Service Notice for EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Lens

patch29

We have recently discovered a problem with early production samples of the EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens in which flare occurs at an unacceptable level under certain conditions. The flare is most obvious in the wide zoom and wide aperture settings.

All the info can be found here from Canon.

Andy

patch29 wrote:

All the info can be found here from Canon.

heh we posted at the same time ... i deleted mine
i've already sent my email to canon. but it's an interesting "problem" the lens has, eh?

tom e

should i send mine in?
I have one of the lenses in the recall (#0801). however i have yet to notice any problems. i am concerned that if i send it to canon that it might come back in some way less sharp/accurate after they muck around inside. i'm leaning towards sending it in, though.

erich6

Recall on Canon 24-105 mm f/4L
Early production models appear to have unnacceptable flare at wide angles. Canon will repair free of charge. Here's the link:

http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/controller?act=PgComSmModDisplayAct&keycode=2112&fcategoryid=216&modelid=11924

bvkamp

erich6 wrote:

Early production models appear to have unnacceptable flare at wide angles. Canon will repair free of charge. Here's the link:

http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/controller?act=PgComSmModDisplayAct&keycode=2112&fcategoryid=216&modelid=11924

Thanks for posting this. I have #0801.

Andy

erich6 wrote:

Early production models appear to have unnacceptable flare at wide angles. Canon will repair free of charge. Here's the link:

Erich, I merged your post with an existing thread on the same subject.

bvkamp

Anyone with any idea what they're going to do to the lens? Did they forget to put a part in there, or did they re-design something? I don't mind sending my lens in, I just don't want it to come back full of dust. I have trouble believing their repair center will be as dust-controlled as the factory (which isn't perfect either).

docbell

bvkamp wrote:

Thanks for posting this. I have #0801.

Why/how could Tom E and bvkamp have lenses with the same serial numbers??? (hopefully it might just be a misread or typo??)

OlgaJ

docbell wrote:

Why/how could Tom E and bvkamp have lenses with the same serial numbers??? (hopefully it might just be a misread or typo??)

That's not a serial number. It's the year and month of manufacturing. All 24-105 lenses manufactured prior to October 05 are affected by this problem.

There is an additional number on the lenses which is a serial number.

Olga

erich6

andy wrote:

Erich, I merged your post with an existing thread on the same subject.

No problem. I must have missed the other post.

erich6

I doubt that servicing the lens would result in lower optical quality. The notice states that the flare occurs at wide angle settings. This is usually due to an incorrect dimension or placement of an internal baffle. I suspect the repair will involve replacing a baffle which should have no other effect except to improve the performance of the lens (the baffles don't affect the resolution or sharpness of the lenses). What could happen is that they may accidentally disturb the alignment of the internal lenses when replacing the baffle but I'm sure Canon will run the lens through process checks to verify the lens alignments.

Erich

W.W. Webster

Really?

bvkamp wrote:

Thanks for posting this. I have #0801.

This is the precisely the same lens number used as an example of the affect lenses in the notice on Canon's North American website here, and shown in the photo at that URL.

It intrigues me how they got the photo if you've still got the lens!

bvkamp

W.W. Webster wrote:

This is the precisely the same lens number used as an example of the affect lenses in the notice on Canon's North American website here, and shown in the photo at that URL.

It intrigues me how they got the photo if you've still got the lens!

It's not a serial #, it is a lot #, so many of the lenses share the same #. The unique serial # is posted separately on the lens.

OlgaJ

Date codes

bvkamp wrote:

It's not a serial #, it is a lot #, so many of the lenses share the same #. The unique serial # is posted separately on the lens.

It's a date code of when a lens is manufactured. Here are more details:

http://the-digital-picture.com/Canon-Lenses/Canon-Lens-Aging.aspx

Olga

Redlined

erich6 wrote:

No problem. I must have missed the other post.

Greetings all. Anyone have an idea when that lens will start shipping again? Elsewhere I read it was released 11/1???
TIA, Mike

OlgaJ

Redlined wrote:

Greetings all. Anyone have an idea when that lens will start shipping again? Elsewhere I read it was released 11/1???
TIA, Mike

I bought one immediately after it showed up at B&H October 6th, and it was manufactured in August. Some folks managed a few in September from one shop.

So using that as a guide, and knowing that the manufacturing month of the unbugged version would be October, I would think we should start seeing them hitting the market by the end of November or beginning of December.

Canon has said that they won't be starting repairs till some time after November 14th.

Olga

photobug

24-105 "L" has ARRIVED!

Redlined wrote:

Greetings all. Anyone have an idea when that lens will start shipping again? Elsewhere I read it was released 11/1???
TIA, Mike

Mine just arrived (from Amazon) THIS MORNING. Can't wait to play with it .

= Dave

Andy

Finally sent mine off to Canon today. Dunno why I'm doing it but what the hey, at least it'll be up to snuff

erich6

Andy wrote:

Finally sent mine off to Canon today. Dunno why I'm doing it but what the hey, at least it'll be up to snuff

Please let us know how the repair goes. Do you have some "Before" shots that you are planning on retaking when the lens comes back to compare?