Realistically how often will a lens 'break'

... by break I mean: stop working or have issues where it needs to be sent in?

I ask this because I have 55-200 USM that I want to get rid of because I have a 70-300 USM IS. The only problem is that I bought this 70-300 second hand, so I don't know if I can send it in to canon if I have an issue. (I want to keep the 55-200 as backup, but i could really use the money.)

BEEEsH wrote in post #3846136
... by break I mean: stop working or have issues where it needs to be sent in?

I ask this because I have 55-200 USM that I want to get rid of because I have a 70-300 USM IS. The only problem is that I bought this 70-300 second hand, so I don't know if I can send it in to canon if I have an issue. (I want to keep the 55-200 as backup, but i could really use the money.)

Canon should repair any lens that's sent to them (unless of course it's totally destroyed). Since your lens is likely out of warranty, you'd probably have to pay for any repairs.

Canon lenses will give excellent service with little or no problems if they are handled with a reasonable amount of care.

I have found that they don't break untill ya drop em.

I have found lenses are like old glass Coke bottles, that is, tough.
Fungus give the optics cateracts in my part of the world, before mechanical failure.

Lenses almost never just stop working tho it does happen to some unlucky people.
you can always send a lens in to Canon for repair, except for some of the older models that are no longer supported. If it is out of warranty, that just means you have to pay for the work. Life blows, sometimes.

Regarding keeping that 55-200 - I would sell it. Your other lens is unlikley to break down, and the 55-200 is unlikley to ever satisfy you again after the IS lens. Sell it, and put the money towards a lens you will actually enjoy using.

I have a point-and-shoot as a backup, and have never once used it since I got my DSLR - these things are pretty reliable!

How often does a lens break? Well, I've got lenses that I've been using since 1979 that still work fine. In all that time, I've only had one lens "break" - it's a Vivitar Series 1 70-200 zoom with an FD mount. It has a really stiff zoom. About 9 years ago I took it to the camera repair shop and they told me it wasn't worth repairing. Of course, the camera and lens had been in the back seat of the car I totaled in 1982 when I was t-boned by a truck going 70 miles an hour. That might have something to do with it. It also cracked my skull and put me in the hospital for a week, but my wife says I was just as stupid before the accident as afterwards.

Mark

The auto focus motor has a limited life. I have an ancient EF 35~135 f/4~4.5 lens sitting on my shelf in need of a motor replacement. Since I have the 24~105L and 28-105 f/3.5~4.5 lenses in the same range, I haven't bothered to get it fixed.

EORI wrote in post #3848563
The auto focus motor has a limited life. I have an ancient EF 35~135 f/4~4.5 lens sitting on my shelf in need of a motor replacement.

Would that lens auto focus if you put it on a camera with a built in motor drive like the EOS-3?

RedHot wrote in post #3848901
Would that lens auto focus if you put it on a camera with a built in motor drive like the EOS-3?

The EOS3, which is what I have, does not have an auto focus motor built in to the body. So the answer is no. One can continue to manually focus, but most of the consumer auto focus lenses have a very narrow focus ring, which makes using it in manual mode a bit of a pain.

I've now dropped my Sigma 150 macro from a height of 3ft+ 3 times now

Once was on concrete, twice on grass. It is still a smashing lens.


None of you are a loud to quote me if I ever sell this lens

drunk! w00t:

Thanks for the insight Steve. Now, can you test the durability of the Canon camera bodies?

EORI wrote in post #3849887
Thanks for the insight Steve. Now, can you test the durability of the Canon camera bodies?

I trust my Sigmas more in a fall than I do my 20D.




That oughtta say something to all those Canon elitists.


(we're clumsy)

Unless your truly need the money, or never travel....keep the the backup!

Lenses are tough, they are made with the thought that they will receive a certain amount of abuse... However, remember Murphy's law, If it can go wrong it will, and at the most inopportune time.

Case in point, last spring I was in South American my favorite walk around zoom died. I was just sitting there snapping off a few shots and all of the sudden the barrel went loose. Had to spend the next two weeks, using either the cheap little kit lens or the 100-400.

After returning to the states, I bought a new (and nicer lens) and sent the broken one back to Canon for repair. Cost was $175 to replace the barrel.

A couple of weeks later, I went in Hawaii. On the way back home TSA dropped my body & the 100-400. They fell 3 feet, onto concrete and bounced!!!! End of trip, had back-up.... nothing broke.

As a general rule, I didn't and don't worry too much about equipment failure.... on the other hand why tempt Murphy? Since I travel a lot, it was worth paying the $175 just for the piece of mind that I have a decent back up.

angryhampster wrote in post #3849874
I've now dropped my Sigma 150 macro from a height of 3ft+ 3 times now

Once was on concrete, twice on grass. It is still a smashing lens.

drunk! w00t:

- smashing lens?

How often will a lens break....usually just the once .