Clicking sound from lens iris?

[Tordan58]

When using the E-M1 with the Zuiko 300 sometimes the camera/lens enter a state where a quite discrete clicking sound is produced as response to half-pressing the shutter release button. I can still take pictures, however pictures look somewhat underexposed as far as I can see (assessed <= -1/2 EV, regardless of F-stop).

Once it starts to happen, it will keep on clicking until I turn off the camera. After power on the clicks are gone 9 times out of 10. After a while the clicks eventually come back, though, matter of time.

Camera is updated to latest FW.

I became aware of the issue when having camera turned on for quite some time, waiting for a subject to show up.

The noise comes from somewhere within the lens - I suppose the iris? There is nothing wrong with the lens, no such clicks have ever been the case when using the E-5, the lens produces correctly exposed pictures at any F stop value.

Has anyone experienced or heard about anything similar?


Thanks
Tord

[Ross the fiddler]

Re: Clicking sound from lens iris?

Yes it is the aperture iris & nothing to worry about. Because the lens is fully open for normal viewing it can actually be too bright for the sensor for the EVF & screen display, so it closes the aperture iris accordingly to the brightness, so as you swing it around with different brightness levels of light it will adjust the iris to suit, hence that clicking sound.

[Tordan58]

Re: Clicking sound from lens iris?

Ross,

Thanks for reply but I am inclined to disagree with your reasoning. The clicks occur even in poor light conditions. And furthermore the clicking is not triggered by swinging the lens around in different directions, only when half pressing the shutter release button.

/Tord

[brian1208]

Re: Clicking sound from lens iris?

Tord, do you have flicker reduction On?

I was getting this with my 50-200 and some kind soul here suggested switching it off which cured it instantly

[Tordan58]

Re: Clicking sound from lens iris?

Thanks Brian,

I have no clue what this flicker reduction is about, where can I find it?

I also remember having heard these clicks on my 50-200 at some point in time.

/Tord

[brian1208]

Re: Clicking sound from lens iris?

Tord, have a look in:

Menu, cog Wheel D

Frame Rate

Select [High] to reduce frame lag. However, the image

quality may drop. —

Art LV Mode

[mode1]: The fi lter effect is always displayed.

[mode2]: Filter effects are not visible in the monitor while

the shutter button is pressed halfway. Choose for a smooth

display.

—

Expand LV Dyn.

Range

If you select [Off], the view

fi nder and monitor will be

displayed normally during HDR shooting. 59

Flicker reduction

Reduce the effects of fl icker under some kinds of lighting,

including

fl uorescent lamps. When fl icker is not reduced by

the [Auto] setting, set to [50Hz] or [60Hz] in accordance with

the commercial power frequency of the region where the

camera is used.

—

LV Close Up Mode

[mode1]: Pressing the shutter button halfway cancels zoom.

[mode2]: Zoom is not cancelled when the shutter button is

pressed halfway.

54

Peaking Settings

You can switch the edge enhancement color between white

and black. —

Backlit LCD

If no operations are performed for the selected period, the

backlight will dim to save battery power. The backlight will

not dim if [Hold] is selected.

—

Sleep

The camera will enter sleep (energy saving) mode if no

operations are performed for the selected period. The

camera can be reactivated by pressing the shutter button

halfway.

—

Auto Power Off

Sets camera to turn off after a set period. —

8

(Beep sound) When set to [Off], you can turn off the beep sound that is

emitted when the focus locks by pressing the shutter button. —

USB Mode

Choose a mode for connecting the camera to a computer or

printer. Choose [Auto] to display USB mode options every

time the camera is connected.

—

V

Exp/p/ISO

Option Description

g

EV Step

Choose the size of the increments used when selecting

shutter speed, aperture, exposure compensation, and other

exposure parameters.

—

Noise Reduct.

This function reduces the noise that is generated during

long exposures.

[Auto]: Noise reduction is performed at slow shutter speeds,

or when the internal temperature of the camera has risen.

[On]: Noise reduction is performed with every shot.

[Off]: Noise reduction off.

• Noise reduction requires about twice the time needed to

record the image.

• Noise reduction turns off automatically during sequential

shooting.

• This function may not work effectively with some shooting

conditions or subjects.

41

MENU c V

[Ross the fiddler]

Re: Clicking sound from lens iris?

Tord, do you have flicker reduction On?

I was getting this with my 50-200 and some kind soul here suggested switching it off which cured it instantly

It seems like that is the culprit as mine was OFF & my Sigma 150 macro lens was quiet & after I set it to 50Hz the aperture blades started chattering, so OFF it went & back to quiet again. Thanks Brian. Maybe I knew this before but had forgotten about it.

[Tordan58]

Re: Clicking sound from lens iris?

Turned flicker reduction off, and since then no more clicking noise.

[Tordan58]

Re: Clicking sound from lens iris?

The issue is back. The experience is similar as the one when pressing the step-down/DOF preview button on legacy lenses. The viewfinder darkens when half-pressing the shutter release button and photos get underexposed with what seems about as much as I step down.

Sometimes it occurs more or less immediately after camera has been powered on, sometimes after quite a long time (I have auto-power off 1 hr). Sometimes it never happens over the course of a photo session.

Turning camera off/on gets rid of it, sometimes immediately, sometimes I need to repeat the on/off procedure.

Irritating to say the least.

The many "sometimes" and the erratic behavior make me wonder - could it be a bug? I recently updated FW to 3.1. Anyone else?

[Ross the fiddler]

Re: Clicking sound from lens iris?

Go to Menu *D & set Flicker Reduction to off. It defaults to Auto which is what it would have done after the 3.1 update. It definitely gives that behaviour with iris control.

[Guest]

Re: Clicking sound from lens iris?

Mine gives a little ticking also from this feature. It's barely louder than my vintage watch, so i prefer to keep on the flicker reduction feature. :-D

[Ross the fiddler]

Re: Clicking sound from lens iris?

The issue is back. The experience is similar as the one when pressing the step-down/DOF preview button on legacy lenses. The viewfinder darkens when half-pressing the shutter release button and photos get underexposed with what seems about as much as I step down.

Sometimes it occurs more or less immediately after camera has been powered on, sometimes after quite a long time (I have auto-power off 1 hr). Sometimes it never happens over the course of a photo session.

Turning camera off/on gets rid of it, sometimes immediately, sometimes I need to repeat the on/off procedure.

Irritating to say the least.

The many "sometimes" and the erratic behavior make me wonder - could it be a bug? I recently updated FW to 3.1. Anyone else?

Just a thought, could you be pressing the Preview button by accident? It toggles & actuates the aperture blades (audibly) & will give you dark or light images as you move slightly if left ON (activated). It will give a little aperture blade symbol on the lower left of the screen when activated.

[Tordan58]

Re: Clicking sound from lens iris?

Just a thought, could you be pressing the Preview button by accident? It toggles & actuates the aperture blades (audibly) & will give you dark or light images as you move slightly if left ON (activated). It will give a little aperture blade symbol on the lower left of the screen when activated.

Ross,
No, I am not using DOF Preview. (I have even reassigned the button to engage MySet1.).

But as you write, the behavior reminds of what happens when engaging DOF preview. It's just that it happens randomly. During the course of the last session it happened twice, a single power on/off cured it. Previous session the issue did not occur at all. Previous again it was a real issue. Sessions were 2-3 hours long.

Maybe I should contact Olympus and report it. Sounds like a bug to me.

[Tordan58]

Re: Clicking sound from lens iris?

Mine gives a little ticking also from this feature. It's barely louder than my vintage watch, so i prefer to keep on the flicker reduction feature. :-D

Rich,

I could live with the ticking. The issue is that I get underexposed frames.
/Tord

[bredman]

Re: Clicking sound from lens iris?

Hi Tord.

About a month ago my em1 started the exact same behaviour. When i half press the shutter the iris makes a loudish single click noise, at the same time the lcd/evf flashes bright for a fraction of a second and settles to an underexposed view. No matter what i do the problem persists until i switch off and on again. About 20% of the time i have to repeat as the off-on hasn't worked. Annoying. It has happened with all the lenses i've used since it started, the 60mm, the 40-150/2.8 and the 12-40/2.8.

I'm 99% certain this is not a live view rattlesnake issue.