Not sure what to do with 28-135mm lens that has problems

I am a little stumped as to what to do with my Canon 28-135mm lens I bought used from a member on this board back in January. I had noticed that it just wasn't producing very sharp crisp photos like the other two lenses I have, my Canon EF-S IS 55-250mm and my Canon Non IS 18-55mm. I also happened to buy this 28-135mm lens right at the same time I bought my used Canon 50D and at first thought the softer photos were a result of me just not being used to the new camera and also that I was taking some indoor photos not in great light. It was winter and I had not had the chance to go outdoors in good sunlight to really get a feel for the lens.

So now that spring is here and I have been outside in great light I was consistently noticing that the lens even when placed on my Digital Rebel 300D was just not producing the kind of photos I know I am capable of taking. So I took it in to a very reputable camera repair shop to have them look over the lens and see if there was something wrong with it. Well they did find something wrong with it and said something about the focus ring/motor was working right and it was going to cost $210 to repair. I told them not to repair it and I would pick it up today at lunch. I paid $185 for it here and to me it is just not worth fixing it at $210 since the cost would bring it up to over $400 total. And since I have two very good lenses that cover the range that lens covers.

But my dilema is should I even try to sell it here and of course I would be honest and explain that a camera shop did tell me it has a problem that needs to be fixed. I don't want the lens. It has taken some OK photos and I do have several examples of what this lens is producing. Some might say I am being too picky and that the photos are not all that bad, but I can see the difference in the quality and I know that I would rather use that money on a wider angle lens like a 10-20mm for my landscape shots that I like to take.

buy another lens and move on. nothing lasts forever, and it sounds like your 28-135 has come to the end of it's life. you might be able to get a few bucks for it as parts.

Yeah I guess you are correct.. However now I somehow feel that I was ripped off,, only had the lens for 2 months now and $185 is still a good chunk of change to just throw away.. at least to me it is...now this makes me feel a bit apprehensive about buying used lenses and so far I had such a great experience buying my other 2 lenses and 2 cameras off this site..I guess I should have asked how old the lens was and asked more info, but it seems that this person collectsl lenses and then sells them quickly and therefore he might not of even known it had a problem. I will give him the benefit of the doubt on that. From his most recent posting several weeks ago he has sold several lenses since I bought mine in January.

mpadula wrote in post #14240642
I am a little stumped as to what to do with my Canon 28-135mm lens I bought used from a member on this board back in January. I had noticed that it just wasn't producing very sharp crisp photos like the other two lenses I have, my Canon EF-S IS 55-250mm and my Canon Non IS 18-55mm. I also happened to buy this 28-135mm lens right at the same time I bought my used Canon 50D and at first thought the softer photos were a result of me just not being used to the new camera and also that I was taking some indoor photos not in great light. It was winter and I had not had the chance to go outdoors in good sunlight to really get a feel for the lens.

So now that spring is here and I have been outside in great light I was consistently noticing that the lens even when placed on my Digital Rebel 300D was just not producing the kind of photos I know I am capable of taking. So I took it in to a very reputable camera repair shop to have them look over the lens and see if there was something wrong with it. Well they did find something wrong with it and said something about the focus ring/motor was working right and it was going to cost $210 to repair. I told them not to repair it and I would pick it up today at lunch. I paid $185 for it here and to me it is just not worth fixing it at $210 since the cost would bring it up to over $400 total. And since I have two very good lenses that cover the range that lens covers.

But my dilema is should I even try to sell it here and of course I would be honest and explain that a camera shop did tell me it has a problem that needs to be fixed. I don't want the lens. It has taken some OK photos and I do have several examples of what this lens is producing. Some might say I am being too picky and that the photos are not all that bad, but I can see the difference in the quality and I know that I would rather use that money on a wider angle lens like a 10-20mm for my landscape shots that I like to take.

not worth repairing, sell it for parts. Unfortunately that's a risk of buying used

mpadula wrote in post #14242112
Yeah I guess you are correct.. However now I somehow feel that I was ripped off,, only had the lens for 2 months now and $185 is still a good chunk of change to just throw away.. at least to me it is...now this makes me feel a bit apprehensive about buying used lenses and so far I had such a great experience buying my other 2 lenses and 2 cameras off this site..I guess I should have asked how old the lens was and asked more info, but it seems that this person collectsl lenses and then sells them quickly and therefore he might not of even known it had a problem. I will give him the benefit of the doubt on that. From his most recent posting several weeks ago he has sold several lenses since I bought mine in January.

Well, that does suck.

How "bad" are the shots? Are you saying it doesn't focus properly? Is this a problem that is apparent when viewing at screen size/Web size or when viewing zoomed in?

I'm asking because my 28-135 isn't the sharpest of lenses, my daughter uses it on her Rebel and I hardly even touch it, though. I'd just be curious as to how off it is...?

Any pics shot with the lens to show? Hate to say it but anything used can have the potential to be a dud, as well as new products. Maybe the camera has/had issues as well.
You can always turn it into a pen cup if it's a total loss...

Yes, I actually have several I can post here, I will do that shortly, actually the focus is not horrible and I think I have gotten some halfway decent shots with it. So in the beginning I really did not think it was the lens and just the fact that I was doing some sports shots and was indoors (indoor photography is not my best) in low light circumstances. I really noticed the difference when I was shooting a few weeks ago and I used both cameras my 50d with the 28-135 lens and my digital rebel with my 18-55mm lens and took a shot at the same spot of a steamship in Michigan and when I was looking at the photos after I processed them on my laptop I noticed that the 28-135 lens shot actually lost some focus about halfway through the shot while the 18-55mm lens was clear all the way to the end of the steamship.

Maybe I am being just too picky, but I did not want to risk taking this lens on my Arizona and Colorado trip and end up taking soft photos.

I'll post a few photos up shortly of some of the shots I have taken with this lens and I don't have the one of the steamship on my flickr with the 29-135mm lens because I wasn't all that happy with it, so I'll have to put it on flickr tomorrow and then post the two photos.

OK, my work computer is acting up today I am not able to make any of the drop down boxes on flickr work so I can't get to the section to grab the link and do the photos now. So, I'll be able to post some tomorrow from home.

mpadula wrote in post #14246628
Yes, I actually have several I can post here, I will do that shortly, actually the focus is not horrible and I think I have gotten some halfway decent shots with it. So in the beginning I really did not think it was the lens and just the fact that I was doing some sports shots and was indoors (indoor photography is not my best) in low light circumstances. I really noticed the difference when I was shooting a few weeks ago and I used both cameras my 50d with the 28-135 lens and my digital rebel with my 18-55mm lens and took a shot at the same spot of a steamship in Michigan and when I was looking at the photos after I processed them on my laptop I noticed that the 28-135 lens shot actually lost some focus about halfway through the shot while the 18-55mm lens was clear all the way to the end of the steamship.

That doesn't sound like a lens problem. It sounds like you had different aperture settings.

If you look at the shooting "info" for the two shots, you will see different values for the aperture or "f-number". From what you describe, the 28-135 shot was taken with a wider aperture, indicated by a lower f-number, for example, f/5.6, whereas the 18-55 shot was taken by a "narrower" aperture, such as f/11.

What this does as far as your photos are concerned is it affects the amount of the photo that appears to be in acceptable focus. This is called the "Depth Of Field" of the photo, which is how much in front of and behind the "focus point" "looks sharp/in focus" at a given viewing.

So, it sounds like that pic doesn't show anything wrong with the lens, you just need to understand how to get a shot like that!

Check out this "beginners Guide" "sticky" thread:

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=414088

I'm not saying your lens doesn't have a problem, but what you described could happen with any lens. In fact, more expensive lenses tend to have wider apertures, meaning they can handle low light better, but you will see more of the image out of focus!

At least around me, the the 28-135 goes for around 3-400 on the used market, so you got a really good deal at 185, and even the cost of repair keeps it in that range. You could always switch it to manual focus too.

OK here are a few photos I have taken with the lens, again these are not really too bad, I will post the photos tomorrow of the steamship where I really notice the difference of the sharpness of the lens and how it lacks compared to the 18-55mm lens I have.. but this is what I have taken so far with it..

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/mpadula/6931832​371/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/mpadula/6998164​903/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/mpadula/6828621​978/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/mpadula/6828519​122/

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com/​photos/mpadula/6828553​128/

Sell it on ebay for parts or turn it into a coffee mug

Tony, I will check and see if the aperture settings were vastly different. By the time I was noticing the problem, I took the steamship photo in Michigan with each lens set pretty much at the same focal length and used almost the same aperture setting. However, is it possible that with the 18-55mm lens set at say 35mm and an aperture at f11 and the 28-135 lens set at 35mm and f11 might have slightly different results even though the lens was set at the same focal length and same aperture settings?

tonylong wrote in post #14248800
That doesn't sound like a lens problem. It sounds like you had different aperture settings.

If you look at the shooting "info" for the two shots, you will see different values for the aperture or "f-number". From what you describe, the 28-135 shot was taken with a wider aperture, indicated by a lower f-number, for example, f/5.6, whereas the 18-55 shot was taken by a "narrower" aperture, such as f/11.

What this does as far as your photos are concerned is it affects the amount of the photo that appears to be in acceptable focus. This is called the "Depth Of Field" of the photo, which is how much in front of and behind the "focus point" "looks sharp/in focus" at a given viewing.

So, it sounds like that pic doesn't show anything wrong with the lens, you just need to understand how to get a shot like that!

Check out this "beginners Guide" "sticky" thread:

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=414088

I'm not saying your lens doesn't have a problem, but what you described could happen with any lens. In fact, more expensive lenses tend to have wider apertures, meaning they can handle low light better, but you will see more of the image out of focus!

Do you notice the problem more when the lens is zoomed out to the 135MM setting? Do you notice the auto focus hunting when the lens is zoomed out to the 135MM setting?

I had a 17 to 85mm lens that failed in the above manner. When I took it to Canon to have it repaired it only cost ~$85

Hope this helps,

110yd

Michelle, first off as to the pics you posted, at the small Web size I can't see a problem, but my aging vision ain't what it used to be.

So here's a question about those shots. When you look at them using your editing software, at a larger size, do you see any part of the image that looks in focus? If so, is it the part that you focused on (using AF)? If so, then that means the AF is behaving, but you may be having aperture issues...

mpadula wrote in post #14248954
Tony, I will check and see if the aperture settings were vastly different. By the time I was noticing the problem, I took the steamship photo in Michigan with each lens set pretty much at the same focal length and used almost the same aperture setting. However, is it possible that with the 18-55mm lens set at say 35mm and an aperture at f11 and the 28-135 lens set at 35mm and f11 might have slightly different results even though the lens was set at the same focal length and same aperture settings?

So if in fact the settings and focal length were the same, and if you focused at the same "spot" in the same scene, then the shots would have the same "characteristics" as long as both lenses were performing properly. So yeah, check those settings in the boat shots and let us know what you find!

Quite honestly the pics posted look just fine. Pretty darn good for that lens, IMO.
If you have some that show definite problems maybe you could post those ?

This isn't an L-quality lens, and its never going to produce images quite as good as L glass, but for the price its not bad.