EF 70-200 F4L IS 1st gen

jcr67 wrote:

SteveHU89 wrote:

How all this started. Long story short: bought the lens used many years ago, it's been mostly sitting in its Canon pouch for years. Finally upgraded to FF camera and noticed that lens not always focuses accurately. I believed that camera and lens need to be focus calibrated to each other, so I sent it to Canon service center.

Turns out camera is fine and the lens needs "zoom mechanism replaced" (quote from service person). They quoted a price of 400 euros for this. My jaw hit the floor. I love the lens and its output, but does it worth repairing it for 90% of its current price on the used market? How much could I sell it for? I'm completely devastated.

I had the 70-200 F4L IS version 1 and had the auto focus issue which is fairly common with this lens. Auto focus and manual focus doesn't work when lens is pointed up or down. I had to pay to have the USM system replaced. It cost $300 for the repair and I went ahead and had it done, here's why. I decided even though the resale value is pretty low now, the image quality from the lens was worth $300 as opposed to the lens being worth nothing. I made that decision based on the fact that I may never recoup that cost. So if I were you, I would make the decision to repair based on whether or not I will use the lens, not on resale value.

P.S.

I recently traded the lens through MPB and they gave me $425 credit for it. (MPB was informed of repair, I included invoice for repair work done.) With this said, I would still not count on recouping that cost.

I agree, at least that the sentimental value of the lens is priceless. When it decided to work and focus properly on subject, I got breathtaking results. Basically if I couldn't use this lens, then there would be no point for me to use FF as this is the lens I wanted to use like 99% of the time.

But I have to wonder if we are talking about the same issue ("zoom mechanism replacemen")? And if I were to pay this huge price, then would the problem or any other pricey problem come up in the future? Because if the answer is no, then I would consider paying for repair. If the answer is yes, then a sad goodbye to this lens.