50 F1.4 durabilty question

[ashmadux]

the 50 1/4 has been the wackiest canon lens ive owned. Great optics, can take wonderful pics, but i went through 3 copies that didn't focus properly (one was a canon refurb). Even now, my version- bought retail- can miss focus for the first 10 mins then can be accurate for next 20..... its the weirdest thing. I now notice some pretty consistent front focusing.

I used to walk exclusively with my 50 1/8, and have never had such bizzare focus issues.

Terrible, terrible quality control with this lens.


Ah, did i note not being to focus on anything beyond 10 feet or so...if i focus half way down the block or beyond, its blur city. wtf.

sigh this lens has been a LOT of trouble.

 

[Sporgon]

I swear 50% of the "build quality" of L lenses is purely a marketing tactic. They could have just as easily made plastic the "premium" material and dubbed it with some fancy name like "ultralight" line. Metal has just as many downsides as it does positives, if you ask me.

I'd take a lighter 50mm over a heavier one any day as long as it's cheaper. Hell, I'd take plastic versions of my entire collection and reduce my weight load by 75%. While I'm at it, let me have the 5DIII in a plastic body for $1000-1500 less.

PS - What about materials other than metal or plastic.... what if Canon used a carbon fiber shell? Would probably be way more expensive, but seems like it could be popular on workhorse lenses like the 24-70 and 70-200..

I think you'll find many of the smaller, cheaper L lenses are made from plastic

 

[gnd]

Check the cost and benefits of Canon insurance for your gear.

 

[privatebydesign]

Check the cost and benefits of Canon insurance for your gear.

Hey that is my F1N apart from the data back, I do have an FN-100 though Used to use it for remote shooting, wow, the stuff we can do now with WiFi and remotes.

 

[AE-1Burnham]

Lenses are not made to be dropped. ???

The 50/1.4 is really a good lens, it just has an out-of-date and relatively cheap build quality.
I have replaced 3 of these over 15 years, all AF-related problems - replacing it each time with the same lens because it was a standard in my bag and often would reach for it and paid for itself over and over again (I still own my 4th copy though it gathers dust these days). Today the 50/1.2L is in my bag instead of the 50/1.4 for 2 reasons: 1) weather sealing; 2) build quality/reliability.
Goodluck!

 

[gnd]

Check the cost and benefits of Canon insurance for your gear.

Hey that is my F1N apart from the data back, I do have an FN-100 though Used to use it for remote shooting, wow, the stuff we can do now with WiFi and remotes.

Picture was taken with a 5D2 8).
Stuff we do now with an EF50/1.4 is same with an FD50/1.4. Optically identical.

 

[paulc]

When the 50/1.4 hits the ground while it's extended, the notches in the focus barrel can get warped out of place. You can just push the plastic back into place which will get you going for a bit, but the real fix is the replace the barrel. It's not impossible by any means. Simply slipping the lens into your bag extended enough times is sufficient to damage the barrel, it's really that flimsy.

The barrel is a part that should be reinforced or made of something better than just plastic, but continuous improvement is a concept seemingly lost on Canon. It's utterly perplexing to me how any company can make the same exact product for decades and never ever tweak it. It's not like they're making manhole covers or bricks.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I bought a used lens that had the same issue, back then, it was a $85 flat rate to fix it, so I went ahead and had it fixed. Since then I've had two more which have been fine.

All I can say is don't drop the lens, or even bang it around in a camera bag, or abruptly collapse the lens.
I have not sold all three of my 50mm f/1.4's as well as my f/1.8's. I have replaced it with my 24-70mmL which is much sharper. I'd like the extra stops, but the lens was not really sharp wide open, and had to be stopped down anyway. I use my 35mm L wide open with reasonable sharpness.

 

[old_york]

My 50 1.4 focus fail wasn't down to a fall, just down to sitting in the end pocket of my otherwise flawless Lowepro bag.
In a busy/crowded area, my bag (on my shoulder at the time) got crushed between myself and someone passing past me.

Afterwards, the 50 was still fine to focus at minimum focus difference, and fine to focus at infinity; but everything between about 2 and 5 metres produced inconsistent results.
A quick trip to a repair centre fixed it...but now it gets treated with kid-gloves.

Unfortunately I live in fear of another repair bill (about a third the lens' value), so am tempted most sorely to get the 1.2 L - Not because it's quicker or that it may be "better" in terms of IQ; but simply because (thanks to hearing about many other similar experiences) I crave the build quality I see in my L glass.

 

[kbmelb]

I dropped the 24 1.4L (I) onto carpet from about 3 feet and it's focus motor and mount were damaged. Oddly Canon fixed for free.

I dropped 5D3 and 35 1.4 from 1 foot or so onto asphalt and the 35's focus motor was damaged. and the the hood absorbed most of the blow. that cost $300.

I've dropped my 16-35 II onto asphalt from about 3ft with out any damage and my 24-70 (I) from 3ft onto gravel without damage.

So I'm guessing either the older lens designs have cheaper parts or luck of the draw.

 

[Hannes]

I think it is a bit luck of the draw. The only lens I've bashed properly was a sigma 18-125 which I had mounted on a 350D round my neck . I was walking down a slope very out of breath due to altitude and a chest infection and at some point one of my poles got caught and I tumbled forwards basically landing on top of my camera and the lens smacked straight into a rock, fortunately hood first. No damage to report, focussing wasn't affected and the only damage was a couple of fairly deep scratches on the front of the hood. Very lucky I would think seeing as while the sigma is pretty well built and solid it is far from L lens standard or even sigmas EX standard.

 

[Kristofgss]

The replacement has arrived and it now has the new style cover, but I'm really tempted to have the old one repaired as well seeing that most of you spent less than half of the value of a new one on it. and it would be convenient to have a spare.

 

[Leejo]

My 50 1.4 rolled of a table about 1m/3 ft above a wooden floor and suffered the typical focusing damage
(infinity was OK, but below 1.5m was not possible)
The lens was purchased second hand so I decided to take the risk - as a local repair with tax would have
been a reasonable sum. Plus I wanted the lens for a private photos at a wedding coming up soon.
I googled and found a very good description (unfortunately the saved link is not on this PC)
[there could have been some improvements especially the couple of things to note when reassembling]
The first disassemble was very slow as I was very cautious. Then a small amount of bending.
Reassembling meant checking everthing double as well.
After the second go I could do unassemble, fix and assemble almost in my sleep in around half an hour...
I fixed it myself after several tries - each time bending the rotating component a little more back into place.
On the final attempt I also filed the component as well - as I noticed a dent or two.
As it was couldn't attend the wedding - the wife falling ill just beforehand.
I have yet to fully evaluate my fix with AFMA etc. but at least it focuses through the complete range now.

Unfortunately the 40mm pancake is still relatively overpriced here in comparison to the US (as is the EOS-M).
And my other option would have bought the 85mm 1.8 for use on a crop sensor...
So I will stick with it for now - not my most used lens - but still comes in handy.
would certainly wish like a quite a few for an update sometime - but dependent on price and any upgrade to full frame - who knows....

 

[Jay Khaos]

I think you'll find many of the smaller, cheaper L lenses are made from plastic

True.. I had my 85 and 70-200 specifically in mind when I said that. I'm sure both of those would be heavy even if they were made plastic though

 

[bholliman]

My 50 1.4 has proven to be pretty tough. A few months ago it fell from a table onto a concrete floor, roughly 0.7 meters. The lens wasn't mounted and landed on the lens cap corner (it also had the plastic cap over the end that mounts to the camera body installed). The lens cap has a nick in it, but otherwise the lens works fine and looks good.

 

[Otara]

Costs $200 to fix it in Oz, v buying it new for about $300 on Ebay.

Ive learned to fix the barrel myself, one other thing that can happen is the rear internal lens on the assembly can pop a little, and be at an angle, which makes focus look fuzzy at lower apertures - only needs a push to clip in properly and all good.

All of the problems have been from actual drops, and I guess I must subconsciously hate it, because its had 3 so far. I got the sigma 50mm as a replacement and its fine, but so tank like I tend to choose the Canon instead.

Otara

 

[Wildfire]

I have seen countless 50mm 1.4s listed on my local craigslist with broken autofocus.

My guess is that this lens is not very durable... looking forward to a new IS update from Canon.

 

[comsense]

FWIW my EF 50 f/1.4 was perfect and like new when I made the mistake of selling it as a 12 year old lens to replace it with a Sigma 50 f/1.4. Bad move. I should have kept the Canon!

Mind you I never dropped the EF 50. Drops and falls are weird things. Massive drops can result in miraculously little damage...yet I dropped a 70-200 f/2.8 on a 1D MkIIn body and both lens and body were write-offs. The strap slipped off my shoulder and fell onto relatively soft carpeted floor. Weird...People can fall off a cliff and walk away with cuts and bruises or slip on a banana skin and die.

Yes, hoods are terrific shock absorbers and should be used at all times.

-PW

Very true. Depends on the Fall

Can anyone confirm this, or shed some light on it. I'm surprised that canon used the weakest material on what was once one of the most popular lenses.

Its design not materials. Plastic can be very hard, sturdy and cheap.
Let me tell you a story about newer but even cheaper lens, 18-55 that came with rebel kit about 10 yrs ago. I accidentally dropped it from my bag while taking something else out of my camera bag from passenger door (just luck that nothing more expensive fell out of it). It rolled under my car to other side and landed under the wheel of minivan backing out of the parking lot fully loaded with hefty people. Yes a minivan ran right over it. I was dead sure that I have a plastic pulp on the other side. To my surprise, the lens was bit scriffed, the metal mount was bit bent but otherwise looked OK. Glass was clean and even filter was not broken. I just tossed it in camera bag, only to notice again months later. I straightened the mount as best as I could and tested the focus and image quality. I know that f/3.5 does not put high demand on tolerances but still!! It worked as well as it should. $90 lens almost entirely made of plastic survived the weight of minivan !!!
So, I think we have so many broken 50 f/1.4 due to old design of plastic gears packed in light shell.

 

[SwampYankee]

This won't work with all drops but I have some simple advise that may save some. When you drop something, stick your foot out to break the fall. Practice this with all things. Many times this will break the fall enough to prevent damage. This will work when you drop something while you are standing (changing lenses) but obviously will not help with something that falls off the camera. I've save a number of lenses this way. The downside, reflex. Once I opened the freeze and a frozen chicken slid out. I put out my food to break the fall. Good for the chicken....not so good for my foot

 

[tallrob]

Back when I was dirt poor, I was a huge fan of the 50/1.8. I went through several of them. But only after completely wearing them out. Sure, I dropped them a few times, but they're so lightweight that they can handle their own mass and bounce around without much consequence. Unless, of course a body is attached, or if you run over the camera bag with the car. Then it's really nice when that $75 lens takes the impact.

The 1.4 is just too heavy for itself. Better not to drop it. ;D