Squeaky Canon 75-300 IS?

Long time listener first time poster! Hopefully you guys can help.

I just got my first Canon digital SLR (digital Rebel) after having used Nikon film SLRs for several years now. I picked up the 75-300 IS USM lens with it and tonight started noticing an intermittent problem with it. At least it seems like a problem. In about 1 out of 25 shots, the autofocus motor will sometimes sound like it's squeaking and slows down a little bit. Is this normal for this lens (or for Canons for that matter)? Or is it a common problem? It also doesn't seem to matter if the IS is turned on or off. I also haven't had it happen while at 300mm, just down at 75mm.

As for the camera, I generally like it. My biggest gripe so far is the AF Focus deal where you can't select AF Servo even in the "Creative" zone modes. But the Rebel is so cheap ($579 after rebate with the lens) I don't know if I can justify getting the 20D for more than 2x the price!

Anyway thanks for any advice on the lens issue. I just got the lens yesterday so hopefully they won't hassle me if I need to exchange it.

Hmm, does anyone think a dying battery can cause the above? I just put a new battery in and haven't had it happen in a hundred shots.

It could be battery problem, not having enough power to work the motor of the lens, if it has dissapeared with a new battery then wait and see.

I have this same lens, don't use it all that much, but haven't (touch wood) had that issue with it. Not my favourite lens either, especially in low light, and often in day light as well.

You can get a hack for the Rebel, which allows a lot of things that have been disabled in the camera. One place I have seen it discussed a lot is www.dpreview.com on the relevant forum. Do a search for Digital Rebel crack.

Mine never squeaked, when I had one. It stopped working in the rain once, but started working again when it dried out. The barrel turns when focusing, so that's probably the source of the squeak. You might try switching it to manual focus and turning the focusing ring to see if you can replicate the squeak. It probably isn't anything. Just a new lens breaking in.

I found I never rarely needed anything much past 100mm with my 10D and digital Rebel, and traded the 75-300 IS quite some time ago. I recall it was pretty good optically, and adequate in re: focus speed.

A low battery can cause all kinds of interesting problems, so there's a good chance that's all it is. One question, have you been manually focusing with autofocus turned on? I've heard of some Nikon owners having problems with squeaky AF motors (but this is inside the camera) from doing this.