Canon won't repair my 135L! Other options?

I have had a couple of repairs done by Perfect Image Camera in Pennsylvania and they did good work and prices were reasonable. I am not sure they can do it, but it's worth a try.

Well, you say it is still sharp and you could keep using it. Why don’t you just do that? I have one too, and it’s a great lens. If the damage in question is “cosmetic” why pay money to fix it?

You could also see what MPB or KEH would give for it, wobble and all, and then buy a more satisfactory used one. They seem to be readily available and not too expensive.

Used to be available refurbished from Canon for $800 but it hasn’t been in stock there for months.

Wow, pretty shocking.  EF is dieing faster than I thought.

I use an independent in Ontario.  There do appear to be a few in Halifax and Dartmouth.

John Crowe wrote:

Wow, pretty shocking. EF is dieing faster than I thought

There is nothing shocking on a fact that Canon does not supply parts for 26 years old product. It is more than understandable.

I use an independent in Ontario. There do appear to be a few in Halifax and Dartmouth.

The 135/2 L was manufactured and sold by Canon until recently.  It has been said that Canon supports lenses for five years after manufacturing stops.  Obviously this is not the case.

I went to Canon's site and it is crazy what lenses are gone already.

John Crowe wrote:

The 135/2 L was manufactured and sold by Canon until recently. It has been said that Canon supports lenses for five years after manufacturing stops. Obviously this is not the case.

I went to Canon's site and it is crazy what lenses are gone already.

Actual manufacturing of the 135L may have stopped long ago.

Why is it crazy that Canon is slowly winding down the EF line?

bodeswell wrote:

John Crowe wrote:

The 135/2 L was manufactured and sold by Canon until recently. It has been said that Canon supports lenses for five years after manufacturing stops. Obviously this is not the case.

I went to Canon's site and it is crazy what lenses are gone already.

Actual manufacturing of the 135L may have stopped long ago.

Why is it crazy that Canon is slowly winding down the EF line?

This I would understand if Canon already had a broad differentiated lines of RF lenses - basic, enthusiastic and pro zooms, same for lineups of primes. But RF lenses are still lacking A LOT!

It may have been discontinued within the past two years, but not five!

I see a lot of lenses were discontinued by early 2022.

This is happening very fast!  As the other poster mentioned, virtually none of these discontinued lenses have RF alternatives.

Here, you are very right.  Canon is not handling the transition well, especially since in these tough times their release of RF lenses will be extremely slow.

Canon_Guy wrote:

bodeswell wrote:

John Crowe wrote:

The 135/2 L was manufactured and sold by Canon until recently. It has been said that Canon supports lenses for five years after manufacturing stops. Obviously this is not the case.

I went to Canon's site and it is crazy what lenses are gone already.

Actual manufacturing of the 135L may have stopped long ago.

Why is it crazy that Canon is slowly winding down the EF line?

This I would understand if Canon already had a broad differentiated lines of RF lenses - basic, enthusiastic and pro zooms, same for lineups of primes. But RF lenses are still lacking A LOT!

They seem to have plenty of zooms basic, enthusiast and pro to me. As for primes, the only thing I am missing is a 135. It will come. Until then I will use my EF 135.

Should we prefer that they make the delivery of new RF product take even longer by making EF product that probably doesn’t have that much of a “new” market any more? All of that stuff is available used and will continue to be for some time.

John Crowe wrote:

It may have been discontinued within the past two years, but not five!

My point is that we don’t know how long ago they stopped manufacturing the EF 135. I, like lots of people, like the EF 135 lens. But I don’t think it was a best seller for Canon. I suspect that the cool kids just use 70-200 zooms to get their 135mm kicks.

I see a lot of lenses were discontinued by early 2022.

This is happening very fast! As the other poster mentioned, virtually none of these discontinued lenses have RF alternatives.

But they will. In any case, really popular lenses like the EF 100-400 L are still available new and many EF lenses are available used. Also, “virtually none” is an overstatement.

They have handled the transition a lot more considerately than they handled the FD transition. But it has been obvious that a transition was underway ever since they announced the new mount.

I don't think manufacturing EF lenses would slow down RF introductions.  They just need to make a commitment to RF introductions, which they have not.  There is still a huge market for EF lenses.

What I find more disturbing is that Canon has bailed on servicing EF lenses so quickly.  Perhaps this strategy better explains why they want to halt EF lens production asap.  One of the key reasons people buy the latest $5000 plus EF lenses is that they think they will be serviceable for five years or more.  Obviously this may not be the case, so effectively Canon is shooting themselves in the foot by suspending service.

John Crowe wrote:

I don't think manufacturing EF lenses would slow down RF introductions.

Without a reliable data about all the production cycle we can not guess anything. Or rather we can guess anything but the reliability is simple zero. What you wrote might be true very much the same as it does not have to be true.

They just need to make a commitment to RF introductions, which they have not.

Yeap.

There is still a huge market for EF lenses.

Especially for the third party ones, since Canon lacks so many RF mount lenses (FF and primarily crop).

What I find more disturbing is that Canon has bailed on servicing EF lenses so quickly. Perhaps this strategy better explains why they want to halt EF lens production asap. One of the key reasons people buy the latest $5000 plus EF lenses is that they think they will be serviceable for five years or more. Obviously this may not be the case, so effectively Canon is shooting themselves in the foot by suspending service.

Being shot to one leg resembles that Canon will be in a very serious existential troubles very soon. Which is of course not gonna happen.

John Crowe wrote:

I don't think manufacturing EF lenses would slow down RF introductions. They just need to make a commitment to RF introductions, which they have not.

Not sure I follow. They have been announcing new lenses steadily. It’s shipments, I think, that people want. Announcements are just words.

There is still a huge market for EF lenses.

Especially used.

What I find more disturbing is that Canon has bailed on servicing EF lenses so quickly.

I think you are maybe jumping to conclusions based on one 135L that they didn’t have a part for.

Perhaps this strategy better explains why they want to halt EF lens production asap. One of the key reasons people buy the latest $5000 plus EF lenses is that they think they will be serviceable for five years or more. Obviously this may not be the case, so effectively Canon is shooting themselves in the foot by suspending service.

Once again, you are making a big extrapolation from one 135 to “suspending service”.

This lens has been in production for over 20 years.  If they don't have parts for this relatively simple lens, then I doubt they'll have parts for much else.  Only four years after releasing the R, and they can't service one of their longest running core EF lenses?  Not impressed.