EF 70-200 F4 IS continuous noise with R6. Why?
I upgraded from an 80D to an EOS R6 just recently and I'm loving it. Picture quality and out-of-camera colour is way better; low light performance is jaw dropping; the AI eye autofocus is superb; the controls fall more comfortably to my hands; and that I can still use my EF lenses equally well if not better made it an easy upgrade. I have no RF lenses —it'll be a while to recover from the cost of the body before I can think about that.
But when I attach an EF 70-200mm F4L, the IS continuously grumbles away for as long as the R6 is on. On the 80D it's just as noisy, but only for a little while after the shutter is half cocked, then it parks itself. It's definitely the IS making the noise. It goes away if I flip IS 'OFF' on the lens. It doesn't affect my EF 24-70 F4L IS, or my 35mm F2 IS. Or if it does, the motors are so much quieter that I can't hear them.
Why does it do that? Is there some need for that behaviour? Because if not, it's going to eat the batteries unless I keep turning the camera off. Are Canon going to fix this? Or is it maybe an unsubtle hint to invest in some RF glass? Which would be a pity, because EF glass is plenty good enough for me and I was hoping to pick up more on the secondhand market ...
Posted Jun 6, 2021, 5:20 AM UTC
Welcome to mirrorless, that's how it works.
If you want a fun example and still have your 80D, make it so the back display is being used instead of the optical viewfinder and the 'IS' will kick in non stop. Works on my 6D with any 'IS' lens.
Part of the trade off with mirrorless is low battery life, just buy a pile of battery's and rotate them as you go (I number my battery's to keep them evenly rotated).
Simply dont stress and have fun shooting, that's normal for the cam.
You're right.
With the back display on the 80D, the IS on that lens grumbles away just the same. I've rarely used the 80D for video and never with that lens, so hadn't noticed it before.
I haven't run short of battery on the R6 yet, but another battery and a faster SD card for the second slot are next on the cards.
So I guess the next question; is the EF 16-35mm F4L IS just as noisy? Because that's the lens I was thinking of getting next, and that noise might persuade me to wait for the RF version and buy new.
PS is the R6 sensor stabilised to? if so that will double the fun make more noise than others.
Im sure you will get used to it soon, no one will notice it past you (and if they do they wont know what it is unless you point it out).
I never relay think about it.
PS is the R6 sensor stabilised to? if so that will duble the fun
Yes, it has IBIS. I've tried turning it off. But it definitely works rather well, so I stopped the experiment.
Interesting that I only find the noise noticeable on the EF 70-200mm F4L IS and not with the other EF lenses though.
Can confirm, paired with canon RP my 70-200 F4 IS motor is loud as hell. I learned to switch it off with the physical switch when not needed.
The longer the lens the more shake that needs to be compensated for maybe?
May also just be bigger lens so needs a bigger mooter.
IDK when It was new to me ages back I looked in to it but today I just dont think about it any more, let it do it's thing and relax.
most the time I just have it on, it's meant to be better off with fast shutter speeds or on tripods but iv never relay noticed a big difference with it on at a fast shutter.
I think it's just as it's stick next to you head you hear it but relay no one but you will ever notice, I relay just dont think much about it apart when I shoot video and forget to turn it on.
I've found the ef 16-35 f4 L is very noisy on my r6