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Question with the XVario


benedict297

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Hi, I have used the XVario quite extensively but for some reason, I have not noticed what I noticed a few days ago. That is - when the camera is on, and I move it / rotate it say up or down, I here a rattling / hunting noise. When I off the camera, or when the camera is on play mode (reviewing images) there is no noise. What appears to be the case is that the rattling noise appears to be the camera adjusting for focus (I'm guessing) but I have not noticed such noise before even when using the camera for a few months. Can anyone advise if this noise is normal and is also present in their XV?

 

Thanks

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I have noticed this noise as well -- and also attributed it to focusing. However, I never seriously checked for the conditions under which this happens. When I just tested the camera, I did not hear the noise... So we need more experience with this phenomenon. All in all, I think, it is "normal" and no reason to worry about.

Best regards, Gerd

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That sounds plausible since kmhb wrote that the noise also appears when the camera is set to manual focus. It looks as if aperture is adjusting for an optimal viewfinder image...

 

BTW: When I took images which included the sun, the viewfinder showed star-like rays, but these did not appear in the final photos. So I set aperture manually to 11 or even 16 to get the star effect (which could be verified in the viewfinder).

Thus, it looks as if the X Vario uses a small aperture (or one with a large number...) for creating the viewfinder image -- at least when the lighting is good. Actually, I would have expected a wide open aperture for easier manual focusing...

 

Best regards, Gerd

Edited by waloszek
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Today, I looked at the camera from the front and held it against a lamp. I set aperture for f16. Depending on how I held the camera, the aperture was adjusting and made a rattling noise. So it seems to have nothing to do with focusing (as we already suspected).

You can do this test on your own...

BTW: I just repeated the test with various f-stop settings -- this doesn't seem to have any effect. The adjustment seems to be for the viewfinder only...

Best regards, Gerd

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Likely the aperture adjusting rapidly to light conditions. Certain m4/3 cameras and lenses are known to do that as well. Some call it rattlesnaking. My X1 did it occasionally.

 

Sounds likely to me, too. Question is: how does this influence manual focussing? We have confirmation that the effect is there even when MF is set, and trying to focus visually while the lens is stopped down isn´t ecactly an ideal solution. Anyone who either knows the answer or has made experiments (I don´t own the camera as yet, so I can´t)?

 

And I can confirm that the X! does it all the time….:(

Edited by elgenper
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Hi, so I re-tested again yesterday...

 

The rattling noise happens when i have it set to AF only (for some reason) and still when I move the camere where it faces different lighting conditions I here the sound (sorry im not very technical)

 

No rattling sound when the camer is in playback mode or when I have locked focus (pressing the shutter half way down). It appears to me in the most basic sense that the camera is adjusting to the different lighting conditions in my amatuer opinion.

 

Im not worried as I dont think there is anything wrong with the camera.. but it is ummm that sound is somewhat anoying.

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Hi, so I re-tested again yesterday...

 

The rattling noise happens when i have it set to AF only (for some reason) and still when I move the camere where it faces different lighting conditions I here the sound (sorry im not very technical)

 

No rattling sound when the camer is in playback mode or when I have locked focus (pressing the shutter half way down). It appears to me in the most basic sense that the camera is adjusting to the different lighting conditions in my amatuer opinion.

 

Im not worried as I dont think there is anything wrong with the camera.. but it is ummm that sound is somewhat anoying.

 

The only noise I hear in AF is the sound of the AF motor moving the focusing lens. It doesn’t sound like a rattle to me but it must be quite loud as even my deaf ears can pick it up. Naturally, there's no sound with manual focusing because the AF motor isn't operating.

 

I don’t think the exposure metering system would make any sound but you would hear the focusing sound in AF whenever you change where the camera is pointing and half press the shutter button.

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Just point the X Vario to a light source such as a lamp -- and you should hear the rattling noise, irrespective of whether the camera is set to AF or MF (as I wrote a couple of postings above...). It definitely has to do with adjusting the viewfinder brightness.

Best regards, Gerd

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  • 3 months later...

I'm not sure I would call it rattle, but my XV definitely makes some type of noise when I move the focus and zoom rings. When I'm outside I don't hear it much, but it was definitely the first thing I noticed after I turned the camera on for the first time. Moving the focus and zoom rings when the camera is off produces absolutely no noise. When it is on, it sounds like the camera is making hundreds of quick changes. Since I've never handled or seen another XV, I'm curious to know whether this is normal. Maybe I'm talking of something completely different than the OP.

 

I've only had the camera for a single day and haven't explored every possible setting combination, but it sounds to me like mrware has the right idea for what is happening.

 

All in all, AF performed better than expected when I consider how many 'bad things' I've heard. I did not encounter any issues. I just need to get that Olympus VF-2 now, I'm not used to taking pictures à la zombie.

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Ah, the classic Fuji chatter, the Sony warble, the Samsung shuffle, we now have the Leica Lombardo

 

Aperture roll is a pretty much standard with CDAF cameras these days

 

It's shouldn't be too loud though. Always worth asking a technician in a Leica store if there is one near you

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Well it's reassuring that this type of sound is to be expected. Since I've only ever used a Canon dSLR prior to the XV, I had no idea to expect this.

 

The nearest Leica dealer is about an hour away in a city I rarely visit, but if I'm there for whatever reason I might pop-in to compare it to another XV. I might also drool on a few Ms at the same time...

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First of all, all the "rattling noises" are OK -- there is nothing wrong with the camera. But it may be more complex than I had expected:

 

1) Viewfinder image: If the camera is "on" and you do nothing except for pointing the lens to different targets, there is a sound that is related to the adaptation of the aperture for the viewfinder image. That was the starting point of this thread. You can see in the viewfinder that the image gets lighter of darker depending on the target. People with very good eyes might even recognize that DOF changes -- however, I was not able to recognize this...

 

2) Focus: When the camera is off, you hear only mechanical noise when you turn the focus ring. When it is on, you hear the "working" of the step motor which (as far as I have read...) moves one small lens element. I put the lens cap on the camera when checking this so that there is no confusion with the first noise...

 

3) Zoom: In my previous post I wrote that zoom also works "by wire". Thinking this over, I am no longer sure... At least, some mechanical action is involved, because the lens changes it length when you zoom while the camera is turned "off." When I turn the camera "on," put the lens cap on the lens to avoid confusion with other "noise sources", there is more to hear than when the camera is "off." It looks like something is being moved, sometimes even with a little delay. So, either the camera just changes focus to avoid "focus shift" while zooming, or inner lens groups are moved by a step motor for zooming. Only Peter Karbe will know...

 

All in all, nothing to worry about, but this may help us in better understanding the camera (for example, why it takes a while until it is ready after being turned on).

 

Best regards, Gerd

Edited by waloszek
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First of all, all the "rattling noises" are OK -- there is nothing wrong with the camera. But it may be more complex than I had expected:

 

1) Viewfinder image: If the camera is "on" and you do nothing except for pointing the lens to different targets, there is a sound that is related to the adaptation of the aperture for the viewfinder image. That was the starting point of this thread. You can see in the viewfinder that the image gets lighter of darker depending on the target. People with very good eyes might even recognize that DOF changes -- however, I was not able to recognize this...

 

2) Focus: When the camera is off, you hear only mechanical noise when you turn the focus ring. When it is on, you hear the "working" of the step motor which (as far as I have read...) moves one small lens element. I put the lens cap on the camera when checking this so that there is no confusion with the first noise...

 

3) Zoom: In my previous post I wrote that zoom also works "by wire". Thinking this over, I am no longer sure... At least, some mechanical action is involved, because the lens changes it length when you zoom while the camera is turned "off." When I turn the camera "on," put the lens cap on the lens to avoid confusion with other "noise sources", there is more to hear than when the camera is "off." It looks like something is being moved, sometimes even with a little delay. So, either the camera just changes focus to avoid "focus shift" while zooming, or inner lens groups are moved by a step motor for zooming. Only Nils Karbe will know...

 

All in all, nothing to worry about, but this may help us in better understanding the camera (for example, why it takes a while until it is ready after being turned on).

 

Best regards, Gerd

 

The zoom is mechanical, one of the key issues I like about this camera.

The focus should not be working in S mode if the shutter is not depressed.

People have reported that the camera sometimes stays in C mode until the power is cycled.

The "chatter" should be purely the shutter.

 

As you point out, the focus is interesting. It's only the last element which is moved. Quite clever

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colonel wrote: The focus should not be working in S mode if the shutter is not depressed.

 

Right. But when I just move the focus ring (manual focus) either in S or C mode without depressing the shutter button, I can hear the focus step motor working if the camera is "on". This is not the case if the camera is "off."

Thus, this is just an indication that a step motor is involved in focusing and "working."

 

Best regards, Gerd

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