Weird autofocus problem with EF 50/1.4

My EF 50mm f/1.4 USM just started misbehaving tonight. It worked well the last time I used it but suddenly the USM motor can only reduce the focus distance, not increase it. If I set the focus past the point and press the * button (mapped to AF), it will AF ok. If I set the focus in front of the subject and press the * button then it just makes a click. Manual focus is fine. I tried two camera bodies with the same result.

The lens has been treated very carefully its whole life too. I always used a hood to prevent the front element from being bumped. I always stored it focused at infinity.

Has anyone else's lens done this?

Anyone know what Canon charges for an AF repair on this lens?

Thanks.

The lens is in for repair. Apparently focus mechanism failure is a common problem for these lenses. About $180 for parts, $120 for labour including focus recalibrating. The lens is barely worth fixing at that price however perhaps a fixed one is better than another used one with an unknown amount of life remaining.

So it cost $300.00 plus shipping to fix a lens that cost $320.00 brand new? Well that's what I paid for it 7 months ago. I can still find them for $339.95 refurbished at adorama.

Take Care,
Cheers, Patrick

macroimage wrote in post #8354875
The lens has been treated very carefully its whole life too. I always used a hood to prevent the front element from being bumped. I always stored it focused at infinity.

Considering the sheer number of 50/1.4 owners going through not one, but repeated returns to Canon due to physically broken AF mechanisms under normal use, Canon has quite some chutzpah to charge $300 for repairs to what is evidently an under-designed system.

Even though the build quality is not up to L standards, the price for this lens is still a substantial amount of money for most people, and having to pay that several times over just to keep it functional is quite absurd. Provided that it is being treated responsibly, even a consumer lens should provide many years of trouble-free service.

They so badly need to make a 50/1.4 mark II. With ring USM.
My 1.4 hasn't broken yet but I guess it will one day...

rvdw98 wrote in post #8444497
Considering the sheer number of 50/1.4 owners going through not one, but repeated returns to Canon due to physically broken AF mechanisms under normal use, Canon has quite some chutzpah to charge $300 for repairs to what is evidently an under-designed system.

Even though the build quality is not up to L standards, the price for this lens is still a substantial amount of money for most people, and having to pay that several times over just to keep it functional is quite absurd. Provided that it is being treated responsibly, even a consumer lens should provide many years of trouble-free service.

Where do you come up with this BULL ****? This lens doesn't fail that often, the OP just got unlucky. You really should stop writing sensationalist comments like that, its how false rumors and reputations get started.

nureality wrote in post #8444892
Where do you come up with this BULL ****? This lens doesn't fail that often, the OP just got unlucky. You really should stop writing sensationalist comments like that, its how false rumors and reputations get started.

I have come across numerous accounts of experiences similar to the OP's over the past few months. Just about every review site has several reports of broken AF mechanisms for this lens. If you feel that is "BULL ****", then you must either have reliable information (such as the actual volume of repairs performed by Canon) to discredit all those reviews or every single one of those 50/1.4 owners "just got unlucky".

It has been quite widely reported on many different forums that the EF 50mm 1.4 has AF reliability problems. An informal poll of POTN members showed that 1 in 5 users have AF problems with this lens.

https://photography-on-the.net …p?t=633048&high​light=poll

The many problems that users report with this lens are not just co-incidence.

msowsun wrote in post #8445261
An informal poll of POTN members showed that 1 in 5 users have AF problems with this lens.

hopefully i'm in the 4 in 5 users category.

i can't justify spending 300 to fix a lens that cost just a tad more than that. Canon would hear high hell - not that it would do anything, I know.

I thought that I had a good one too since it worked for years without issue. Then one day it died.

I wasn't clear with the pricing. It was in Canadian funds and I didn't pay shipping since I dropped the lens off in person. It did cost some driving but I took some nice pictures on the way.

I'm not sure where you are buying a 50/1.4 USM new for $320 anymore. B&H and Adorama are both $399.95usd. Then with shipping and taxes, it is over $500ca.

The cheapest price in Canada for a new one would be to buy it out of province, to avoid provincial taxes, which would total about $450.

$300 for repair seemed steep but just barely worth it.

Here's what turned out to be the problem. It was actually the USM motor that failed. The geartrain and clutch are fine. Unfortunately the motor isn't sold separately, so you end up replacing the geartrain, clutch, frame, focal encoder etc which is what makes it so expensive to fix.

It is a much better lens since the repair. I spent yesterday using it wide open exclusively to see if it had focusing issues. It is spot on now and quite sharp. It never used to outperform the 50/1.8 at any aperture that they had in common although I think I must have gotten one a very good sample of the 1.8 since it was sharp wide open. Now the 1.4 is actually a bit better than the 1.8 and very usable wide open. There isn't much in focus a 1.4 but at the plane of best focus, it is sharp with a bit of reduced contrast.

Apparently I wasn't just unlucky with it. It seems that the micro-USM motor is a wearing part.

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msowsun wrote in post #8445261
It has been quite widely reported on many different forums that the EF 50mm 1.4 has AF reliability problems. An informal poll of POTN members showed that 1 in 5 users have AF problems with this lens.

https://photography-on-the.net …p?t=633048&high​light=poll

The many problems that users report with this lens are not just co-incidence.

Hi Mike,

I just added mine to the poll.

Nice shot... hope mine does not fail, it's my most used lens.

sebr wrote in post #9232318
Nice shot... hope mine does not fail, it's my most used lens.

I hope not too but let us know when it does.

hum.. i guess this is why I own two of these