Lens creep fix for Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

For lens with wide zoom range, it's not unusual that lens creep will happen sometime in its life. This phenomenon occurs as zoom ring loses friction and cannot hold the weight of the large front element. Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM is one of those lenses that have this problem.

Step 1: Material: elastic hair band

All you need is an elastic hair band. The type required for this fix is the flat one as regular rubber band is too thick. The one I use is Goody black elastics. For aesthetic, I'd suggest using black one as it blends in with the lens.

Comments

[zgear]

I agree this must be the most annoying side effect of zoom lenses. I almost sold my 28-135mm because of lens creep. I googled stop zoom creep and found a company called LensBand that makes a cheap and simple solution for unwanted lens shifting. Google their name or the phrase stop zoom creep. For $5 bucks, problem solved and looking good while doing so. Good luck!

[megaduty]

Oh man! I have needed this rig for some time now. Thanks Tkcom!

[pherbolario]

did this trick last night and worked perfectly. picked up the "goody black latex pony tail bands" at a local target. it was 75 bands for about $2.50. they are about an inch in diameter.

thanks for the great write up and fix!!! this creep was pissing me off.

[volition]

Worked like a charm, many thanks since it's been driving me crazy.

[kPOTTERartistic]

 love that lens - by far one of the least expensive of my 7 lenses and i think i'm the only person IN THE WORLD who does NOT have a creeping issue with this lens... lol... anyone know why?

[bslag.xj]

Finally got around to picking up some bands today ($2 for 75 at Walmart for anyone wondering) and just finished 'installing' one. Works perfectly. Thank you for the tip!

As for the knot question, while (like tkcom said) the band itself is too small to tie a knot, you could tie something around the band – whether it be a small piece of string or another band.

[bhunter736]

Great idea.  I'm thinking about doing this but I have a question.  Do you think the band is long enough to tie a small knot so that there is always a spot to grab and remove the band later?  Or do you think that would cause frustration with use as you would have a bump where the knot is?  Thanks. :)

[tkcom]

When I need to remove the elastic band, I usually just use fingernail to pick the band out of the groove. My elastic band (about an inch in diameter) fits really tight so I don't have room to tie any knot.

[shooby]

This looks like a really good idea.

[fultron89]

Ha! First! But a great tip. I'm just getting into DSLR's and such, and this may be useful in the future. Good 'ible, too. Short, to the point. The best way.