Canon lens repair..calibration

[dennis osipiak]

My canon 17-85mm IS zoom has been occasionally soft and somewhat more

inconsistent than I would like. It's about a year and half old and I've been

satisfied with its clarity prior to this. I've thought about sending it back

to Canon to check it out, calibrate it and or repair if necessary. Has anyone

done something like this and have a handle on possible cost? Obviously if

inspection and alignment (if necessary) is more than half the cost of a

replacement it wouldn't make sense. While I'll probably kick up to a couple

of "L" lenses soon (photo show coming up in NYC) I want to take advantadge of

the lenses I have presently also.

Dennis

[bobatkins]

I think Canon have a standard minimum charge for doing anything. It used to be around $100, but it may be more like $120 or so by now. I haven't had a non-warranty repair done in the last few years. I think that pretty much covers everything (certianly all labor costs) unless the parts cost for the repair is high. With the 17-85 I doubt there would be additional parts costs unless the whole optical assembly had to be replaced (very unlikely).

 

If you purchased it using a credit card that gives you "double warranty" protection, you might be able to make a claim against that if your lens is only 18 months old and Canon do charge you a repair fee.

 

My guess is that you probably won't see much difference after a "repair" if the problems you are seeing are subtle and only show up occasionally. That type of problem is hard to detect, hard to prove and hard to repair.

 

Some people would sell the lens on ebay and buy a new one, though the ethics of that might be questionable. That's why I avoid ebay...

[steve adams]

Dennis,

 

I had Canon calibrate a front-focusing 28-135 IS. I've been pleased with the results. I can't say anything about cost because it was a warranty service.

 

The following link gives contact information for the Canon service facility in New Jersey, the folks who'd service your lens. Give them a call... I'm sure they can give you the info you'll need.

 

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ServiceDealersAct&functionid=2&fcategoryid=216&modelid=10511

 

- Steve

[mcgarity]

I just had a 300mm f4L IS that was out of warranty repaired by Canon. For calibration and alignment they charged $158. They also charged $15 for shipping and nothing for parts.

[eric_lawson1]

I just had my 24-105L calibrated for that exact reason and WOW what a difference it made. Cant believe how much of a difference it made in the lens, it is absolutely perfect now even wide open. It was under warranty though so no cost info.