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?

[518Photo]

The point to this is that there is clearly a design or assembly flaw with the lens. the adhesive that holds the flex cable in place.
If you are defending Canon simply because it hasn't happened to you yet, why?

I have shot canon for 20 years, the main lens this affects is the 24-70.

I own 4 of them, 2 have had the same issue just out of warranty with very little use. It's not about luck. 

If you are really astute and shoot a lot of quieter studio sessions, you suddenly begin hearing a dragging or rubbing inside the lens while changing the focal length (the cable has let go of the adhesive) and then it's only a matter of time before running the zoom breaks part of the flex cable circuit.

The rest of my canon glass have all been trouble free for as long as I have shot DSLR. It's obvious there is a problem.

Aside from this forum, I work closely with other professionals (plurl) that have the same story to tell.

CPS or not, you will pay to have this fixed if it's out of warranty, experience downtime and ultimately begin to question the quality and loose trust in the gear.

I am close with a few people in the professional repair community as well. They will tell you without the need to access trends or service records which lens is the gamble. It's always the 24-70L

[llehmann]

I don't know what else I can say. Or how "there is more to the story". 

Feel free to ask me questions. How I use the lenses. How I store them. Etc Etc. Tell me it's because my cameras hang upside down because I use the shoulder BlackRapid straps? Of the way I pack my gear in my ThinkTank roller bags? Or... or... or... 

All these lenses have been serviced by Canon USA over the years. 

I am no longer a member of Canon CPS. We used it last year and sent in a bunch of equipment. New shutters and maintenance on the Canon 5D Mark III's. 70-200 F2.8 needed to be fixed and a pile of EX600RT flashes that were not working properly. 

Wasn't really happy with the service. We had to ask twice to get some replacement equipment to use while the repairs were going on. Needed to send back 2 flashes and the 70-200 that came back with problems. Just wasn't happy and chalked it up to it being Mexico CPS. 

Keep in mind things are different here. I used a Mexico Canon recommended service center years ago to fix a flash. They called back with a high quote so I told them not worry about it and send it back. They then lowered the price and started to barter. At which point I told them to send the flash back and sent it to Canon USA for repairs. This was the service center found on the Canon website. But... I digress and get off topic. 


As for this problem... with this lens... I don't know what else to say or what you want to hear from me. I put it all out there and not hiding anything. Nothing has been droped or damaged. Maybe the service center should tell me what they are seeing on the inside when they open it up. Tell me why it's happening? Im just trying to keep the equiptment working with some kind of reliability. I have a 3 bags full of Canon gear and have been using it for a long time. It's not like I want to swap it out and spend $20K + to get setup with another brand. Im sure they all have problems of some kind. Im just getting frustrated with this particular problem that keeps happening. 

[llehmann]

I agree... tell me what Im doing wrong?

[ebiggs1]

"...tell me what Im doing wrong?"

I can't, I don't know.    It sounds lie you treat your gear way better than I do and I have not had a single failure. I have no idea about or even what Mexico CPS is. Maybe they are crappy, I don't know. I didn't even know there was such of a thing.

Again I am going to make you feel even worse because in all the years I did use (USA) CPS they have been outstanding.  Not just good mind you but outstanding.  I was Gold until few years after I fully retired.

[ebiggs1]

"We used it last year and sent in a bunch of equipment. New shutters and maintenance on the Canon 5D Mark III's. 70-200 F2.8 needed to be fixed and a pile of EX600RT flashes that were not working properly."

Not to mention problems with your 24-70mil zooms, 5 or 6 times, even different models!  That sounds like a lot of issues to me for one person. That is why I said I don't think we have the whole story. 

I would not buy a lottery ticket anytime soon if I were you and don't walk under ladders.

[llehmann]

When I bought and used the Canon CPS service it was because I had a bunch of gear that was building up over the years needing repair.
The 70-200 was dropped and that was my fault. One flash went for a swim in the ocean during a shoot. The other 2 flashes were just not functioning properly. One had a burnt bulb. The 5D mark III's all had over 300,000+ on the shutter count so I was getting them replaced before I had a problem.

Not really "a lot of problems for one person". Just a lot of work and equipment being used and in need of repair.

Now, this is kind of "off topic" from what started this all. I do think this is a lot of problems, or better yet, a lot of the same problem with the same lens. That doesn't fall into the category of regular maintenance or repair. It's more of something isn't right here.

Im just trying to lay it all out there and point out something I think is wrong.

I hope we can keep this a productive chat.

[ebiggs1]

"I hope we can keep this a productive chat."

I am afraid I am out of any useful suggestions. But certainly you can't count a dropped lens and a swimming flash as a maintenance repair or a faulty item. I worked for Hallmark Cards so you can see we did a lot of photography, I would safely say way more than the average pro in self employer business.

[JaimeT]

Hi all, press/event photographer here, I'm in the same situation as llehmann, I have two 24-70 LII with the same problem, the first lens was bought when it was announced and the second copy was purchased 2 years ago. The lenses have never been dropped, I take about 3000 pictures a month.

[llehmann]

Maybe it's time to take a camera repair course? I think I migh be able to create another revenue stream! 

I don't know exactly what number this is now... 5 or 6 times for this repair. 

I made another video of the problem. Seems I can replicate it consistantly if I zoom at the same time as taking a picture. Now, before you go off on "why would you do that"... don't. Unless there's something in the user manual that warns you that this can cause camera problems and break the lens. 

Canon 24-70mm ii Err 01 Video Link

[PongPongPhotos]

HI all 

the same issue with this lens , can only shoot @ 2.8

Err01 Communications betweeen the camera and the lens on other aperture

i have buy this lens on Aug 2019