Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Cameras, Lenses and Shooting gear => Topic started by: StephenEdgar on August 06, 2006, 05:57:18 am
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Hi Folks,
I use a Canon 50mm f1.4 lens for the bulk of my photography.
For the second time since I purchased this lens three years ago, the focus mechanism has jammed.
The first time this happened, the lens was repaired under warranty. Now, after the warranty has expired, the lens has jammed again.
I'm wary of having the lens repaired again and had considered simply buying a new one, mainly for peace of mind (fool and his money and all that ). I've seen comments on various sites referring to the unreliabilty of this lens model.
Are these lenses inherently faulty?
Needless to say this happens two weeks before a trip to New York..
Any advice would be appreciated
Thanks
Stephen
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The only comment I can offer is that the 50/1.4 is not an 'L' lens, and is more akin to the quality of consumer lenses in terms of manufacturing quality (though it does have full time manual focus). Therefore, it is not robust and prone to breaking if not handled carefully - unlike the 'L' which are designed for more intense use and harsher environments.
It is another quirk of the Canon lens range as to why they do not manufacture an 'L' version of the 50mm lens.
You may have to accept that the usage you make of the lens is such that they will break more frequently and, therefore, either you can look for an alternative manufacturer or acccept that you will need to buy a 50mm lens every so often when one breaks.
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The only comment I can offer is that the 50/1.4 is not an 'L' lens, and is more akin to the quality of consumer lenses in terms of manufacturing quality (though it does have full time manual focus). Therefore, it is not robust and prone to breaking if not handled carefully - unlike the 'L' which are designed for more intense use and harsher environments.
It is another quirk of the Canon lens range as to why they do not manufacture an 'L' version of the 50mm lens.
You may have to accept that the usage you make of the lens is such that they will break more frequently and, therefore, either you can look for an alternative manufacturer or acccept that you will need to buy a 50mm lens every so often when one breaks.
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Thanks for the rely. Seems like a new lens is called for Thanks again for the comments
Stephen
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If you are in the UK, then as far as I know, the repair should be under the same warranty conditions as the original lens (provided it is exactly the same problem).
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The normal L lens is the very expensive 50mm f1.0. Not sure if they still make though.
I now have my second 50 1.4 because of the same exact reason stated in the first post. However it is my favorite lens.
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Are these lenses inherently faulty?
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I don't know if it is worse than other non-L lenses...but it happened to my 50mm F1.4 as well!
It is another quirk of the Canon lens range as to why they do not manufacture an 'L' version of the 50mm lens.
It seems this will be corrected in November...
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I don't know if it is worse than other non-L lenses...but it happened to my 50mm F1.4 as well!
It seems this will be corrected in November...
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Excellent, another L replacement that will be four times as expensive lol
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Excellent, another L replacement that will be four times as expensive lol
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Well, i have had two Canon autofocus lens brake-downs, a 28-105mm and a 70-300mm, neither L-series lenses. Neither much used and well taken care of.
Canon obviously does not produce good quality cheaper or mid-priced lenses.
I am happy I could read about your similar problems with your 50mm 1,4 usm, so I can avoid it.
I currently have the 24-105 L and 70-200mm L lenses and also the 20mm 2,8 non L. Seems good quality so far, but who knows how long they will last?
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The normal L lens is the very expensive 50mm f1.0. Not sure if they still make though.
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There is a new 50 f1.2 L lens for canon users, should be an exellent piece of glass if it is anything near the 85 f1.2 im currently using...
I had the 50 f1.4 a while before the autofocus jammed slightly (still functioned manually though...) Asked around a couple of journalist friends (heavy users) and there seemed to be a consensus that this lens gets the focusing problem after a couple of years of heavy use, but not if it is taken properly care of... Although this is not a particularly broad field of response, so it might just be coincidence, i think Canon would have changed the design if a lot of these problems turned up?
Personally i love the 50 f1.4, but i think id go for the f1.2 if i where to invest again...