Canon 51f1.4 AF repairs and cost

I am thinking of getting a Canon 50f1.4, but worry about AF failure after reading about this.
The problem seems pretty common.
How much does the repair cost, if the AF motor goes out?
Can I expect AF failure as soon as the lens goes out of warranty?

I've had my 50mm for 6-7 years and it's had many problems throughout it's life. AF motor was replaced within a year of ownership and manual focusing 'band' was replaced. I hardly ever used it and last year the AF motor goes out again. Maybe because of the lenses' track record is why Canon didn't even charge me for the repair with the warranty out 6+ years. I thought they just liked me! LOL If I had to do it again I'd go for a different 50mm lens.

I bought my 50/1.4 about 7 or 8 years ago... used. I have no idea how old it is or how hard it was used before I got it.

Didn't use it much while I was still shooting film (it's just not my favorite focal length on full frame). I really only picked it up because I got one hell of a deal on it.

But in 2004 I converted to shooting digital with crop cameras and the 50/1.4 started seeing a lot of use. It's such a nice portrait lens on a 1.6X camera! Since then it's not had an easy life.

No problems with it... ever.

This might be because I bought it with the lens hood included, so apparently the previous owner had used the hood, and I always do with all my lenses. Why is this important? Well, I've heard that the AF mechanism in the 50/1.4 is somewhat fragile. It seems to fail for two primary reasons: One is if it's overridden manually a lot (even tho as a USM lens this shouldn't effect it). The other is if the focus ring gets a hard bump, such as when the lens is stored in a camera bag. The lens hood - stored reversed on the lens - covers and protects the focus ring. So, that might be why I've had such good luck with the lens.

Lensrentals.com has published repair statistics on lenses they stock, any that exceed their "mean" of about 5.5%. They are a fairly good source of info, since they have large numbers of lenses that are used pretty hard, boxed and shipped all over. They have as many as 100 copies of certain Canon lenses in stock at any given time, and have had 5600 lenses in their inventory over the years. They have published a repair rate article for four years running, now.

Last year the EF 50/1.4 made the list for the first time, with almost one out of five having gone in for repairs. Lenrentals.com has just started stocking the lens 18 months earlier and seemed to see the repairs right at a year's use. Interestingly, this year I don't see the 50/1.4 on the list at all. (But look at the Nikkor 50/1.4 and the Canon 50/1.2L!)

So, based on their experiences, you should have a four out of five chances of not having any trouble with the lens. And apparently they hold up pretty well after being repaired.

I wouldn't worry about it too much anyway. If you need the focal length and the lens does the job, you need it and the 50/1.4 seems to me a pretty good value. Things do wear out and need replacement every so often.

If it's a big concern and planning to buy new, maybe get one of those extended warranties on it.

Or get the Sigma 50/1.4 if you prefer. I don't have one, but it's apparently a pretty good lens, too, if you can get a good, well calibrated copy. (But, Lensrentals.com stopped stocking Sigma lenses because they were needing way too much repair. Those were mostly tele zooms, though, if I recall correctly.)

amfoto1 wrote in post #11123330
It seems to fail for two primary reasons: One is if it's overridden manually a lot (even tho as a USM lens this shouldn't effect it).

Yes, if the 50mm 1.4 USM had Ring Type USM, overriding the manual focus shouldn't effect it. But this lens actually has the cheaper Micro Motor USM where it is not normally possible to override the focus. (no Full Time manual focus)

Canon decided to add a complex clutch system which allows the Micro Motor USM to be overridden. This may be one reason for a higher than normal failure rate.

Here is what the AF Motor looks like. There seems to be a whole lot of parts that COULD be easily broken.

Those are a lot of parts. The first time I used my 50mm I rotated the manual focus ring and heard and felt a crunch. I'm only 35 minutes from the NJ service center and brought it in for repair. A few months later the AF motor went out. As mentioned above, last year after very little use the AF motor went out again. It's super sharp when stopped down but has "ghosting" wide open.

artyH wrote in post #11118482
I am thinking of getting a Canon 50f1.4, but worry about AF failure after reading about this.
The problem seems pretty common.

According to repair data from lensrentals.com, the failure rate went from 30% to 15% in the last year, so perhaps Canon is finally fixing the problem.

artyH wrote in post #11118482
How much does the repair cost, if the AF motor goes out?

On mine, the autofocus *and* manual focus stopped working, but the repairs were only $100.

artyH wrote in post #11118482
Can I expect AF failure as soon as the lens goes out of warranty?

I think it has more to do with and bumps or bruises the lens gets. Mine worked fine as long as I kept it on 100 mattresses, but as soon as I put a single pea under the mattress, it broke.

I'm getting on this a little late, but it sounds like repair costs range from free to $100. That's kind of a big difference. For those with experience getting lenses repaired and cleaned from Canon, could you please chime in? I'm thinking of sending my 50mm in for a cleaning and an AF adjustment to Canon Irvine. I'm afraid the costs might be too expensive, but the lens is tack sharp wide open and it's really hard to let go.