70-200 2.8 is II - HELP

[Hadam]

Hi All,

I had a little accident with my 70-200 2.8 is II lens. Simply fell out from backpack (height about 10cm, really nothing I thought) and the alloy mount hit the floor. I shot a few pics - everything was fine.

Couple days later lens produced errors with the body. Polish Canon service replaced the appreture and fixed the problem. However, after the lens returned home it prooved not to be sharp any more. No AF adjustments could solve anything, because the sharpest pictures (focused manually on Liveview with 10x zoom) were still soft.

I sent the lens back to the service, included the test shots with descriptions, as well as my body (canon 7D) to be sure they check they work together. After two weeks got the lens back with the suggestion, that they could replace USM, because it sounds like it "perhaps soon could be broken" (noisy to them - completely silent to me and other guys I asked). But otherwise the lens is optically perfect.

The results are shown on these crops (comparing to two other 2.8 lenses I have, of which this one was similar, if not the best, regarding sharpeness):

(different focal lengths, so different camera positions to fill the frame exactly the same. Crops from the center of the frame. All pictures f/2.8, on a tripod, mirror locked, remote release)

I am actually looking for other repair service (preferably in Europe because of shipping costs) capable of saving my lens... Polish Canon service e-csi.pl proved to be the opposite...

Any tips and recommendations are extremely welcome!

Best regards, from Poland

Hadam

 

[Hadam]

Ok, I'll try to rephrase...

Can anyone recommend trustworthy Canon repair facility in EU ?
Not parts-changers or sensor-cleaners, but smb who really knows how to fix a pro lens?

 

[AmbientLight]

Sounds terrible. So I believe that you are willing to go out-of-country for repairs?

I admit to having had only a single damaged lens, so I have let's say limited experiences in this area. That was last year when my 50mm f1.2 rolled out of my backpack, damaging the focus mechanism. I brought it to the German dealer, where I had bought the lens only a couple of weeks before and they repaired it perfectly. Would it be an option for you to travel for example to Germany? Do you come often to other European countries, so that travel costs/shipping costs won't hurt you in addition to repair costs?

 

[pwp]

OMG that's unwelcome news. Bad luck.

I had a 70-200 f/2.8 mounted on a 1DMkIIn slip off my shoulder and take what I thought was a fairly gentle tumble onto thick carpeted floor. There was no evident damage and everything seemed to be working OK so I continued and finished the job. The results from the job after the drop were very poor quality. How to explain to the client? It was not pleasant.

To cut a long story short the lens went back to Canon CPS 3 times but it was never the same. It was OK but not anywhere near what it was. So I bit the bullet, eBayed the lens and bought a new 70-200 f/2.8isII. In business you simply can't afford to risk losing clients with sub-par bodies or lenses. Or any of your gear for that matter.

Hope you can get a good repair job done, but you'll know soon enough if you need to take a deep breath and update to a new lens.

Paul Wright

 

[photogaz]

Sorry to hear that. I'm shocked to hear the lens got damaged after a small fall like that.

My old 70-200 Mark I IS fell about 2 foot, and bar a scuff mark on the lens cap was still 100% fine. These things should take knocks like that. Do you have insurance?

 

[Hadam]

Sounds terrible. So I believe that you are willing to go out-of-country for repairs?

I admit to having had only a single damaged lens, so I have let's say limited experiences in this area. That was last year when my 50mm f1.2 rolled out of my backpack, damaging the focus mechanism. I brought it to the German dealer, where I had bought the lens only a couple of weeks before and they repaired it perfectly. Would it be an option for you to travel for example to Germany? Do you come often to other European countries, so that travel costs/shipping costs won't hurt you in addition to repair costs?

Yes, I have to consider out-of-country options, after experience I have had with Polish service. Rather than travel I think that UPS will do.

Sorry to hear that. I'm shocked to hear the lens got damaged after a small fall like that.

My old 70-200 Mark I IS fell about 2 foot, and bar a scuff mark on the lens cap was still 100% fine. These things should take knocks like that. Do you have insurance?

No, unfortunatelly no insurance...

OMG that's unwelcome news. Bad luck.

I had a 70-200 f/2.8 mounted on a 1DMkIIn slip off my shoulder and take what I thought was a fairly gentle tumble onto thick carpeted floor. There was no evident damage and everything seemed to be working OK so I continued and finished the job. The results from the job after the drop were very poor quality. How to explain to the client? It was not pleasant.

To cut a long story short the lens went back to Canon CPS 3 times but it was never the same. It was OK but not anywhere near what it was. So I bit the bullet, eBayed the lens and bought a new 70-200 f/2.8isII. In business you simply can't afford to risk losing clients with sub-par bodies or lenses. Or any of your gear for that matter.

Hope you can get a good repair job done, but you'll know soon enough if you need to take a deep breath and update to a new lens.

Paul Wright

Your story does not make me feel any better...
I am not really convinced I will be able to sell so poorly performing lens to a fellow-photographer, so eBay (at least for now) is considered last.

I still believe it can be repaired. Can you recommend any service?

Brgrds, Hadam

 

[AmbientLight]

You can select a repair service shop for example from the following list:

http://www.canon.de/Support/Consumer_Products/services_locator/index.aspx

I am not living in Germany, but in Switzerland, so perhaps someone from the area would be so nice and help out regarding service experiences. In Switzerland I expect much higher prices due to the different local cost of labour.

 

[Martin]

Hi Hadam,

I am also from Poland. My suggestion is to send the lens to Germany (or perhaps I think u should visit service in personal). Polish service is poor as hell. They rarely take care about customers.