EF 24-105 L - May Need Repair; Cost?

[richterjw]

<p>A few months ago, I bought an EF 24-105 L from KEH. The lens has always seemed a little soft (compared to my expectations), requiring use of an unsharp mask to achieve the results I would have expected out of the camera. Then a few weeks ago my camera fell from about shoulder height, and landed lens first. The "problem" now seems even more pronounced, albeit slightly.</p>

<p>Any suggestions as to how much Canon might charge for a repair if something is out of alignment? Thanks.</p>

[richterjw]

<p>on tripod: @55mm, 1/8s, f/16, ISO 400</p><div></div>

[g dan mitchell]

<p>The only way to find out for sure is to contact Canon. My hunch - based on having my 24-105 serviced a few years back - is that it will be a couple hundred dollars or more. In my case, the issue was perhaps more typical (some softness on one side of the frame) than yours, since yours now may involve physical damage from dropping.</p>

<p>The good news is that after my lens came back it was in better than new conditions and it provided really fine image quality.</p>

<p>By the way, if you are shooting raw it is normal to do sharpening in post. A raw file will not achieve its potential sharpness without it. There are a variety of ways to approach the sharpening process, but I always combine a USM process with a second sharpening process that focuses on finer details. </p>

<p>Dan</p>

[David_Cavan]

<p>I'll echo G Dan's perspective - I spent about $300 to get a 70-200mm realigned after a similar act of lens brutalization. I think our 24-105 would be sharper than you show in this photo, although I'd try shooting a fixed object before making the final decision. The slightest breeze will blow foliage around and make it look fuzzy.</p>

[hjoseph7]

<p>The good thing is that you wil be killing 2 birds with one stone. The same thing happened with my 24-70mm, it landed lens first cracking the filter and denting the front element that holds the filter. I was never too happy with that lens especially in low light. I sent it to Canon and I think it cost me about $175 after the frequent user 25% discount. The good thing is that I'm allot happier with the lens once I got it back.</p>

[richterjw]

<p>Thanks for the input, Gentlemen. I guess I'll send it off (after doing some more testing to confirm the problem) and hope the damage to my wallet won't be too great.</p>

[pjmeade]

<p>When the IS on mine failed it was a fixed price repair costing 140 GBP. There's every chance that yours may also be a fixed price repair too.</p>

[bill_hocker1]

<p>The image stabilizer on my 24-105 began jumping around a year ago and I sent it in to be repaired by Canon. $300. It has now started jumping again one year later. Will probably cost more this time with the worry about another repair next year. Does anyone know of a reliable alternative to Canon. unitedcamera.com seems professional but their estimate was also $300.</p>

[PuppyDigs]

<p>Unless the shop uses an IS unit from a trashed lens, the parts have to come from Canon and are the main expensive of the repair. I'm surprised you're having problems with IS on that zoom. I used the hell out of my 24-105L since 2006 and it still works like new.</p>

[bill_hocker1]

<p>FWIW: Just spoke with Canon tech rep. Removing lens before the IS unit has locked in place, (it is still loose and operating for 2 secs after releasing shutter button) means that it won't lock and will continue to bang around in your camera bag - not a good thing. This is mentioned in the lens manual but who reads those? (I should have last year). She strongly recommended turning camera power off before removing lens (not mentioned in the 5DII manual). </p>

[richterjw]

<p>Follow-up: After further tests on more stationary subject, the results hold true. So I guess, she's about to be sent off to the lens doctor.</p>