Decentered 70-200 IS II

I have a 70-200 IS II which seems like it's heavily decentered on the left side between 90-140mm. The lens has been to the Canon factory center twice, came back "within specs" (of course they said that they calibrated it etc) but it's clearly not normal. The warranty will run out in about 1 month. What's my course of action at this point? Can I ask Canon to give me a replacement lens?

The amount of decentering is very obvious and no other lens I have has this issue.

I am not going to post images because my question isn't if my lens is decentered, but rather what can I do about it?

Vent:

I really hate zoom lenses so much simply because of the complexity and the extra work involved in their design. They are prone to every single problem more and this seems like a very common problem for this particular lens (googled this and was shocked to find so many people reporting the same problem). I guess if it's too good to be true, it usually is holds true here. I was so happy when I got this lens, but there is always a catch. The problem is I do use this lens for landscape shots sometimes and the softness on the left side is very obvious.

End Vent

I think every 70-200 II I have had (3 copies) has had some decentering, somewhere... One was slightly softer on the left side at 70mm, another on the right... etc... Usually not that obvious though, especially if you stopped it down.

If it is real bad, send it again. I had a 17-40 that was really bad at 40mm and I sent it back to them 3 times... On the 3rd time they ended up replacing optical assemblies and it came back quite a bit better. Not perfect, but improved.

Decentering is very hard and labor intensive for them to fix. On the 70-200 II they have centering/tilting elements they can adjust, but beyond those if it is still showing decentering signs it turns into a big job. They usually calibrate for center sharpness only.

You have an example of how bad your copy is? My current copy has a slight softening on the right side at 70mm, but stopped down it does not show the issue and at 200mm is perfectly fine (where I use the lens 80% of the time anyway). But like I have said, my past copies have all had it as well... I did not think so until I looked back at images taken with them and looked for it... Then it was quite obvious, but I just did not notice at the time.

With how complex these zoom lenses are, most do have some flaws. It just depends if it is bad enough or hardly even noticeable. My 24-70 II was also really bad and I exchanged it for another after Canon tried to fix it (no luck). My new copy was perfect.

My advice would be to send it to them again with plenty of examples on a CD... And possibly call before-hand to get return labels to send back to them and hopefully get it in the hands of their lead tech... Express your frustration with them (politely) and if another service center may be better at fixing the issue for you and such.

wait...what????

the holy grail has issues? this sounds like some 3rd party lens thread. sheesh.

Yes it has issues and its going back to canon, again. The issues are so bad that I would rather not let this thread go on in order to not to give bad rep this lens.

Is there a "lemon law" in the state or area in which you live - perhaps a "3 attempts to fix" or you get a new one or?

I feel for you.....

just keep sending it back on their dime if it isnt right......furnish them with images showing defective area...
I just got mine back where replacement parts were necessary...out of pocket expence, over a year old....anything I send into cps and get back not fixed immediately goes back at their expense

I will do that. I think this time they will have to change the glass itself which I think is the cause of decentering.

Talley wrote in post #16271147
wait...what????

the holy grail has issues? this sounds like some 3rd party lens thread. sheesh.

zoom lenses in general arent reliable, and no manufacturer is exempt (according to lensrentals). My older tamron 17-50 started to show signs of wear after 4-5 years or so, and I recall getting it fixed for free.

it's just the nature of zooms no matter how "solid" it may seem.

Charlie wrote in post #16271541
zoom lenses in general arent reliable, and no manufacturer is exempt (according to lensrentals). My older tamron 17-50 started to show signs of wear after 4-5 years or so, and I recall getting it fixed for free.

it's just the nature of zooms no matter how "solid" it may seem.

I just have a feeling that it's the "IS zooms" that are problematic. The 24-70 is far more stable than 70-200 will ever be (MKI and MKII in both lenses).

Optical adjustments are the repair most often not done right the first time. Three times is often the scenario, although twice is more common.

We do them ourselves when we can, so I can tell you they are very time consuming: we may spend 2 to 4 hours on an optical adjustment when something like replacing the AF motor takes 30-40 minutes. The 70-200 IS II can be particularly difficult because some of the adjustment collars can only be reached with the lens disassembled.

Not making excuses, just telling you to hang in there. They get it right eventually.

Shouldnt they have QA on canon? Even a mere 100 dollar item i bought from chinese factory are tested. the 2200 dollar canon should too

Humble Photographer wrote in post #16271567
I just have a feeling that it's the "IS zooms" that are problematic. The 24-70 is far more stable than 70-200 will ever be (MKI and MKII in both lenses).

makes sense since there's more that can go wrong. but i'm not going to quit using IS lenses .

ICarumba wrote in post #16274852
Shouldnt they have QA on canon? Even a mere 100 dollar item i bought from chinese factory are tested. the 2200 dollar canon should too

in a perfect world everything would be perfect.....well you know where that's going .

Humble Photographer wrote in post #16271567
I just have a feeling that it's the "IS zooms" that are problematic. The 24-70 is far more stable than 70-200 will ever be (MKI and MKII in both lenses).

Wait, what? The 24-70 V1 has the reputation of being one of the most delicate lenses around, at least in terms of knocking elements out of alignment.

raptor3x wrote in post #16275088
Wait, what? The 24-70 V1 has the reputation of being one of the most delicate lenses around, at least in terms of knocking elements out of alignment.

I meant MK2.