topic Re: 16mm-35mm f/2.8L mark II problem in EF & RF Lenses

EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM not working with EOS R5

aox — Sat, 19 Apr 2025 14:11:31 GMT

Hi,

I've had a 16-35L parked on my 6Dm1 for eight years. It's an incredible lens that has never failed me and I take care of my gear despite its proven durability. I've taken hundreds of thousands of frames with this lens all over the world in all conditions (besides severe cold). The contact pins are IMO pristine:

They are not bent and there is absolutely no gunk or goo on any of them. I bought a R5 this week and keep getting the Eror 01 notification. I have both the Canon EF-R mount and a Viltrox 3rd party EF-R mount. Regardless of the mount, I still get the error on both of them, and even before I turn the camera on, the motor in the lens is going nuts once I screw it onto the mount. My other five lenses work perfectly with both mounts on the R5. Sometimes after using a different lens for a while, I can sneak the 16-35 onto the R5 and it will work for a short undetermined time before it goes back to Eror 01 and the motor begins going nuts again (for the brief time it works on the R5, it works perfectly). I placed the 16-35 back onto my 6D and a 60D, and it works just fine with no issues on both bodies. I have certainly used a wet dry cloth and rubbed down the pins. Why is my new R5 rejecting this lens?

I've never had lens problems so I am not sure what to do here or if there is some trick I am missing in my Google search. Do I need to get this serviced? I assume there is a decent place in NYC so I don't have to mail this in? Is there anything I am missing?

Thanks for your help or advice in advance.

Re: 16mm-35mm f/2.8L mark II problem

kvbarkley — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 14:19:31 GMT

Call Canon. The support staff has access to a *lot* of canon hardware and might be able to try to recreate your issue in real time.

1 (800) 652-2666

Have you tried it with another lens?

Re: 16mm-35mm f/2.8L mark II problem

aox — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 14:22:36 GMT

Yes, my other five lenses work just fine on the R5. And the 16-35 works just fine on a 6Dm1 and 60D. Thanks for the number.

Re: 16mm-35mm f/2.8L mark II problem

ebiggs1 — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 14:26:33 GMT

"I've had a 16-35L parked on my 6Dm1 for eight years."

This is one of those rare to never working activities of cleaning the lens and camera contacts might work. Get a qtip and some alcohol and clean the contacts. The act of mounting and removing a lens is usually sufficient to keep the contacts clean. If you never or rarely do that, you may need to clean them yourself. Won't hurt anyways.

Re: 16mm-35mm f/2.8L mark II problem

aox — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 15:54:13 GMT

Update: I called the number listed above and actually got a person on the phone. He said that I needed to ship my lens, the RF mount, and my new R5 back to Canon and let them diagnosis it and maybe they could repair it.

Re: 16mm-35mm f/2.8L mark II problem

kvbarkley — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 17:11:45 GMT

I am going to guess that the lens needs a firwmare update.

Re: 16mm-35mm f/2.8L mark II problem

shadowsports — Wed, 07 Oct 2020 14:41:15 GMT

@kvbarkley wrote:
I am going to guess that the lens needs a firwmare update.

Was thinking the same myself given that it works everywhere else.

Re: 16mm-35mm f/2.8L mark II problem

moschu88 — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 20:01:52 GMT

Hello,

not to say glad, but somewhat feeling soothed I'm not alone. Got the exact same problem. Any solutions evolved for you?

Would appreciate any update on this issue!

BR Mo

Re: 16mm-35mm f/2.8L mark II problem

Ron — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 20:25:18 GMT

Hi moschu88,
So that the Community can help you better please provide the exact model lens and camera body (along with any adapters) that you are using. When you say you got the exact same problem are you saying that you have an EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens mounted to an EOS R5 camera with a Canon Mount Adapter EF-EOS R, as the original poster was using? Confirming what you have will help the Community respond.

Thanks and have a great day!

Re: 16mm-35mm f/2.8L mark II problem

moschu88 — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 20:53:24 GMT

Hello Ron, that's correct 100%.

Thanks for your swift reply!

BR Mo

Re: 16mm-35mm f/2.8L mark II problem

ebiggs1 — Sat, 19 Apr 2025 14:19:59 GMT

You already have your answer. The OP said Canon confirmed they needed to check it out for possible repairs. "He said that I needed to ship my lens, the RF mount, and my new R5 back to Canon and let them diagnosis it and maybe they could repair it.

Re: 16mm-35mm f/2.8L mark II problem

moschu88 — Sat, 19 Apr 2025 15:19:07 GMT

Thanks. I read it. It's not a solution to me.

My curiosity went beyond this information: Was Canon able to fix it? Does it work reliably after repair? Did they give any details about what was wrong? Maybe the OP was even able to gather more info over the years about this issue.

Re: 16mm-35mm f/2.8L mark II problem

Waddizzle — Sat, 19 Apr 2025 17:38:53 GMT

@moschu88 wrote:

Thanks. I read it. It's not a solution to me.

My curiosity went beyond this information: Was Canon able to fix it? Does it work reliably after repair? Did they give any details about what was wrong? Maybe the OP was even able to gather more info over the years about this issue.

You should start a new thread for your issue. This thread is several years old.

Re: 16mm-35mm f/2.8L mark II problem

moschu88 — Sat, 19 Apr 2025 17:57:21 GMT

Same issue, same set-up. To me it makes sense. My intention was to reach the originator. Maybe he would get an email notification upon my response to this thread.