EF 24-105 f 4.0 L IS mean time before failure?

Are they any known numbers to rate that lens, given the number of shots taken with it? Mine has taken approx. 20,000 images. What would that number suggest in regard to the IS device life, AF life, or any component known to fail? Thanks for you input!

alpshiker said:

Are they any known numbers to rate that lens, given the number of shots taken with it? Mine has taken approx. 20,000 images. What would that number suggest in regard to the IS device life, AF life, or any component known to fail? Thanks for you input!

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You'll never get a meaningful figure for this. Apart from the fact that Canon would never release one, the amount of wear and tear per shot for an IS unit will depend on how it's used - a lot of half-pressing while composing shots but only occasionally taking the shot will result in just as much wear and tear as firing the shutter in continuous mode for a similar period of time. So per shot the wear and tear is very different. Much the same applies to AF.

What I can say is that people are usually very quick to report (= complain about!) problems here, but we rarely see any mention of IS or AF issues with the 24-105.

Thanks for your analysis, Steve, of course very relevant! I'm trying to figure the mechanical condition of that lens in order to fix a resale value, a newer sample having come into my hands. The outside look is perfect, but I wouldn't want to sell an almost worn out lens for what it's look suggests. So from experience, that 4 years old lens used in "normal shooting conditions by a normal photographer" if such notion exists, should still have plenty of reserves?

FWIW three of my friends own the 24-105mm. Two of them have experienced the same intermittent "error 01" fault linked to the aperture unit failing. seems to be a relatively common issue for this lens, e.g.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1029&message=28626615&q=24105+error&qf=m

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1029&message=40711345

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1029&message=36104926

http://www.flickr.com/groups/canon24-105/discuss/72157624859596530/

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=30218.0

http://blog.photo3.co.uk/2011/06/canon-5dii-24-105-lens-error-01.html

alpshiker said:

Thanks for your analysis, Steve, of course very relevant! I'm trying to figure the mechanical condition of that lens in order to fix a resale value, a newer sample having come into my hands. The outside look is perfect, but I wouldn't want to sell an almost worn out lens for what it's look suggests. So from experience, that 4 years old lens used in "normal shooting conditions by a normal photographer" if such notion exists, should still have plenty of reserves?

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I'm sticking by what I said - based on what we see in this forum, this lens is not prone to problems. If you scour the entire internet as far back as 2008 (the date of your first link) you are sure to find something. That doesn't mean problems are common.

JohnMatrix said:

FWIW three of my friends own the 24-105mm. Two of them have experienced the same intermittent "error 01" fault linked to the aperture unit failing. seems to be a relatively common issue for this lens, e.g.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1029&message=28626615&q=24105+error&qf=m

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1029&message=40711345

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1029&message=36104926

http://www.flickr.com/groups/canon24-105/discuss/72157624859596530/

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=30218.0

http://blog.photo3.co.uk/2011/06/canon-5dii-24-105-lens-error-01.html

alpshiker said:

Thanks for your analysis, Steve, of course very relevant! I'm trying to figure the mechanical condition of that lens in order to fix a resale value, a newer sample having come into my hands. The outside look is perfect, but I wouldn't want to sell an almost worn out lens for what it's look suggests. So from experience, that 4 years old lens used in "normal shooting conditions by a normal photographer" if such notion exists, should still have plenty of reserves?

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Thanks for those interesting links, John. So, the weak point is not what I thought, but something else. It looks like the samples affected were for the most built before 2008?

JohnMatrix said:

FWIW three of my friends own the 24-105mm. Two of them have experienced the same intermittent "error 01" fault linked to the aperture unit failing. seems to be a relatively common issue for this lens, e.g.

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Its the cable ribbon that connects the aperture ring to the base of the lens that eventually cracks up as it continually flexes with the lens zooming, mine failed after approx 80.000 shots ; it was fixed cleaned and serviced by an exceptional photo engineer for £140 including parts all in.

the aperture ring and the connecting cable ribbon come from Canon as one component.
the lens is as good as new now....

alpshiker said:

Are they any known numbers to rate that lens, given the number of shots taken with it? Mine has taken approx. 20,000 images. What would that number suggest in regard to the IS device life, AF life, or any component known to fail? Thanks for you input!

Click to expand...

The only weakness of this lens that has shown up so far is the aperture contoller ribbon cable. It is constantly flexing as the lens is zoomed and the conductive strands break down. They seem to fail around the 30-40K exposure mark but it really depends upon the amount of zooming the lens has done rather than the number of exposures. It is usual to replace the aperture power diaphram at the same time as the cable because one end of the cable is soldered to the aperture control unit.

It is important to have the repair done by a professional repairer as it requires removal of two assemblies that require subsequent alignment - one via shims and one via concentric adjusting screws. Also, it is easy to get fingerprints on glass elements which are very hard to remove. So it is advisable to take test photos prior to sending to a repairer so that post repair photos can be compared to ensure the lens has been properly reassembled. Costs should range from £100 to £150.

Other potential failure points are the IS system, the main PCB and the USM motor but so far these have not shown up as common failures.

Also depends on how you handle your lens and the environment. Heat will degrade the ribbon cables and make them brittle in due time. High humidity will also affect the life of a lens.

is the 24-105 lens the only zoom lens suffering from cable ribbon breakdowns or do all zoom lenses that function similarly show similar breakdowns?
--
Alex

waalxspie said:

is the 24-105 lens the only zoom lens suffering from cable ribbon breakdowns or do all zoom lenses that function similarly show similar breakdowns?
--
Alex

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The kit lens that comes with the lesser EF-S mount cameras suffers from this premature failure too. Other zooms do not seem to suffer from it.