Got my 50mm 1.4........

Talk about having a bad day.

I finally saved up for my 50mm 1.4, the only other lens I have for my 20D is the 18-55 kit lens which some of you may know my opinion of and had planned to sell it as soon as my 50 came in.

I ordered my lens some 10 days ago, it got stuck in Chicago IL for 6 days due to bad weather, I had tracked it everyday and even called FedEx to find out why it was held up. So it finally got moving and was excited when I tracked it this morning and it said it was on the truck out for delivery. Then the FedEx guy couldn't get through my gate (gated community), so I drive downtown and pick it up at the FedEx ramp.

I get home, rip open the box and am giddy like a school girl, FINALLY I'll have a lens that will make my 20D take pictures like a $1300 camera should and not a cheap camera phone.

I put it on my 20D and power up. I aim the viewfinder at a cup on my desk and press the shutter halfway..... nothing.

I try again, nothing. I look at the lens, everything seems fine, I press the shutter again, nothing. I make sure it is on AF, and take the lens off and put it back on, still nothing. I then put my ear up to it and press the shutter, I hear a faint buzzing sound, I look at the little window on the lens and it is jittering slowly.

I switch to manual.... when I turn the ring the numbers barley move. I spun the focusing ring 5 times in a continuous circle and the focusing numbers moved a tiny bit.

Gee, thanks Canon. First the whole battery grip fiasco, now I get a defective 50mm 1.4 out of the box.

BTW I ditched Nikon for Canon recently, yeah... heh. Oh and I also went with the 50mm 1.4 vs. the 1.8II because I wanted “better quality” and “more accurate focusing”.

The one good thing is how good the customer service is at Norman Camera, where I ordered the lens from. I was given the option to overnight me a lens today, but my credit card is sorta on empty at the moment and they needed to secure the price of a new lens on it until they got the defective lens back. So the other option was to ship back my lens and as soon as they get it they'll overnight me a new one. Plus I was told to put the shipping receipt in the box and they will reimburse my shipping costs. I have ordered LOTS of stuff from the internet and everytime I had asked to be reimbursed for shipping on an RMA I've been put on hold while the person on the other end laughed. So very cool of Norman Camera, especially since it was Canon's fault, not theirs.

Ugh, what a day... the part that sucks is on Sunday my aunt is having an early Christmas because she is leaving for Idaho, so the whole family will be there. I could use my 18-55 kit lens but I don’t think Canon makes a “surface of the sun” flash that will give me the light I need to take a decent photo indoors with that lens. Maybe iso 3200 and a few dozen flood lights will do the trick.

Wow. What an unfortunate experience. First, it sounds like Norman Camera is a class act. Second, once you get a good copy of this lens you're going to realize it was worth the long wait. I'm in love with mine. I'm sure you'll love yours too. Best of luck.

Good on that store, and sorry to hear about your problem.

The 18-55 will have plenty of light even with the built in flash, it's just the quality and location of the light that's the problem with that. An external flash is a good investment.

If your 18-55mm kit lens takes pictures that look like a cheap camera phone, you have a problem somewhere. While it doesn't match my 70-200mm F4L, my kit lens performs quite well, especially for a $100 lens.

Oh, by the way, I got a Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 EX DG Macro a little over a month ago. I can't use it right now because it was returned to Sigma with a front focusing problem. It is not just Canon.

Maybe it's Canon, maybe it's not Canon. Have you guys seen the way these packages we ordered are shipped? Have you seen how people move them? When I was in college, I had friends who worked at UPS, FedEx during the holidays and they were telling how people would sort and throw packages around like wet ragged dolls. Even some of the delivery or warehouse guys are not the most gentle when they are loading these packages into the trucks for delivery.

Although I never had your problem, I, however am surprised that I don't after seeing the method people handle our packages. It's amazing that we receive them in one piece.

I love my 50mm f/1.4. The only time it has been taken off my camera since I got it about a month ago was Sunday night when I upgraded the firmware on my Digital Rebel XT.

I would make a blind bet that your lens failure is due to the increased time it spent during shipping. As EOSX mentioned, most of the time packages are mishandled during shipment. It doesn't matter if they say fragile. I have seen people toss things over their head like a basketball shot.

Sorry to hear about your experience.
No reason to sell the kit lens. There will be many times when you need a wide angle, and it does pretty good at the shorter focal lengths. I have the 50mm F1.4 but still use the kit lens quite a bit.

There's a reason B&H ships everything surrounded by plastic air bags. Even my umbrella came that way.

i seem to recall that packaging for an item through a standard courier sorting facility should be able to protect the item from a 3ft/1m drop!

[a quick google says most places recommend a 4ft resiliance]
http://www.geebeeworld​.com/USA/USA/postal.ht​m

Sorry to hear that your lens was DOA, that really does suck. Good to know that the shop is looking after you tho. Fingers crossed that the next one's perfect.

BearSummer

Well, it seems you're having a run of bad luck. It sounds like Norman camera is going to replace it fairly quickly so you'll be back in business.

I don't see why your kit lens won't suffice in a pinch while you're getting your replacement lens.

Good luck anyway!

I'm sorry to hear such a sad story. It's always good to have a nifty fifty (50f1.8 $70) as a backup.

True to their word, NormanCamera overnighted me my replacement 50mm 1.4!!! This one of course works fine. The original lens was packed perfectly and the outside box showed no signs of abuse, neither did the box the lens itself was in as well. Actually this replacement came in a smaller box with less popcorn, but its fine. I really think it came defective from the factory.

Finally I have a decent lens for this great camera. Here is the first shot I took with it:

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Congrats! I'm glad to hear that you finally got it after all that trouble.