cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

CPA with CPS?

atolk
Contributor

I signed up for CPS Gold and, while I look forward to my 5 lenses/cameras cleaned, what I am really after is CPA: Canon Precision Alignment of my two main lenses to my main body. I do have a backup body, but assume that asking to align two lens to two bodies does not work. Please correct me if I am wrong on this.

How do I know if I need CPA, how do I know how much it will be, and how do I request it? I do live near service center, so I am temped to walk in with all my gear and ask for clarifications there, but I get an impression that they only physically accept orders, but all arrangements must be main online.

Is CPA considered a repair, and do I just get 20% off from my Gold CPS membership?

I tried going through the steps of requesting CPA, and I got:
$239 for one lens
$239 for another lens
$89 for the body
before discount.

At no point did I see the option to specify that I want two lenses calibrated to one body, or any "package discounts". Am I really looking at $567 to calibrate my gear? I don't even know for sure that I need it. I have a 20 year old 70-200mm, which is my workhorse and fairly sharp, a newish RF 100-500, which seems to have a lot of focusing/sharpness issues, but could also be user error, and an almost new R6 Mk2 to go with them.

Do I want to go through CPA? Is it possible to send them all for free maintenance and request an answer whether they need CPA? Or do people only do CPA when there are clear focusing issues?

Thanks!   

10 REPLIES 10

ebiggs1
Legend
Legend

"... a newish RF 100-500, which seems to have a lot of focusing/sharpness issues,..."

 

As I stated above AF adjustment of any kind whether it is on a DSLR or mirrorless in lens or in camera does not make any lens sharper or give it better IQ. This seems to be a common fallacy from folks even some on this forum. A lens is as sharp as it will ever be the day it is made.

Usually, when you have an AF miss focus something else in the picture will be in perfect focus. This could be do to the fact the AF locked on to the wrong subject. However, if everything in the photo is bad that is user technique error, usually.

It's a fact some lenses are not as sharp as others. The 50mm f1.4 Sigma Art vs the Canon ef 50mm f1.4 for example.  Even when comparing two lenses of the exact same model there can be small differences. And, zooms tend to be less sharp then primes although that gap is diminishing. 

EB
EOS 1DX and 1D Mk IV and less lenses then before!
Announcements