unless i put it there. Even if if I need infinity, it's typically covered by DOF along the way.

I do like having the infinity lock there for un-mounting the lens, as John Shriver pointed out. It makes that much easier, and easier on the mechanics of the lens.

My vote is to get used to it. But if it gets in the way, it gets in the way. We all work differently.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Please do not remove the infinity lock button. You will lose it. The next owner who may want it will be pissed.

Dear John,

Not my problem. If they want an historically correct collectors' item, instead of a usable lens, they can buy from someone else.

"Why worry about posterity. What has posterity ever done for us?"

I can stand the 'bell-push' on my 1936 Elmar but the rocker on my 50/1.2 Canon drove me up the wall. I disabled it with a toothpick. When the lens was rebuilt, the rebuilders disabled it (reversiby) by fitting the spring to keep it open at all times.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I went through some trouble getting the infinity lock onto the Canon 50/1.2 that I built out of parts. But I made it so that you had to push it into place to lock, it will not lock on its own. It helps when mounting/dismounting the lens. I also have one Nikon S2 that I did the same thing with- you have to push the lever to make it lock. Again, that lock is helpful for changing lenses.

 

[Charles Woodhouse]

Posterity will remember you as the badmouthed spoilt generation who couldn't cope with such a minor irritation as an infinity lock on such an antiquated instrument as a camera that required film that needed stinking chemicals to produce an image.
But if you really want grief from an infinity lock try the 3.5/50 Letana on early Leotaxes. You have to pull the lock's knob forward to disengage it!