LEICA SL PRIME LENSES FOCUS MOTOR NOISE

[LocalHero1953]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Not all Apo Summicron primes are noisy. Mine (35, 75, 90) are not. I never notice noise in use. I have tried to listen for it, without success. I occasionally hear a faint buzz. Certainly nothing that interferes with video.

Edited March 10, 2023 by LocalHero1953

[gabrielaszalos]

It’s interesting that most people say they are noisy. As I was ready to accept this fact, Leica asked me to return my lens after hearing the recorded sound clip (also attached in an earlier post in this thread) in order to replace the lens. I have asked them to compare it to the new one they want to send. 

I will post updates here. 

[opera207]

2 hours ago, davidmknoble said:

I think that statement is overreaching a little bit.  My SL primes are not noisy.  Some are saying they are noisy on other cameras and I think the noise relates to constant moving, not just spot focusing.  The motors are good and I’d rather have a little noise and absolute reliability, than silent and breaking down.  The S lenses went through the whole motor replacement which is a nightmare for any that had to do it.

There is a big difference in how the camera drives the focus.  I think it is more fair to say the lens can have a noisy focus.  Then again, if we want silent focus, either focus manually and mount an M-lens… 

Whether they are noisy or not depends on the comparison, maybe they are quieter than worse lenses, but other L mount lenses, such as the much cheaper panasonic f1.8 prime lenses, are almost no sound, whether taking pictures or taking videos. 

The sound of these sl apo prime lenses is very annoying when shooting video with AF.

[OleBe]

If they manage to lock focus in AF-S instantly it is okay, but if they are doing a full passthrough and cannot lock they are producing this noise. No prefocus is enabled...Useless for video unless turning to manual focus. 

[davidmknoble]

12 hours ago, opera207 said:

Whether they are noisy or not depends on the comparison, maybe they are quieter than worse lenses, but other L mount lenses, such as the much cheaper panasonic f1.8 prime lenses, are almost no sound, whether taking pictures or taking videos. 

The sound of these sl apo prime lenses is very annoying when shooting video with AF.

I don’t shoot video, so I can understand you would be more sensitive to noise, and the AF hunts all the time, which is why I use MF.  But like I said, I don’t shoot video so I’m sure my baseline is less sensitive than yours…