Body to lens looseness issue

[Tom Rambaut]

Canon 7d body and 1.4 ext II. With 500mm f4.

I have started to notice a distinct looseness with the body to extender contact. I do not recall it being snug from the start but now the issue is such that the camera body shifts a couple of mm up and down (rotation) when panning or any other movment for that matter. This is happening with the strat 500 as well.

Any ideas as to why this is happening, is this a common issue?

Thanks Tom

[Chris Ober]

I've always had a little bit of play between the mounts on every Canon body I've owned and the 3 I have now. It's more on some lenses than others depending on which body.

[Fredrik Backman]

This is perfectly normal. Do a search in any photo forum and you'll find this question being raised regularly. It should only wiggle in the rotation direction (i.e. not sideways), though.

[Charles Glatzer]

Some amount of play is normal. Make sure all flange screws are tight, including body, lens, and converter! If you see a lot of brassing on any of the flanges it may be time to replace them.

Chas

[John Chardine]

Agree, this is normal. The pin on the lens-mount on the body is slightly smaller than the hole it fits in on the lens flange itself. It has of course to be a little smaller so that it readily springs into the hole to lock the lens in place. The slight difference in size causes a little movement, which is amplified as you move radially outwards from the lens centre- big diameter lenses will appear to rotate more than smaller diameter lenses. The pin and hole interior are chrome plated which gives them a hard surface that does not wear quickly. Underneath however, the lens flange is made of brass which is fairly soft. It is possible that if the lens is repeatedly rotated while locked on the body, or if the lenses are frequently and roughly mounted to the body, the pin could widen the hole and create more movement. To avoid this the standard recommendation is to never carry your camera body mounted to a large lens in a case where you could get repeated twisting of the body on the lens. When I mount a lens I also make sure I slow down before the lens is fully seated and slowly close the rest of the way until I hear the pin click in place. If you are rough with your lens and turn the lens on to the body quickly and with force, this can also cause the hole to widen over time.

[Chris Poole]

I think this is a issue on a lot of TC to body connections. My new TC 1.4III on my Nikon does the same thing a little wiggle left to right. But the lens to body is tight and wiggle free. I find that interesting, why a lens can be wiggle free but a TC by the same manufacturer is at times prone to wiggle slightly when mounted to the body..