Canon Aluminum vs. Titanium Mount

[Paul Schneider]

I have a Scarlet with both an Aluminum Canon mount and the Ti PL mount.
I've noticed that there is quite a bit of flex in the AL mount when focusing on more substantial manual lenses. In my case it's a set of modified Contax Zeiss, however I would assume its the same with current Zeiss, older Leica's etc. For tight shots, the flex is enough to cause movement in the beginning of the focus, even when moving the focus ring by hand.

My question is how much stiffer and more substantial is the Ti Mount? Anyone compared both. My Ti Pl is a beast, but a different beast all together given the size and scale of the mounts on the lenses themselves.

[Uli Plank]

I don't own those lenses, but a Canon Ti mount. I can see some minor movement when focusing Canon lenses by hand, and since the mount is really perfect, I blame the lenses. They are not built like cine primes…

[Gavin Greenwalt]

What kind of movement? Breathing or flexing?

[Dave Blackham]

The mount on 5D's and 1DX seems to be perfectly ok, that's not to say it can't be improved. I do like the Ti mount but not the price. I use an Ai mount recentl and it seemed perfectly Ok. I'd be more worried about the lens build quality though.

[Uli Plank]

Flexing, there's always some breathing anyway. AFAIK, lenses for AF need to be built to looser tolerances so it's not too hard for the tiny motors to control them.

[Paul Schneider]

I don't own those lenses, but a Canon Ti mount. I can see some minor movement when focusing Canon lenses by hand, and since the mount is really perfect, I blame the lenses. They are not built like cine primes…

I agree the canon mounts on stills lenses aren't built as robust as the cine versions. That said, I was just wondering if the Ti Mount would alleviate any of the flex vs. the Aluminum one? The mounts on my contax lenses are screwed on, and are essentially the same strength as any canon lens... for better or worse.

[Will Keir]

What does "breathing" look like?

Flexing, there's always some breathing anyway. AFAIK, lenses for AF need to be built to looser tolerances so it's not too hard for the tiny motors to control them.

[SeanBrown]

Breathing is when you change focus and the image seems to zoom a bit.

[Vance Colvig]

I don't know about the aluminum Canon mount, however the Ti Canon mount has a locking ring which is snugged up after the lens clicks in to the detent. Turning the ring clockwise as seen from the front of the camera seats the lens and denies any axial rotation of the lens. Rotate the ring ccw and press the "lens lock button" and the lens can be removed. If the ring is not snugged, the lens can rotate a small amount due to the clearance between the locking pin and slot in the lens flange. The Ti mount is a thing of beauty in both design and finish. Hope it helps.

[Paul Schneider]

I don't know about the aluminum Canon mount, however the Ti Canon mount has a locking ring which is snugged up after the lens clicks in to the detent. Turning the ring clockwise as seen from the front of the camera seats the lens and denies any axial rotation of the lens. Rotate the ring ccw and press the "lens lock button" and the lens can be removed. If the ring is not snugged, the lens can rotate a small amount due to the clearance between the locking pin and slot in the lens flange. The Ti mount is a thing of beauty in both design and finish. Hope it helps.

The Aluminum mount has the same locking ring feature, tho very stiff I presume its not as robust as the Ti Mount. I also own a Ti PL and its very stiff, which is essentially why I'm asking in the first place.

For the foks asking about breathing or flex...I'm talking flex here...at the mounting point. Not a lot, but you don't red a lot at the beginning of aa telephoto shot to making it discouraging.