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Canon L lens failures

Started Mar 4, 2015 | Discussions thread
maiaibing Veteran Member • Posts: 5,139
Re: Canon L lens failures

blogdawg wrote:

I've been a user and advocate of Canon products since 1995, recommending them many times to camera shoppers, but I'm rapidly losing faith in the quality of their L series lenses.

Not sure lack of quality or manufacturing control is the problem.

"L" lenses are well built but like all other mechanical/electrical/optical equipment they have weaknesses and may fail due to bad luck, faulty manufacturing or wear and tear.

I've been quite lucky so far but had very bad experience with Canon "Gold" service. I also find  repairs very expensive. However, our individual impressions are not very telling when it comes to failure rates etc. Some of us are lucky others not.

If you look at the stats and other info on Lensrentals' site there are certainly things Canon could do better, and - sadly - the three lenses you mention all have weak spots that are likely to fail sooner or later if you are unlucky. For example the 100-400 IS L II features several important construction improvements over the I version. While the 85L II is prone to electrical failures.

On a more general note their stats show that especially IS lenses have somewhat higher failure rates.

To consider is also that Nikon repair times in the US (according to Lensrentals) generally are longer for Nikon than for Canon.

Good luck with your choice.

 maiaibing's gear list:maiaibing's gear list
Canon EOS 5DS R Canon EF 70-200mm F2.8L IS II USM Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM Canon Extender EF 1.4x III Canon Extender EF 2x III +5 more
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