Upset with Canon and thinking of moving on to another Brand....

[junior166745151]

Here is the story. I have a EF 24-105mm f/4L that I use professionally and leisurely. I went shooting landscape photography about a month ago. I had the camer mounted on a tripod. When I needed to move to my next location I carried the entire equipment over my shoulder with the lens facing downward so the lens creeped to full zoom. (a known issure with this lens) When I was done and ready to put the equipment away to leave I noticed the barrel wouldn't stop down to 24mm or to 105mm but was able to work fine from 30mm to 100mm. So I went to a local repair shop and fixed the problem (one of the screws in the barrel came out) but it wasn't 100% because as we both went to check the inside the lens the one of the data cable was not in its natural position but he remedied the problem (not fixed). He a sured me that the lens will perform fine. I went on another lanscape shoot and the lens was giving an Error 01. I new it was the data cable. So I opened the lens and found a piece of tape holding it in place and ended up braking the data clip on the PCB board. I took it to Canon service center in NJ. They charged me $269 to get the ball rolling otherwise they will not look at it. They got back to me with a new bill of $800 because they claim that it needed new internal parts so they claim. Thats practically a new lens after fixing it. So if my new car breaks down they will tell me that I will need a new motor. This really pisses me off because I know that it was just the PCB board that needed replacement because of the broken data clip. Really Canon. I bought the lens on Ebay for $550. So they offered another option which is trade in program. So they didn't have any refurbished lens around so they offered a new lens for $1066 with a $20 discount. Yes they call it a trade in program. So now I have to weigh the decision on what should I pay for fix my lens or buy a new one, hmm. Oh I just go to Ebay and get another used lens for $550 with free shipping. Such and expensive lens and of the highest quality and this is how they treat a Canon lover. I'm really thinking of moving to Nikon D800. Thanks for nothing Canon.

[cicopo]

Not to defend Canon's repair estimate but repairs are done by humans working for wages while most things these days are built on an assembly line by robots in a much faster method than humans can perform, and robots don't need benefits like health care etc. Before changing brands you'd better search for similar stories about other manufacturers. From what I've read Nikon likes to blame a lot of problems on "impact damage".

[junior166745151]

I understand all to well what it means to be a human skilled tech. I am a custom metal fabricator for 24 years now for a small family company. But a high end Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L lens to have such problems and not acknowledge it. 

[Waddizzle]

The only used Canon lenses that I would buy are the refurbished lenses sold by Canon.  They come with a one year warranty.  They look and perform like new lenses.  Smells like one, too.

[junior166745151]

Refurbish lens was an option but the customer service lady said she didn't have any available.

[Waddizzle]

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@junior166745151 wrote:

Refurbish lens was an option but the customer service lady said she didn't have any available.

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The EF 24-105 f/4L has been in stock as refurbished all summer.  It was just recently on sale for $639.99, so maybe they finally did sell out of them.  Keep checking the page for when, and if, it comes back in stock.  The L lenses are almost always selling out.

[cicopo]

For the record most of my gear (& I have lots) was bought used & you say you bought used. Neither of us can know exactly how "used" things were. My 24-105 is one of the few lenses I own that I bought new & I think I bought it in 2005 but it may have been in 2006.

[ebiggs1]

The ability to build or service gear like modern cameras and lenses if extremely technical.  It requires lots of training and experience.  At some point in any object made by Man, you are going to achieve the cost of no return.  It will cost more to repair than to buy new.

This doesn't matter if you stick with Canon or change to Nikon.  IMPO, Canon equipment is more robust than brand-N.  This is from a lifetime of using both.  You may be even more disappointmented with the move!