Hot swapping lenses, one more time... at DVinfo.net

Mervin Langley · May 6th, 2014, 03:02 PM

I understand the concerns and try not to do it. But has anyone actually ever had a verified problem after doing this? It really is a pain in the neck during a wedding ceremony, basically a 45 second process.

Barry Goyette · May 6th, 2014, 05:59 PM

I've never had a problem...but I sure don't want to.

I'd turn off the camera.

Barry

Ben Giles · May 6th, 2014, 11:26 PM

C100 or C300?

Never had an issue with the C100 in a year's regular use - hot swap all of the time.

Ben.

Mark Dobson · May 7th, 2014, 12:05 AM

I'm pretty sure that we are talking about the C100 here.

Going back 2 years several people had problems hot swapping lenses on the C300 and the issue was flagged up as a serious problem.

With the latest firmware release this was resolved with the Lens Exchange function which turns off the sensor, leaving everything else on, whilst you change the lens.

I myself have inadvertently hot swapped lenses on the C300 and not had a problem. However, I now use lens exchange which I have assigned to one of the buttons. This works fine and there is minimal delay in the sensor coming active again.

The only problem I've had with it is to have forgotten I'd turned lens exchange on and wondered why the camera doesn't work.

But going by Bens experience ( Hi Ben! ) the hot swap issue doesn't seem to affect the C100. But the question might be, 'are you feeling lucky?'

Casey Preston · May 7th, 2014, 01:44 PM

My understanding by second hand information is that hot swapping the lens on a C100 is not advised due to the sensor attracting dust when powered up. Now whether you feel that is a good enough reason to power off, that's up to you.

Ben Giles · May 8th, 2014, 12:26 AM

A hand over the aperture, while lining up the next lens, mitigates this, in my experience.

I just had a C100 upgraded to DPAF after a year's regular use with multiple lens hot swaps in all sorts of environments and weather. The technician remarked on how clean the sensor was, so I'm confident to continue.

Ben.

Danny O'Neill · May 8th, 2014, 02:18 PM

C100 here and no problems so far.

I suspect that the camera designed for run and gun wedding shooters had this problem fixed. Especially as they never included the hot swap lens button

Gary Huff · May 8th, 2014, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Danny O'Neill

I suspect that the camera designed for run and gun wedding shooters had this problem fixed. Especially as they never included the hot swap lens button

It's not the issue of shorting out the electric contacts that makes me turn off the C100 every time I swap lenses, it's dust being pulled into the sensor.

Danny O'Neill · May 9th, 2014, 01:33 AM

Can't see why turning off will make it less likely to attract dust. Turning off will not instantly remove any static charge.

Our sensors are squeaky clean. We always have the new lens lined up ready to go.

Matt Davis · May 10th, 2014, 03:00 AM

My Canon cameras all do the 'feinting goat' thing if I try and remove a lens without turning the camera off. The C100 manual on Page 30 clearly states "Set the POWER switch to OFF" (their capitals) when removing a lens. The C300 gets a special mode to turn off power to the lens rather than powering down the whole camera.

I've accidentally removed a lens with the camera on less than half a dozen times. I trained myself to just turn the darn thing off when changing lenses, along with the 2-lens-1-cap 'lens-cuddle' thing.

I do it on the C100 because it's the same mount and the same lens as the C300 and DSLRs, and THEY want to swap when off, so I assume the C100 wants to, too - and it's only a cost cutting exercise that removes the 'feinting goat' or 'lens change mode' from its list of features. Sigh... It's probably all psychosomatic - but then I've never known a blown fuse (unlike reports from early C300s). I'd say cold-swapping lenses is a good habit to get into.

Nicholas de Kock · May 12th, 2014, 03:18 AM

I have no issues hot swapping lenses, I've had my two C100's for almost a year now, I hot swap all the time. I wear a belt with my lenses on me and I can go through +/- 5 swaps every hour. I don't place my hand over the sensor I don't rush the swap & my sensors stays clean. As far as I know there is no documented case of anything happening to a C100. People forget that the C100 isn't a DSLR the sensor isn't directly exposed to open air but it sits 1cm behind glass & ND filters.

Jim Martin · May 12th, 2014, 10:59 AM

The issue originally arose from a poster who used Zeiss DSLR lenses on a C300. He did a hot swap and the contacts on the lens touched something and caused the camera to blow a fuse......thusly, Canon put out an advisory reminding users not to hot-swap, especially with third party lenses......

Jim Martin
Filmtools.com

Nicholas de Kock · May 12th, 2014, 11:26 AM

Jim for all we know that guy had a faulty C300 from the factory. If it really was an issue we'd see more people lose cams & yet nothing. I swap out Tokina & Tamron live while recording. If anything was going to happen it would have happened months ago. The C100 is not designed to be powered off otherwise on/off boot time would have been instant. The only thing I foresee breaking on my C100's is the power button if I had to turn it on/off every time I swapped a lens. It's impractical, the C100 is designed for live events.

Jim Martin · May 12th, 2014, 11:51 AM

At the time, every C300 was going through 5 QCs before we got the cameras at the store level....so the camera was not defective......just passing the info on this....

Jim Martin
Filmtools.com

Craig Chartier · May 12th, 2014, 09:23 PM

The C300 did have this issue at first. The camera was in Dallas, and the owner used ZF glass with flange adapters and he hot swapped the lens and shorted out the camera. I believe he did it on TWO camera bodies !! before the issue was fixed.
It seems to have been addressed fairly quickly and has not been reported again.

May 6th, 2014, 03:02 PM	#1
Mervin Langley Regular Crew Join Date: May 2008 Location: Burlington, Wisconsin Posts: 137	Hot swapping lenses, one more time... I understand the concerns and try not to do it. But has anyone actually ever had a verified problem after doing this? It really is a pain in the neck during a wedding ceremony, basically a 45 second process.

May 6th, 2014, 05:59 PM	#2
Barry Goyette Trustee Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: San Luis Obispo CA Posts: 1,195	Re: Hot swapping lenses, one more time... I've never had a problem...but I sure don't want to. I'd turn off the camera. Barry __________________ Barry http://www.barrygoyette.com

May 6th, 2014, 11:26 PM	#3
Ben Giles Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: UK Posts: 145	Re: Hot swapping lenses, one more time... C100 or C300? Never had an issue with the C100 in a year's regular use - hot swap all of the time. Ben. __________________ www.bengiles.co.uk www.matobo.co.uk

May 7th, 2014, 12:05 AM	#4
Mark Dobson Major Player Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Horsham / United Kingdom Posts: 328	Re: Hot swapping lenses, one more time... I'm pretty sure that we are talking about the C100 here. Going back 2 years several people had problems hot swapping lenses on the C300 and the issue was flagged up as a serious problem. With the latest firmware release this was resolved with the Lens Exchange function which turns off the sensor, leaving everything else on, whilst you change the lens. I myself have inadvertently hot swapped lenses on the C300 and not had a problem. However, I now use lens exchange which I have assigned to one of the buttons. This works fine and there is minimal delay in the sensor coming active again. The only problem I've had with it is to have forgotten I'd turned lens exchange on and wondered why the camera doesn't work. But going by Bens experience ( Hi Ben! ) the hot swap issue doesn't seem to affect the C100. But the question might be, 'are you feeling lucky?'

May 7th, 2014, 01:44 PM	#5
Casey Preston New Boot Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 5	Re: Hot swapping lenses, one more time... My understanding by second hand information is that hot swapping the lens on a C100 is not advised due to the sensor attracting dust when powered up. Now whether you feel that is a good enough reason to power off, that's up to you.

May 8th, 2014, 12:26 AM	#6
Ben Giles Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: UK Posts: 145	Re: Hot swapping lenses, one more time... A hand over the aperture, while lining up the next lens, mitigates this, in my experience. I just had a C100 upgraded to DPAF after a year's regular use with multiple lens hot swaps in all sorts of environments and weather. The technician remarked on how clean the sensor was, so I'm confident to continue. Ben. __________________ www.bengiles.co.uk www.matobo.co.uk

May 8th, 2014, 02:18 PM	#7
Danny O'Neill Major Player Join Date: May 2008 Location: Northampton, UK Posts: 915	Re: Hot swapping lenses, one more time... C100 here and no problems so far. I suspect that the camera designed for run and gun wedding shooters had this problem fixed. Especially as they never included the hot swap lens button __________________ mintyslippers.com

May 9th, 2014, 01:33 AM	#9
Danny O'Neill Major Player Join Date: May 2008 Location: Northampton, UK Posts: 915	Re: Hot swapping lenses, one more time... Can't see why turning off will make it less likely to attract dust. Turning off will not instantly remove any static charge. Our sensors are squeaky clean. We always have the new lens lined up ready to go. __________________ mintyslippers.com

May 10th, 2014, 03:00 AM	#10
Matt Davis Trustee Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Berkshire, UK Posts: 1,562	Re: Hot swapping lenses, one more time... My Canon cameras all do the 'feinting goat' thing if I try and remove a lens without turning the camera off. The C100 manual on Page 30 clearly states "Set the POWER switch to OFF" (their capitals) when removing a lens. The C300 gets a special mode to turn off power to the lens rather than powering down the whole camera. I've accidentally removed a lens with the camera on less than half a dozen times. I trained myself to just turn the darn thing off when changing lenses, along with the 2-lens-1-cap 'lens-cuddle' thing. I do it on the C100 because it's the same mount and the same lens as the C300 and DSLRs, and THEY want to swap when off, so I assume the C100 wants to, too - and it's only a cost cutting exercise that removes the 'feinting goat' or 'lens change mode' from its list of features. Sigh... It's probably all psychosomatic - but then I've never known a blown fuse (unlike reports from early C300s). I'd say cold-swapping lenses is a good habit to get into. __________________ Director/Editor - MDMA Ltd: Write, Shoot, Edit, Publish - mattdavis.pro EX1 x2, C100 --> FCPX & PPro6

May 12th, 2014, 03:18 AM	#11
Nicholas de Kock Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: KLD, South Africa Posts: 983	Re: Hot swapping lenses, one more time... I have no issues hot swapping lenses, I've had my two C100's for almost a year now, I hot swap all the time. I wear a belt with my lenses on me and I can go through +/- 5 swaps every hour. I don't place my hand over the sensor I don't rush the swap & my sensors stays clean. As far as I know there is no documented case of anything happening to a C100. People forget that the C100 isn't a DSLR the sensor isn't directly exposed to open air but it sits 1cm behind glass & ND filters.

May 12th, 2014, 10:59 AM	#12
Jim Martin Major Player Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Burbank, CA 91502 Posts: 949	Re: Hot swapping lenses, one more time... The issue originally arose from a poster who used Zeiss DSLR lenses on a C300. He did a hot swap and the contacts on the lens touched something and caused the camera to blow a fuse......thusly, Canon put out an advisory reminding users not to hot-swap, especially with third party lenses...... Jim Martin Filmtools.com

May 12th, 2014, 11:26 AM	#13
Nicholas de Kock Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: KLD, South Africa Posts: 983	Re: Hot swapping lenses, one more time... Jim for all we know that guy had a faulty C300 from the factory. If it really was an issue we'd see more people lose cams & yet nothing. I swap out Tokina & Tamron live while recording. If anything was going to happen it would have happened months ago. The C100 is not designed to be powered off otherwise on/off boot time would have been instant. The only thing I foresee breaking on my C100's is the power button if I had to turn it on/off every time I swapped a lens. It's impractical, the C100 is designed for live events.

May 12th, 2014, 11:51 AM	#14
Jim Martin Major Player Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Burbank, CA 91502 Posts: 949	Re: Hot swapping lenses, one more time... At the time, every C300 was going through 5 QCs before we got the cameras at the store level....so the camera was not defective......just passing the info on this.... Jim Martin Filmtools.com

May 12th, 2014, 09:23 PM	#15
Craig Chartier DVi Contributor Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Austin Texas Posts: 374	Re: Hot swapping lenses, one more time... The C300 did have this issue at first. The camera was in Dallas, and the owner used ZF glass with flange adapters and he hot swapped the lens and shorted out the camera. I believe he did it on TWO camera bodies !! before the issue was fixed. It seems to have been addressed fairly quickly and has not been reported again.