Canon 24-70mm f2.8 ii flex cable ribbon problem again

[llehmann]

I have a couple of these lenses and I do really love them. They are the work horse in my stable of glass.

That being said, this is the 3rd lens now that has failed with the ERR code communication problem. I have had this happen a couple times before so was able to trouble shoot the issue and know that its the flex cable ribbon that is bad inside the lens.

It will work perfectly as long as you shoot at 2.8 (the wide open aperture setting). As soon as you change it and the lens needs to change the aperture for a image, it fails. 

Now, this is the 3rd  time with 2 different lenses that I've had to send them in for this repair. It would seem to me that this is a defect in the lens and I should not hae to pay for it. Or... Canon needs to use better parts so this does not keep happing over and over again.

Yes I use the lenses a lot. And yes, they are out of the warranty period. That being said, they should step up and repair without quesion. The have to know that this is an issue with the lens. 

Anybody else experiencing the same issue with their Canon 24-70mm f2.8 ii?

[RobertTheFat]

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@ebiggs1 wrote:

What about the 1000's of us that haven't experienced that problem?  Canon CS does not answer this forum you can all them 

1 (800) 652-2666

It always makes me wonder when you have a person or even a dozen or so with a problem but the vast majority don't.  Don't get me wrong I totally sympathize with you. I hate it. But I bought mine when they first came out and believe me it has been used. No issues.

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A possible explanation is that some of the lenses were accidentally assembled in a way that made damage to the ribbon cable during use more likely. If so, a careful reading of the serial numbers of the offending lenses could possibly shed some light on when and where it happened and on how many lenses might have been affected.

[Stephen]

Hi, liehmann,

Thank you for your continued posts. Have you reached out to Canon USA Support regarding your situation? Has your lens ever been repaired by Canon USA? If not, we recommend reaching out to our team at 1-800-OK-CANON (800-652-2666) for troubleshooting, and/or to arrange to have the unit(s) evaluated by our factory service center.

If you live outside of the United States, please CLICK HERE and select your country or region for your support needs, as we are only able to provide support for Canon products manufactured for and used within the US market.

You're welcome to discuss Canon products sold outside of the United States, but please be aware that you will not receive support directly from Canon USA.

[ebiggs1]

"But at some point they should step up the customer service after 4 repairs of the same problem ..."

Did you not get a warranty on the repair?  And, you still had time to be beyond that warranty period before it broke again?

"...you say your lens "has been used"... define used."

I got mine around 7 or 8 years ago.  I had the first version and also the 28-70mm f2.8L before that. I actually think that 28-70mm was a sharper lens than the 24-70mm that replaced it. Not pertinent to this discussion though.  The current 24-70mm f2.8L is my favorite lens and the lens I use most of the time.  I can't tell you exactly how many shots it has but it is on the camera most of the time.  I have five external HD's I store photos on.  Each HD is holding approx.100,000 photos. I am looking for my 6th HD and Microcenter has them on sale!

Like most 'pros' that make a living at their trade I don't baby my gear. I can't there just isn't enough time sometimes if you are truly working. It does wnat I want it to or it gets gone.

[Waddizzle]

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@Stephen wrote:

Hi, liehmann,

Thank you for your continued posts. Have you reached out to Canon USA Support regarding your situation? Has your lens ever been repaired by Canon USA? If not, we recommend reaching out to our team at 1-800-OK-CANON (800-652-2666) for troubleshooting, and/or to arrange to have the unit(s) evaluated by our factory service center.

If you live outside of the United States, please CLICK HERE and select your country or region for your support needs, as we are only able to provide support for Canon products manufactured for and used within the US market.

You're welcome to discuss Canon products sold outside of the United States, but please be aware that you will not receive support directly from Canon USA.

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Follow up on Stephen's advice.  Engineers just love to examine broken stuff, and figure out why it broke.  Technicians will simply go through the motions of fixing it.  Engineers like to analyze stuff.

[ebiggs1]

"Did you not get a warranty on the repair?"

Perhaps I should have asked this first off but I just assumed you used Canon USA for service. If you did not, you have the answer to your concern.  You will then need to contact Canon USA.

[nirvico]

What price quote are you guys getting to repair the issue? 

[llehmann]

Well, pulled out my old 24-70 f2.8 USM I original lens. The first model I kept around as a backup. Took a couple snaps and camera started showing error 1 again. Trouble shooting it and yup... Same problem as the other USM II lens. Bad flex cable and won't shoot on anything but 2.8. Man.. makes for a stressful way to start a wedding. Shooting everything at 2.8 like formals etc is a tough.

Once I got to the ceremony I took my 3rd backup Lens. 24-70 f4. Was ok but our newlywed session was late and ended up shooting with no natural light. Shooting to capture the resort lights and ambient light while using the LED at f4 wasn't fun.

Little bit of a **bleep** show.
Having 3 tools and losing 1. Good thing I'm a professional! Haha.
I made it work.
All 3 lenses were bought in the States and serviced in the USA. That being said, last year I bought and used Canon Care in Mexico. So the last flex cable repair was a year ago on the USM II lens.

Keeping the score… that now makes it 3 lenses. 2 Canon 24-70 F2.8 USM II lenses and 1 24-70 F2.8 USM I lens. 5 repairs total for the same problem.

All repairs but the one last year were done by Canon USA.

[ebiggs1]

I can only come up with two scenarios.  You are incredibly unlucky or you are doing something very wrong.

[RobertTheFat]

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@llehmann wrote:
Well, pulled out my old 24-70 f2.8 USM I original lens. The first model I kept around as a backup. Took a couple snaps and camera started showing error 1 again. Trouble shooting it and yup... Same problem as the other USM II lens. Bad flex cable and won't shoot on anything but 2.8. Man.. makes for a stressful way to start a wedding. Shooting everything at 2.8 like formals etc is a tough.

Once I got to the ceremony I took my 3rd backup Lens. 24-70 f4. Was ok but our newlywed session was late and ended up shooting with no natural light. Shooting to capture the resort lights and ambient light while using the LED at f4 wasn't fun.

Little bit of a **bleep** show.
Having 3 tools and losing 1. Good thing I'm a professional! Haha.
I made it work.
All 3 lenses were bought in the States and serviced in the USA. That being said, last year I bought and used Canon Care in Mexico. So the last flex cable repair was a year ago on the USM II lens.

Keeping the score… that now makes it 3 lenses. 2 Canon 24-70 F2.8 USM II lenses and 1 24-70 F2.8 USM I lens. 5 repairs total for the same problem.

All repairs but the one last year were done by Canon USA.

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Did you call Canon Technical Support? What did they say?

Are you a CPS member? If not, maybe you should be.

[ebiggs1]

"Are you a CPS member? If not, maybe you should be."  Absolutely, today if not sooner.

Somehow I get the feeling there is more to the story.  

The first version has little to no relationship to version 2.  Totally different designs.