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Are their "good" and "bad" copies of lenses?

Started Jan 6, 2015 | Polls thread
maarensv
maarensv Senior Member • Posts: 1,106
Yes, there are

A good copy is a lens that performs like it should be. That is within specifications, which is not by definition perfect.

Than there are bad copies, lenses that perform visibly less than should.

I've had few experience with lenses that were bad, and I mean really bad. The 100-400 V1 was a complete gamble, both optically and technically. I've had a total of 5, of which I had te return 3. Two for optical reasons, one for bad AF.

Had a 70-200 f4 that had a de-centering problem. Wide open the fault was quite clear, stopping down masked that fault. At first I thought it was typical for that lens, but later copies I have used were much better.

Than there were the 55-250mm IS lenses (non-STM). Bought one for my dad and one for my brother. My dad's copy was the worst performing Canon lens I'd ever seen, the replacement was perfect (or normal as I use to say). My brother first copy was bad also, and the replacement less good than my dad's one, but good enough.

All lenses I speak of were new out of box. Latest Canon lenses seem to have less variations.

Not a typical Canon issue, as I've seen similar issues with Nikon and even worse with Pentax.

Sandor.

 maarensv's gear list:maarensv's gear list
Canon 6D Mark II Canon EOS R Olympus E-M5 III Canon EOS R7 Canon EF 100mm F2.8L Macro IS USM +22 more
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