Service Notice for the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II

[Canon Rumors]

It appears a service notice for the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II has appeared on the <a href="http://www.canon.com.ph/news-pressroom#May05A">Canon.ph site</a>, and has since gone away. We suspect it will be sent out globally over the coming day or so.</p>
<p><em>Thank you for using Canon products.</em></p>
<p>We have determined that some EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM lenses exhibit an AF operation-related malfunction. The details of the phenomenon and Canon’s service policy are described below.</p>
<p>We would like to offer our sincere apologies to users who have been inconvenienced by this issue. Going forward, we will spare no effort in our quality management to make sure our customers can use our products with confidence.</p>
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<strong>Phenomenon</strong>

At the wide-angle end, focus is not achieved properly when a peripheral AF points are selected, regardless of the AF area selection mode.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.canonrumors.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/canon_service_notice_24-70_f4_ii.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-29343" src="http://www.canonrumors.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/canon_service_notice_24-70_f4_ii.jpg" alt="" width="530" height="518" /></a></p>
<p><strong>Affected Lenses</strong>

If the first two digits in the serial number (see the image below) of your lens are ”48”, ”49”, ”50” or ”51”, then your lens MAY POSSIBLY be affected.”</p>
<span id="pty_trigger"></span>

 

[LesC]

Hmm, interesting. Was still undecided as too whether to by this lens; think I'll wait to see if the advisory notice does indeed appear globally.

It would be helpful to know if the affected batches are confined to a particular region & when they were made ie can you now buy with confidence or will shops still have supplies of the faulty lenses...

 

[YuengLinger]

I'd like to know if the affected lenses were manufactured before the "production pause," and if any of the ho-hum reviews were associated with the AF issues..."Hope springs eternal."

So, either the notice will go world-wide, or...it was a hacked page on the Philippines website? With all the fake news raining down these days... :

 

[candyman]

I'd like to know if the affected lenses were manufactured before the "production pause," and if any of the ho-hum reviews were associated with the AF issues..."Hope springs eternal."

So, either the notice will go world-wide, or...it was a hacked page on the Philippines website? With all the fake news raining down these days... :

I purchased my lens in december 2016. Yes, I know... :
It was not a kitlens. The serialnumber starts with 46. According to TDP the lens was manufactured in October 2016. I do not encounter the described phenomenon with my version of the lens.

EDIT: it may be the reason for postponing the delivery of the non-kit version but that is pure speculation. For me AF is working fast and quiet, there is better corner sharpness, less center sharpness at 105mm, more vignetting at 24mm and 105mm, better stabilizer, better construction,. But all of this is personal. I did see this on three copies and the canon supplier was surprised as well. I believe the price was too high at launch.

 

[tron]

I'd like to know if the affected lenses were manufactured before the "production pause," and if any of the ho-hum reviews were associated with the AF issues..."Hope springs eternal."

So, either the notice will go world-wide, or...it was a hacked page on the Philippines website? With all the fake news raining down these days... :

I purchased my lens in december 2016. Yes, I know... :
It was not a kitlens. The serialnumber starts with 46. According to TDP the lens was manufactured in October 2016. I do not encounter the described phenomenon with my version of the lens.

EDIT: it may be the reason for postponing the delivery of the non-kit version but that is pure speculation. For me AF is working fast and quiet, there is better corner sharpness, less center sharpness at 105mm, more vignetting at 24mm and 105mm, better stabilizer, better construction,. But all of this is personal. I did see this on three copies and the canon supplier was surprised as well. I believe the price was too high at launch.

If you have seen the same things at 3 copies then you have been "LensRentaled" in a way

The test sample although small provides quite an indication of what the lens truly is (how many more samples should one try to get a better result anyway?)

Just a clarification though please: When you mentioned " better corner sharpness" were you saying that as part f the total 105mm findings or does it apply to all focal lengths?

 

[Jopa]

The serial numbers series could be only for the lenses sold in Philippines?

 

[monkey44]

Received my v2 yesterday -- initial two # 52..... so, looks like it lucked out so far, until something else appears.

I plan on testing this in the field this week, and will match it against the Mk1 in controlled settings as best I can. I'm not tech-trained, so use cameras and lenses to capture images for publications, and for personal use, and do not set up targets etc to compare lines and graphs and charts.

My only interest is the image and how it looks as in a digital rendition or as a print. How it gets there, beyond what I must do to capture it effectively, is of less interest to me. But I will share the results, and include the shooting data so others with more tech background can share info with us if it gains us any knowledge about the differences between v1 and v2.

 

[candyman]

If you have seen the same things at 3 copies then you have been "LensRentaled" in a way

The test sample although small provides quite an indication of what the lens truly is (how many more samples should one try to get a better result anyway?)

Just a clarification though please: When you mentioned " better corner sharpness" were you saying that as part f the total 105mm findings or does it apply to all focal lengths?

Why settle for one if you can try more
Actually, the first copy did cause disappointment (the canon dealer had only one copy in the shop at that time). So I kept my original 24-105mm and was hoping a new copy (later production model) would be better. But....few weeks later ....second copy gave similar results. And the third copy as well. All were 46 production copies. They did not have other production copies at the time (october until december 2016). But I really wanted to move on since my original 24-105 had a problem in the left corner at 24mm. So I jumped for the new 24-105mm


The corner sharpness at 105mm is better than in my original 24-105mm. The corner sharpness at 24mm is also better than my original 24-105mm. I still have some files of the second copy but only 24mm and 105mm. So I can't say about 35mm, 50mm 70mm, 85mm. I don't have the original 24-105mm
I would provide the jpg-s but they are still about 4 to 5 mb. I also have still the raw-files to support my findings.

 

[tron]

If you have seen the same things at 3 copies then you have been "LensRentaled" in a way

The test sample although small provides quite an indication of what the lens truly is (how many more samples should one try to get a better result anyway?)

Just a clarification though please: When you mentioned " better corner sharpness" were you saying that as part f the total 105mm findings or does it apply to all focal lengths?

Why settle for one if you can try more
Actually, the first copy did cause disappointment (the canon dealer had only one copy in the shop at that time). So I kept my original 24-105mm and was hoping a new copy (later production model) would be better. But....few weeks later ....second copy gave similar results. And the third copy as well. All were 46 production copies. They did not have other production copies at the time (october until december 2016). But I really wanted to move on since my original 24-105 had a problem in the left corner at 24mm. So I jumped for the new 24-105mm


The corner sharpness at 105mm is better than in my original 24-105mm. The corner sharpness at 24mm is also better than my original 24-105mm. I still have some files of the second copy but only 24mm and 105mm. So I can't say about 35mm, 50mm 70mm, 85mm. I don't have the original 24-105mm
I would provide the jpg-s but they are still about 4 to 5 mb. I also have still the raw-files to support my findings.

That's OK your word is more than enough for me. Thanks for answering. Since the new one is not a superset of the old one in IQ - and I also have the 24.70 2.8 II - I will keep my version 1.

 

[Deleted member 7828]

I wonder if this could partially explain why the lens has been so tough to find (non-kitted)? If true, that is.

 

[LesC]

I wonder if this could partially explain why the lens has been so tough to find (non-kitted)? If true, that is.

Makes you wonder. Here in the UK nearly all the major outlets show it in stock occasionally but more often than not as out of stock. Amazon have them more frequently but only generally a few in stock.

Could be:

a) Supply outstriping demand because it's so popular;

b) Low demand so they're not making that many;

c) Not releasing too many to encourage sales of the old version;

d) There is a known problem as suggested

 

[Random Orbits]

Makes you wonder. Here in the UK nearly all the major outlets show it in stock occasionally but more often than not as out of stock. Amazon have them more frequently but only generally a few in stock.

Could be:

a) Supply outstriping demand because it's so popular;

b) Low demand so they're not making that many;

c) Not releasing too many to encourage sales of the old version;

d) There is a known problem as suggested

I hope it's not d. Fielding units that you KNOW will have to be serviced is a money loser and damages goodwill. I wonder if this is due to a sub-supplier manufacturing issue, which may be why SOME of the units are affected and not all.

 

[LesC]

Service notice is back on the Canon.ph site and also now on Canon's US & UK sites:

https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/product-advisories/detail/service%20notice%20ef%2024-105mm%20f4l%20is%20ii%20usm%20lens/!ut/p/z1/tVJNU8MgFPwruXhkICHS5Ji01VSNjv0y4dIhCVGcBmrAVvvrJU49ONE6PcgFeLPwdvctpDCDVLKteGRGKMnW9p5TskrvkyCZDNHN3fw6RtE4vpthMsJoiOHDJwD9siIE6bf3F94YRel8eZPiCUZTcnh_BECP919CCmkpzcY8wbxkUsmV5LsdL1abVlWvpdFn6HACrNoKrVrBbU3zditK7khluo3XjucDF503jVP7a0doRwjnVTfOmkvd9diUooJ56NZFgN0QDEgZAh-7BQhd5IKg8DEjBakGXtXT1CNNj1t29Zdpdipemw7TR0uLmScgZK1g1jHlGma8hpk2TFasrcBeqaYrgS95oAb-GggNhABWnyVLv7dD03CAIjIiSXgbo8n9eQ-wjH0LCEdD7F10lA-AI4py68jgV0c8G6Ot4Du4kKptbOpmJxqe9D3reW49E88vLzSycVHS8DcDs3_Ly88DOu2PTbNYNAF-BzQfkWmyj2_B5UOgow-i_0q1/dz/d5/L2dBISEvZ0FBIS9nQSEh/?urile=wcm%3Apath%3A%2FCanon_NewWeb_Products%2Fproduct-advisories%2FService%2BNotice%2BEF%2B24-105mm%2Bf4L%2BIS%2BII%2BUSM%2BLens


http://www.canon.co.uk/support/consumer_products/products/cameras/ef_lenses/is/ef24-105mm_f4l_is_ii_usm.aspx?type=important&faqdetailid=tcm:14-1566962

 

[YuengLinger]

At least a couple of days now Amazon does not show this as part of their inventory. It was showing "Out of Stock, More on the Way," but now only available through 3rd party sellers.

Is this odd for a new release?

 

[LesC]

Seems to be out of stock everywhere in the UK too & Amazon who've had it in stock constantly now showing 'In stock on May 26, 2017' There appeared to be plenty in stock yesterday ... either there's been a rush on them or they've pulled it today??

 

[YuengLinger]

Seems to be out of stock everywhere in the UK too & Amazon who've had it in stock constantly now showing 'In stock on May 26, 2017' There appeared to be plenty in stock yesterday ... either there's been a rush on them or they've pulled it today??

I'm glad circumstances kept leading to purchase delays for me. Short of any other explanation, I'm guessing the inventory situation has to do with tweaking the lens: At some point there was a pause in production.