24-105mm woes

So, it seems that my 24-105mm lens has gone the way of many, and I am now getting "Err 01" more often than not. I've tried cleaning the contacts, but that didn't help. I don't get the message when I use either of my other two lenses (nifty fifty and 70-200mm f4).

So... Approx £150 to repair a seven year old lens. Or buy a new one. Somewhere between £500 and £700, depending on how official I choose to be.

What would you do?

(I've tried telling my wife that the cheapest way to get the lens is buy it attached to the front of a 6D, but I don't think I'm getting anywhere with that line of argument!)

Admit it.. you want a new lens don't you?

If it were me Alan Id go down the repair route , Thankfully Ive never had a lens go wrong apart from losing my Shift knob screw on the TS-E , luckily it was a 18 quid replacement.

I did want a new lens, but not just replacing the old one

alan_potter wrote in post #17111235
I did want a new lens, but not just replacing the old one

I hear you..Im the same , I went out and bought a 10K car because I didn't just want to spend £500 on the old one and still just have the old car.. - Got it wrong somewhere there..

So its justification you want not advice?

No, if I could get the current lens fixed I'd be happy. And use the cash for that UWA I want... But I don't want to pay that to repair the old 'un then find that something else fails in it in another few months...

I guess you just pays your money and takes your chances...

I'm reminded of the story about the lady who was asked on her 45th wedding anniversary what she thought was the secret to her long marriage. She responded, "We were raised in a time when, if something quit working, you fixed it; you didn't just throw it out."

I favor fixing the lens.

I wouldn't throw good money after bad. Apply the cost of the repair to better glass. There are lots of choices.

If it were my 24-105, I'd fix it because otherwise I'd just end up buying a new one and that would seem silly to me.

But then I wanted to keep paying $1500-$2000/year to fix my old car but my wife made me buy a new one.

alan_potter wrote in post #17111272
No, if I could get the current lens fixed I'd be happy. And use the cash for that UWA I want... But I don't want to pay that to repair the old 'un then find that something else fails in it in another few months...

I guess you just pays your money and takes your chances...

It's not like the lens has a lot of parts to fail in the future. I am assuming they will totally disassemble it to fix the error you are getting, so any potential problems will be noted or possibly repaired.

If you were talking about a body, I could agree somewhat, but not a lens.

rral22 wrote in post #17112106
I'm reminded of the story about the lady who was asked on her 45th wedding anniversary what she thought was the secret to her long marriage. She responded, "We were raised in a time when, if something quit working, you fixed it; you didn't just throw it out."

Hence, Viagra.

On a serious note, I agree with the sentiment. I imagine repair would be less than half the cost of like-for-like replacement and it's such a useful, value for money lens.

Is this a problem for certain lenses with a particular date code or is this a fundamental design flaw?

I'd definitely fix it. Otherwise you've created a worthless paperweight for being too conservative to repair anything. It has likely lived up to expectations and will continue to do so. Lenses last a very long time mechanically/optically​. Electronics/Ribbon cables seem to be the issue often. I spent $150 to fix my Tokina 12-24 (a $400 lens used) and it was a wise move.

"Paperweights" have no chance to create beautiful images or even being sold as "recently serviced by Canon" in the WTS section.

Fix it and keep shooting!

AIUI, the lens has a flexi PCB inside it that is just not quite flexible enough for long-term use... it tends to fail after a lot of use. How long that takes depends on how many focus operations you perform with the lens.

Thank you for all the advice; I'm thinking I'm just going to get it repaired, but ask the repairer to give it a really god inspection when they have it in bits...

alan_potter wrote in post #17113646
AIUI, the lens has a flexi PCB inside it that is just not quite flexible enough for long-term use... it tends to fail after a lot of use. How long that takes depends on how many focus operations you perform with the lens.

Thank you for all the advice; I'm thinking I'm just going to get it repaired, but ask the repairer to give it a really goooood inspection when they have it in bits...

Wise move

esp the last decision

I had mine repaired by Canon. Cost me about $250. as I recall. I'd recommend fixing it.