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?

[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? 

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.