Taking bets, what will Canon do? Faulty 50m 1.4

I bought a new 50mm 1.4 in Dec '08 and about 6months later took it back to the retailer because the auto focus would intermittently stop working. They sent it back to Canon who, not surprisingly could find no fault with it.

When I picked it up I expressed concern that it might happen again once the warranty ended. The retailer said not to worry because I've already reported it so it will still be covered under warranty.

So guess what, it happened again. I rang the retailer, they said to deal with Canon direct. When I contacted Canon they said it's not under warranty. I told them what the retailer had told me and they said that's between you and the retailer. We need a buck passing emoticon here. Anyway they most they would offer was a free assessment. The bloke told me to write a letter explaining what's happened so far which I've done. I hope they will give me a new lens but I doubt they will even find the problem with my lens. I fear I will be stuck with a lens that will fairly soon break down altogether.
Does anyone have any similar stories with a happy ending?

Sorry to hear that, I hope it works out for you. And thats why I have Sigma 50 1.4, not a Canon.

themadman wrote in post #9795762
Sorry to hear that, I hope it works out for you. And thats why I have Sigma 50 1.4, not a Canon.

Yes, I might go that way too if this all ends badly, I have so far been loyal to Canon with all my lenses but if they let me down here I wont be feeling so warm and fuzzy towards them.

themadman wrote in post #9795762
Sorry to hear that, I hope it works out for you. And thats why I have Sigma 50 1.4, not a Canon.

Nobody EVER has to send back their Sigma's for AF problems.

I just wish there was a safe AF 50mm choice. Hopefully someone can get that worked out for us Canon shooters. Tokina, Tamron are you there?

tkbslc wrote in post #9796118
Nobody EVER has to send back their Sigma's for AF problems.

I just wish there was a safe AF 50mm choice. Hopefully someone can get that worked out for us Canon shooters. Tokina, Tamron are you there?

There is a different between actual problems (like it stops working) and mis calibration that can easily be fixed by sending it in and knowing it will work or just some micro adjustment if you are fortunate enough to have a body with micro adjust.

I am almost tempted to say this whole Sigmalux focus issue might be party Canon's fault. I really don't hear other body users complain nearly as much so I am gonna assume they don't have nearly the percent of front/back focus issues.

themadman wrote in post #9796138
There is a different between actual problems (like it stops working) and mis calibration that can easily be fixed by sending it in and knowing it will work or just some micro adjustment if you are fortunate enough to have a body with micro adjust.

I am almost tempted to say this whole Sigmalux focus issue might be party Canon's fault. I really don't hear other body users complain nearly as much so I am gonna assume they don't have nearly the percent of front/back focus issues.

Also don't forget that Sigma lenses have a 5 year warranty. Come on Canon, step up to the plate on this one.

So it happened again but didnt stay in that condition? So they will very possibly not find an issue that has occured in your camera twice in over a year span?

Well that is kind of like my situation where I am an auto technician and a customer tells me that while he was on a long trip out of town the air conditioning stopped working for a whole day 3 weeks ago, or months ago. Diagnostic tests reveal no codes and no issues with the vehicle at all. Now I know the owner didnt like the loss of his air conditioner for a whole day but am I going to put a 750.00 control head in the vehicle without even knowing a clue of what happened? If it happens again 6 months from now for one day and the diagnostics still reveals nothing will it be best to throw something at it and hope that fixes it? What if it was a 5 dollar relay intermittently sticking? or a dozen other possibilities.

If your lens failed consistenly enough to find the fault I can see where you could definitely desire Canon to fix it, but without that consistent fault you dont really know if the lens failed or the camera, or some other component.

I feel for you completely, but I also can understand Canon having the position that they cant justify replacing the lens if they cant find fault with it on an extremely randam issue. IMHO

It's done it a number of times but early on, me being a beginner, I thought I was doing something wrong. All up I would guess it's done it 15-20 times, but that might be several times on the same day or a couple of days apart. I have a play around with the camera, turn it on and off, change the focus points back and forth and it starts again. Then I forget about it until it does it again. I hope they just believe me as I'd have no reason to return my beautiful lens for nothing. If they dont replace it, I at least hope they will recognise the problem so that when it stops auto focussing completely they will replace it because it's been faulty all along. I paid almost $600 for the damn thing, I am entitled to expect it to work properly for more than about 3 months which is when it started playing up.

I've seen a few threads here now where this has happened to other peoples 50's.

I would send them the camera with it in that case if you can live without it for awhile....

I talked to him about that but because I dont have the problem with any of my other lenses he said there's no point. They should already have the lens by now. I just hope they can find something to fix.

Well for your sake so do I. Good luck with it.

themadman wrote in post #9796138
There is a different between actual problems (like it stops working) and mis calibration that can easily be fixed by sending it in and knowing it will work or just some micro adjustment if you are fortunate enough to have a body with micro adjust.

I agree, I am just pissed there are no 50mm lenses I really want to own because they all have quirks. I just finally went cheap MF and then if it is misfocused, at least it is my own fault and the lens was way under $100.

just to be curious...what happens when it doesn't work?

Whippeticious wrote in post #9796322
I've seen a few threads here now where this has happened to other peoples 50's.

i think the last poll i saw it was at about 20% having a problem of some sort with the AF on the 50mm f1.4...

pol024 wrote in post #9797031
just to be curious...what happens when it doesn't work?

Nothing, it just freezes, it wont auto focus, I could still use it as a manual lens.