EEVblog

[@mwildish]

Although there are very complicated things. You have to remember they were not invented in a vacuum. These devices are developed over many years and iterations and each feature is added separately and so when designing this lens, most of the work has been done for the engineers in previous products. The doesn't take away from the amazing engineering but it does help to understand how something so complex seems possible for such a small price.

[@mwildish]

***** God bless our alien overlords!

[@RCTanksTrucks247]

Such beautiful engineering. We take these for granted

[@thewii552]

Always an exciting moment when a new EEVBlog video goes up!

[@hendrikhendrikson2941]

The designing that went into this relative "simple" lens is amazing! Thanks for sharing it with us Dave!

[@Ovni121]

Really cool teardown. I liked a lot that you mounted the connectors back up.

[@Entropy512]

As an FYI, there's basically no relation between the legacy Minolta A-mount and Sony's new E-mount. A-mount used SPI for lens ROM data and ??? for SSM/SAM (I believe SSM lenses had additional pins compared to legacy screwdrive lenses). E-mount uses 8N1 asynchronous serial along with a few handshaking lines. It starts at 750 kbps at init and supports speed negotiation - most native lenses negotiate up to 1.5 Mbps serial as part of the init sequence. Once initialized, the status and control loop runs at 60 Hz (at least on US bodies - I'm curious if PAL bodies run the lens control loop at 50 Hz). The body pulses BODY_VD_LENS low, which causes the lens to report two status messages, which the body answers with two command/control messages. Rinse and repeat. During an AF cycle, some messages are replaced with other ones, but it's always two in, two out from the body's perspective. Very disorganized thread at www.dpreview.com/forums/post/56133485 with information scattered all over. Dpreview does not allow posts that have replies to be edited so info is all over the place. I can't even find my pinout post and my own name is highlighted when I read the thread! At least I wrote things down more clearly when I posted some sigrok dumps which sigrok merged in - sigrok.org/gitweb/?p=sigrok-dumps.git;a=blob;f=lens_mounts/sony_emount/README;h=007c2d6d1a9df90f1d0e20b550db4f7f8523b566;hb=HEAD - They haven't yet merged my protocol decoder as it's a heavy work in progress and not even remotely ready yet. Current state is at github.com/Entropy512/libsigrokdecode/tree/emount Eventually I'm going to move the thread from dpreview to a more suitable venue that gives me more organizational flexibility (post editing after replies have been made, ability to attach files other than images) - probably Dyxum but maybe EEVblog's forums. BTW, you figured out what most of the motors were, but that big linear voice coil actuator you were feeding with a 2 Hz sinewave was almost surely the focus drive. A lot of newer lenses are using voice coil actuators for autofocus - check out lensrental.com's teardown of the Sony FE2470Z. Funny, the voice coil seems to be more firmly attached to the actual optics in the SELP1650 than it is in the FE2470Z...

[@catrationalist2771]

+Andrew Dodd We need to start a wiki on this ^.^

[@Entropy512]

+Анисимов Дмитрий When I get more time I'm probably going to be starting a thread on dyxum, since dpreview's forum is unsuitable to a research project (can't edit posts that have been replied to, threads auto-lock at 200 posts). Dyxum is one of only two places I've seen A-mount RE work happen (the other was a German forum linked to from one of the dyxum threads), so I figure it's an appropriate place for E-mount. Maybe next weekend... I wanted to spend some time doing a deeper analysis of some of the AF status/command loops first.

[@gaelc13]

With lenses, the real challenge always is in the reassembly :)

[@RealBesty]

As I’ve discovered. I was hoping to get some help with reassembling one of these..! 🙄😬

[@jeffhalebopp]

Thank you so much for taking the time for this tear down! Man that is a complicated piece of kit. And this is just a standard slow lens from the lower line.

[@rickyarmentrout8678]

Took mine apart because it was dropped and would not be recognized when attached. You could hear the motor trying to move but was locked in position. The top ring around 1st inner sleeve was popped out of position. Tore it all the way down as in your video. Got it all put back together in about 3 hours of trial and error and examination. Wish I had watched this first, would have been a bit faster, Fun little puzzle! All is now well with full functionality restored. Amazing engineering, thank you Sony!

[@GetOutsideYourself]

What a marvel of engineering. If such a cheap and simple little lens can be so complex, imagine what a premium lens would look like inside. Thanks for posting.

[@GetOutsideYourself]

Interesting. I wish Sony and Zeiss would donate a few lenses to this guy for our amusement and education.

[@nikitanugent7165]

I've repaired this lens for my camera. The camera fell while the lens was out, knocking something out of its track. I eventually managed to disassemble and reassemble the lens, and now it works a treat!

[@extansegura]

put it back together!

[@ridonculous8374]

in timelapse

[@rich1051414]

+Santiago Segura I had a nikon lens fail on me(Nikon AF-S DX 55-300mm), so I thought I would open it up to see if I could spot the issue, and HOLY SHIT, I didn't know what I was getting in to. I did manage to find the issue(flat flex came disconnected), and get it all back together, but it never worked again. Wasn't surprised, the thing was layer after layer of paper thin fragile stages, and I probably breathed on it too hard, or misaligned something :P Not opening up that can of worms again tho.

[@Rusiputki]

Impossibru

[@theadventuresofjoelandjami7694]

Nope . . . I put mine back together, and with the optics working. Sadly the camera still doesn't recognised the lens, I must have a dead board or damaged cable

[@MacoveiVlad]

at 22:55 while taking photos the steady shot was also doing "micro" movements. But the camera in the background does not appear to move when pressing the shutter button.

[@Psychlist1972]

I'm always amazed at the mechanical complexity of these things.

[@electronicsNmore]

A lot of engineering goes into these lenses.

[@Graham_Langley]

I'd recommend an ice cube tray for keeping screws and the like in order if you intend putting something back together.

[@freibier]

Fascinating to see the image stabilization at work. It's one thing to know how it works in theory, but completely different to actually SEE it in action :-) Hope you cleaned out the sand and successfully put the lens back together again!

[@TheRealUyi]

its amazing something this complex and precision can be mass produced for so little money. crazy. never seen image stabilization working like that before. very cool, thanks

[@JoRosieQueen68]

This seems like an awesome teardown you've got there Dave Jones,great to see somethink of this kind,you don't really see these kinds of teardowns of camera lends.

[@jorno1994]

"welcome to a hopefully short teardown" 26 minutes later... :P

[@EEVblog]

+jorno1994 At least I'm consistent

[@thcoura]

+jorno1994 HAHAHAHHA True story

[@FortyTwoAnswerToEverything]

+EEVblog I hate short videos. Thank you for making them at least half a film length.

[@themaconeau]

+jorno1994 Actually, that IS the short format :D

[@kainhall]

+EEVblog dont get us wrong... we LIKE long vids! some of us go to sleep with something playing in the background..... not saying you put me to sleep, but long videos that i dont have to change before i actually do fall asleep!

[@808GT]

Fascinating piece of everyday engineering. Just makes you appreciate the workmanship on these things. Thanks for the great video!

[@LazerLord10]

Yeah, this is why lenses are so expensive. You don't only need to worry about the fancy optics, but how to get all the stuff in one small package that works.

[@richfiles]

+LazerLord10 And to think... This is supposed to be a relatively "cheap" lens!

[@LazerLord10]

richfiles Well, a cheap lens is $100-$200. I guess that's why the term 'relative' is used.

[@LazerLord10]

***** Camera stuff is just generally expensive, though.

[@EEVblog]

+simontay1984 In the world of lenses this is certainly a "cheap" "kit lens".

[@tonyman1106]

+EEVblog A good Canon or Nikon lens will run 1000+

[@DPets]

I was always looking for a lens disassembly video! Thanks for sharing it with us, Dave!

[@lwfeagan]

Great teardown Dave. I loved seeing the gutted lens working the steady shot hardware.

[@RealationGames]

What boggles my mind is how cheap and under appreciated these devices are. Even I had no idea the lens is so complex in design.

[@AlTheEngineer]

What a beautiful piece of engineering! Wow just wow, it's really something else! This is SO well engineered, it's ART!

[@louabney]

Cool, I recently bought a Sony A6000 kit with exactly this lens

[@RoyHess666]

Thank you so much Dave, for this camera lens teardown. I always wanted to know what's inside :) Due to the lack of non funct. lens, I never had the opportunity :)

[@redtails]

The lens design itself (glass, elements, coating, groups) is for most lenses decades old. Designing plastic and placing motors isn't difficult either. The true art is in making it small ;)

[@PilotPlater]

Took apart my canon 18-55 kit lens not long ago cause two of the plastic iris shutters fell out. Got it fixed. Wasn't as brave as Dave to go poking around and powering it up when it's apart though!

[@eatonwebdesigns]

It's great that technology is still being poured into the art of still photography.

[@zhuzhu262526]

SONY always has amazing technology!

[@JoRosieQueen68]

+朱宇喆 THAT IS GREAT JAPANESE ENGINEERING!!!

[@redtails]

+JosephKing75 CBP Made in Taiwan ;)

[@JoRosieQueen68]

***** Well,that's the place of fabrication,but it is designed in Japan...I guess XD

[@danev1969]

I' sending out a link of this to my photo club. This was great class on what is behind what we take for granted.

[@PlasmaHH]

If you ever wanted to have a detailed look into the higher end dslr lenses, the lens rentals blog has quite some nice teardowns and other photography goodies that they look in detail into

[@nicolasguillaume2264]

nice that someone did open the lens instead of me ;) Amazing engineering. Thanks for the share

[@itechflagstaff]

Wow! looks like this video is getting a lot of traction. I've seen it on at least three photography sites today. Good work Dave.

[@AdrianCiubotariu]

I love how you get excited about the engineering involved! I share in the sentiment :D

[@rationalmartian]

That is a work of art. Quite incredible what we can manage these days, and the levels of accuracy achievable. Wish my old fella was still alive. He would be simply blown the fuck away watching this. Nice one Dave.

[@anthonyptak8650]

The probe techniques for motor testing really next level

[@DeluxeEclipse]

I love these teardown videos

[@unfa00]

12:35 - my brain has gone crazy trying to figure out the geometry of what I was looking at in this part.

[@Vikingdescendent]

Great info, thx. At the 2:43 mark, the ring with the contacts you're removing is what I need to repair my EP Z 18 - 105mm G lens Model # SELP18105G. Any idea where I can purchase this part?

[@markbell9742]

Fantastic teardown!!! I will not look at (through) my lenses the same way. Cheers, Mark ******************************

[@AndyLifeInVideo]

Wild to see what all goes on in even just the kit lenses!

[@mdkooter]

high res captures were helpful, although it's not really a step by step guide like other videos. However those videos for instructions and your video for image detail/clarity have helped me fix my lens! thanks!

[@dca24100]

I have the a6000. These cameras are something! Thanks for the teardown video!

[@ElliottVeares]

+EEVBlog "3:54" Is there only the one motor on the Top here; Dave You need at least two motors for Focus and Aperture, then you got the zoom motor if it has automatic zoom, then possibly more for any OIS.

[@hdhostPL]

First interesting teardown in a long time...

[@ToTheGAMES]

As complex this is, what really baffles my mind is designing a computer processor, the complexity seems almost ungraspable. Same for graphics processors, FPGA's, SoC's etc.

[@DC177E]

Exactly my thought as well.

[@Stars-Mine]

+To The GAMES its mostly a few blocks repeated 100s or 1000s of times.

[@niwasox3]

+To The GAMES Processors are actually fairly modular and the design process can be partially automated with stuff like Verilog. What amazes me here is the packaging, fitting all the mechanics on a small number of movable parts and into the case.

[@aserta]

+To The GAMES You need to think of it as a grid. Each element is a unit designed and multiplied. I suggest you have a read on the old processor units, the "ancient" ones. It helps give you a backwards perspective.

[@lwfeagan]

As someone who has designed a few CPUs and FPGAs, I still feel that the ingenuity that goes into creating a lens such as this one is more impressive. Getting the optical, mechanical, and electrical systems integrated and packaged in such a neat and compact way is truly wizardry.

[@unrealii]

Love the view of it working while disassembled 👍

[@mitropoulosilias]

Yes the design is state of art!!! I imagine some guys designing all these small parts to fit each other..

[@mduvigneaud]

Dave, very awesome! I "knew" how lenses were made and assembled and how they worked...but I never dared to take one of my lenses apart to actually SEE the parts! Thank you very much for sharing this. Now I actually know more! :D

[@jeremyhall7259]

Love when a new video goes up.

[@MrClaudiodonate]

Awesome video, what a beautiful piece of engineering.

[@ShyuLee]

Just got the SONY A6300 with the same lens. Like you said it does not bring the best performance, but your video is definitely showing the engineering efforts on such thing!

[@ThorstenSkinnie]

I am glad that I was able to resist the temptation to tear down my own SELP1650 so far...

[@EEVblog]

+Thorsten Schütz Yeah, it's a bit tricky. There might be some leftover bits :->

[@richfiles]

+EEVblog Just put it together, take it apart, repeat till you have two of them! :P If only...

[@ziginox]

That element that moves at the rear with the linear actuator is the focus, Dave. Fascinating seeing what's inside something I use quite often. Did you ever get it back in one piece?

[@strangersound]

"Hopefully short"?!?! I would be seriously bummed. No joke. - Awesome teardown, Dave! :)

[@MrElectronicFan]

You make amazing videos man! This is the best video channel about technical stuff i ever found. I hope you keep on with recording videos for many years. Im not realy good in english but i understand you very well ...Maybe because its realy interesting ...Thanks for your videos and best regards from Germany ;)

[@EEVblog]

+Harry 123 Thanks, appreciated. I like making them.

[@RhoCressman]

This made me feel like I was watching an amateur eye surgeon at work! Great vid, bud.

[@Cr3ePiO]

Hi Dave, if you ever have to demonstrate the aperture moving again, you can do it easily by putting the camera into manual mode "M" and adjusting the f stop value. Thanks for the great videos!

[@MichaelBruceTaos]

One of the coolest tear downs! I actually bought that lens and sent it back for lack of quality.. but man, the technology is amazing. Obviously it could use some weather sealing and well, bigger glass ;)

[@SKazclaw]

Great breakdown. I use the e-mount system so it's good to know, especially if I decide to take it apart.

[@Veptis]

I have designed and printed a lens for my thermal camera all by myself, it's far from perfect. But it is really complex

[@zacherynuk842]

That is staggering. The first half was so so, and I was sad you weren't going for a fix job. but ... WOW. That is amazing tech.

[@antonyj1651]

12:40 is it possible to take the front out with a divider by turning it? I need to remove condensation behind the front glass

[@stevey500]

Great lens, favorite kit lens I've ever had come with a camera. Usually they are total junk. Optics and functionality of this lens are very acceptable.

[@mrbluenun]

Hi, Great video showing just how complicated an auto focus anti shake lens is.

[@PrimiusLovin]

If it's this complicated of a mechanism for what seems to be a 2-3 group lens, I can only imagine what one of those 16 groups/21 element lenses looks like once taken apart!!

[@AmRadPodcast]

How do the mirrorless cameras hold up for youtube videos? My Canon vixia optics are junk. Thinking of switching to DSLR or one of these mirrorless jobbies if they're any good.

[@KennethScharf]

Neat, two voice coils driving the steady shot lens.

[@takebox4409]

thanks for the good focus video... sharp and clear.

[@horacegrimsby2870]

CRAZY GOOD VIDEO!! Thanks for making it!

[@jasonhill2180]

Excellent video, really enjoyed this one!

[@gvii]

Well, I'm way late to the party here. But I wanted to say thanks. I have a few Sony cameras. One has sensor stabilization, and another is a slightly earlier version of this very camera. I was amazed at just how much more effective the optical stabilization is over the sensor stabilization, and it was absolutely killing me to see how exactly it functions. But obviously, I would prefer my 200 dollar lens stay functional. That was absolutely awesome to see, especially in action. So thanks for sacrificing your lens, that completely satisfied my curiosity. The engineering in there on every level is just amazing.

[@ZoomyZoom77]

Dave, the "can't connect to lens" is a common issue on the emounts, I own one. Some people recommended cleaning the contacts on the lens and camera with an eraser.

[@Kitsune-Moriko]

That really helped in a funny way thanks man. I am repairing one for the first time for a friend and had stripped it down before i saw this video. I took the whole thing apart even front of lense and then realised I had two very small butterfly springs that I had no idea where they came from. Since you didn't have them in this video I knew they were from the front of the lense. I tell you though, putting the sliding mechanism back together is a pain in the ass :D

[@dayone1992]

awesome video, i've always been wondering what's it look like inside a lens.

[@AgnostosGnostos]

Well made video... The selp1650 is an amazing lens for its price. Power zoom, auto focus and stabilization in one light and small package. Of course to achieve all these the Sony had made the optics two small in relation to the size of the lens. That results to soft photos and at short focal lengths 16mm - 20mm, vignetting, typical barrel distortion, chromatic aberration. At long focal lengths 40mm - 50mm the lens the problems are minimal and is quite excellent for its price. The lens if bought separately isn't cheap, around 350$ from US Amazon. Like most kit lenses cost nothing if are included with the camera body. I am happy that actually the lens is operational after the disassembly. The bad with modern lenses is that if electronics fail are useless. They don't have aperture ring and are focusing by wire. The focus ring doesn't mechanically focus the lens. An expensive exception are the true german Zeiss and Leica lenses. The inside of the lens didn't have any sand particles

[@madmarty7103]

Cool video. I really like this lens even if most people don't. It's so compact and 16mm is great in a kit-lens.

[@DiegoSpinola]

Wild guess before watching: The jammed assembly was causing a reset due to overcurrent in the camera-lens pmic which would cut supply to the lens and break communication (thus the comm error)

[@DIYTAO]

Autofocus motor, zoom motor, Image stabilization coils, Iris control+ numerous inputs ... Apparently zoom motor also retracts/extends the lens system. Quite a lot stuff even on relatively small lens.

[@iglyduckling]

Wow it's amazing that Sony teams put that much engineering and awesome design into such a cheap kit lens, one thing I found after watching this video though, there is no sealing and dust and moisture reduction in this lens, you can see the inside part can extend out without any sealing, this is why I'm not a big fan of zoom lens because after a few trips in the wild, it sucks in good amount of dust :( Thanks for a great video!

[@S95Sedan]

The wide ribbon cable is probably for the stabilizer, other ones for the motor and the diaphragm. Pretty standard design, though i'm more of a fan of canon lenses. They are much easier to service and parts are more readily available. Also watch out you dont take out any eccentric pins. The glass will be out of alignment after that if you dont put them back in the exact way and the lens will have chromatic aberration.

[@reburne2012]

The design and implementation IS Incredible ..Amazing and astonishing..Like most contemporary Engineering it is Evolutionary..rather than new design..Mechanical complexities and intricacies have long since been eclipsed by Electronic examples ..Dave is somewhat desensitised to the Magic contained in those BGA devices....

[@EEVblog]

+reburne Yep, all too often it's "just basic engineering" to me.

[@krisztianszirtes5414]

So what are the motors for? The big one at the back: Zoom The small one on the second level: Focus controller The two on the third which you thought to be one: 2-axis stabilizer

[@bluephreakr]

6:30 Very elite.

[@verdatum]

Conceptually, the current concept of mirrorless cameras is a genuinely good idea. It really is. As a photo-geek, I really want to love it. But Jeez, for now, there are so many little problems with it, and they all prevent me from switching over to promise of lighter cheaper lenses and the potential for massively farther focal lengths when using the old lenses. It'll get better in the future, but I really hate that I have to wait in these situations where technology is not the long pole in the tent.

[@timmgiles]

Nice job Dave, helps to show what the money is being used for when buying these lenses with autofocus, optical stabilisation.

[@turboslag]

The mechanism for extending the lens is called cam drive. There should be 3 motors, to drive focus, focal length (zoom) and iris (aperture) Although this seems to be a complex mech, it is nothing compared to old school manual lenses from the pre digital era film cameras.

[@stonail665]

a neat teardown. big like

[@kunalchanda4854]

Wonderful. Such a great engineering.. Totally amazed 😲👏😍

[@FennecTECH]

@eevblog it looks like your teardown was non damaging did you try to put it back toghther? it looks like it worked after you took it apart

[@HyroDaily]

I would like to see more camera teardowns. I'm poor though, sooo it will be awhile before I send you my Pentax. thanks for the videos, I have loads of fun watching! Always wanted to see the image stabilization. Is there a method to give two thumbs up?

[@cyrex686]

No surprise he couldn't get it back together. It takes hours of fiddlyness and luck to do that. I managed to fix my EF 18-55 kit lens with a broken AF gear, but had to make a custom tool to do it. Syncing the gears and various lens elements is a nightmare. I also managed to convert a Sigma SA mount lens into a Canon EF mount lens. They use the same electrical protocol, just different mechanical mount, so I made a new ef mount out of a m42-EF ring adapter.

[@computergarage-australia2301]

You are brave Dave

[@RPG_ash]

Very cool video. Thanks for sharing.

[@andywood2012]

Fantastic to see things we would never be able too unless someone like yourself decides to be brave.

[@GoldSrc_]

Beautiful engineering, now Imagine designing this without computers. Seeing that steady shot mechanism in action was amazing.

[@pcb1962]

+Gordon Freeman Even imagining designing it with computers is pretty mind-blowing. A computer program that can simulate the movement and interaction of those parts is as awesome as the product itself to me.

[@antsgamingvideosn2b]

I had the error about the lens not communicating with the lens with my NEX-6. Sony's service provider replaced the optics block on mine.