I would like to ask for some advice from the collective knowledge of the group to understand my options for a disagreement on a repair of a relatively new lens. Sorry for the long post - please ignore if it doesn't interest you.
I purchased the Canon 70-300L less than a year ago (about 11.5 months ago) from Japan Photo in Stavanger, Norway. Back in August, it suddenly started sending an error code to the camera and the metering was way off and autofocus was not working. When you look at the lens, you can see the aperture blades closed to a very narrow value and were not moving despite entering different values in the camera.
I let Japan Photo send it off for repair in Oslo over a month ago. I've been asking for weeks for an update and they said it was still in the queue. Then this past Friday they messaged me that they were just waiting on parts. I asked they could tell me what was wrong with the lens, but no response. They just sent me a message today. Roughly translated it states: "During rep it turns out to be damage to zoom mechanics - Impact damage! 6 pcs. guides are broken and there are sores in the zoom path. Cost estimates for replacing blender and guides with zoom barrel. It will cost $1000 to repair the lens."
This is absolutely shocking to me. Putting aside (for now) the "impact damage" comment... My main worry going in was that they were going to come back and say there was some sort of moisture damage which cratered the circuit board which is why it wouldn't focus and the aperture was stuck closed. (Hey, I live in Norway and it rains a lot here. Not that I've used it out in the actual rain.) Never in my mind would I have thought they'd say there's something wrong with the zoom function. When I gave it to the store to send off, there were no problems with the zoom action. I legitimately wondered if they just were messaging the wrong person.
So I called the middleman (Lauritzen Result) here and discussed my concerns. (BTW - I have no idea why they don't just send it to the one authorized service center - FOTOCARE - in Norway.) I shared my perspective with him: I've only owned it since last October. It's never been used or handled by anyone other than me. It's locked in a cabinet when not being used - and in fact it's one of my least-used lenses (I only use it when I travel to save weight/size - and yes, I only carry it on me - never checked in luggage). I know its entire history.
I told him if that report is correct about damage then it has to be a manufacturer's defect. He told me that this is *never* the case for a lens "which is so new", so it can only be impact damage. I philosophically disagree with this viewpoint. By that statement, he's saying that nothing ever comes from the factory with a defect or flaw. We agreed to disagree on this point. He sent me pics from the shop and said they clearly show impact damage.
Here's where I need your help, if you're willing and knowledgeable:
1) The first picture he said definitely shows impact damage. To me, it looks like something has jumped a groove and carved a hole in the guide path. I compared it to a screw becoming cross-threaded. I don't necessarily think this points to impact damage - but could be an alignment problem. Does anyone else have a clue?
2) The second picture shows some plastic bits which have chipped off and are broken. I assume these run up and down that guide path displayed before. Again, the question is: is this really the result of an impact or some other problem?
After we talked about this, I brought up two decent points (I thought).
A) If this problem existed in the zoom - shouldn't I have been able to feel this? There was no trouble zooming the lens in and out. Could they tell me if it was "stiff" to zoom in and out when they received it? (He said they wouldn't be able to say.) Regardless, if the lens arrived in this condition, it was different than the condition when it left my possession.
B) But continuing that line of thought: Would this "broken zoom" problem cause the actual problem which I sent it in for? Would this zoom mechanism problem cause the lens to send error messages to the camera body and make the aperature blades be stuck in "closed" position?
To his credit, Mr. Lauritzen said he will ask the technicians if the zoom problem could cause the aperture problem. I don't see how they are even related, but I'm not a lens technician either. In all fairness, he was very polite, but I didn't perceive that he knew much more about it than I do.
What do you all think? If anyone has any knowledge about these zoom and/or aperture mechanisms and how they might become broken - I'd appreciate your expert opinion. Even if your opinion is that you think I'm full of **it - I'd welcome your perspective. Something just doesn't add up in this situation.
I purchased the Canon 70-300L less than a year ago (about 11.5 months ago) from Japan Photo in Stavanger, Norway. Back in August, it suddenly started sending an error code to the camera and the metering was way off and autofocus was not working. When you look at the lens, you can see the aperture blades closed to a very narrow value and were not moving despite entering different values in the camera.
I let Japan Photo send it off for repair in Oslo over a month ago. I've been asking for weeks for an update and they said it was still in the queue. Then this past Friday they messaged me that they were just waiting on parts. I asked they could tell me what was wrong with the lens, but no response. They just sent me a message today. Roughly translated it states: "During rep it turns out to be damage to zoom mechanics - Impact damage! 6 pcs. guides are broken and there are sores in the zoom path. Cost estimates for replacing blender and guides with zoom barrel. It will cost $1000 to repair the lens."
This is absolutely shocking to me. Putting aside (for now) the "impact damage" comment... My main worry going in was that they were going to come back and say there was some sort of moisture damage which cratered the circuit board which is why it wouldn't focus and the aperture was stuck closed. (Hey, I live in Norway and it rains a lot here. Not that I've used it out in the actual rain.) Never in my mind would I have thought they'd say there's something wrong with the zoom function. When I gave it to the store to send off, there were no problems with the zoom action. I legitimately wondered if they just were messaging the wrong person.
So I called the middleman (Lauritzen Result) here and discussed my concerns. (BTW - I have no idea why they don't just send it to the one authorized service center - FOTOCARE - in Norway.) I shared my perspective with him: I've only owned it since last October. It's never been used or handled by anyone other than me. It's locked in a cabinet when not being used - and in fact it's one of my least-used lenses (I only use it when I travel to save weight/size - and yes, I only carry it on me - never checked in luggage). I know its entire history.
I told him if that report is correct about damage then it has to be a manufacturer's defect. He told me that this is *never* the case for a lens "which is so new", so it can only be impact damage. I philosophically disagree with this viewpoint. By that statement, he's saying that nothing ever comes from the factory with a defect or flaw. We agreed to disagree on this point. He sent me pics from the shop and said they clearly show impact damage.
Here's where I need your help, if you're willing and knowledgeable:
1) The first picture he said definitely shows impact damage. To me, it looks like something has jumped a groove and carved a hole in the guide path. I compared it to a screw becoming cross-threaded. I don't necessarily think this points to impact damage - but could be an alignment problem. Does anyone else have a clue?
2) The second picture shows some plastic bits which have chipped off and are broken. I assume these run up and down that guide path displayed before. Again, the question is: is this really the result of an impact or some other problem?
After we talked about this, I brought up two decent points (I thought).
A) If this problem existed in the zoom - shouldn't I have been able to feel this? There was no trouble zooming the lens in and out. Could they tell me if it was "stiff" to zoom in and out when they received it? (He said they wouldn't be able to say.) Regardless, if the lens arrived in this condition, it was different than the condition when it left my possession.
B) But continuing that line of thought: Would this "broken zoom" problem cause the actual problem which I sent it in for? Would this zoom mechanism problem cause the lens to send error messages to the camera body and make the aperature blades be stuck in "closed" position?
To his credit, Mr. Lauritzen said he will ask the technicians if the zoom problem could cause the aperture problem. I don't see how they are even related, but I'm not a lens technician either. In all fairness, he was very polite, but I didn't perceive that he knew much more about it than I do.
What do you all think? If anyone has any knowledge about these zoom and/or aperture mechanisms and how they might become broken - I'd appreciate your expert opinion. Even if your opinion is that you think I'm full of **it - I'd welcome your perspective. Something just doesn't add up in this situation.