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. In the past 6 months alone, I've had three Canon L lens failures which so far has cost me over $1200. The first failure was the 24-105mm f/4 L, which had the infamous "err 01" failure, which essentially means a ribbon cable loses connection when the lens is zoomed out. While this has been a common failure with this lens among many photographers, Canon refuses to admit the problem is a manufacturing defect. The second failure was with the 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L lens, which turned out to be the same problem as with the 24-105. My third failure was with the 85mm f/1.2L II lens, which would hang up at the minimum focus distance while seeking focus.

While it certainly seems like you've had a run of bad luck - how long have you had those lenses?

I've had the 100-400 since 2001, the 24-105 about 5 years, but the 85 f/1.2 for only 2 years, which was the one that hurt when Canon quoted me $1563 to repair it. Don't get me wrong, I'm completely aware of the sophistication of today's lenses - usm, autofocus and IS all in one lens. The 100-400 has been a workhorse and a great lens. However, I don't understand the need for electronic manual focus "fly by wire" on the 85mm, unless Canon is trying to prevent users from mounting them on other systems. Just adds to the complexity of the lens, in my opinion.