What would you do? Repair or not

Ann McRae

Hi all

I've just found out that it will cost $850 to repair my beloved 300mmf4 (sadly I dropped it and it no longer reliably auto focuses). I paid $900 for it several years ago, and it is $1350 new.

I miss that lens every time I look out the window at the birds in the yard.

I am considering the following options:

1. have it repaired
2. replace it with a new or even a used copy
3. go a different direction and get that macro I have always wanted.

ann

ziggy53

$850 sounds like Canon will replace a lot of the internals and possibly the major portion of the body too. It will probably come back almost new.

Just finding a used Canon EF 300mm, f4L IS USM is a little tough.

How badly do you want/need a macro lens vs how badly do you want/need the Canon 300mm, f4L IS?

If it were me I suppose that I would go with the repair.

Dan7312

When you say macro are you thinking of the 180? Having 9 inches of air between the front of the lens and some stingy thing you are trying to take a picture at 1:1 gives me more courage than I would normally have.:D

But 1:1 hard to work with without a rail.

Overall though that's going to cost you more than your 300 I think.

Just a thought though.

Ann McRae wrote: »

Hi all

3. go a different direction and get that macro I have always wanted.

ann

Overfocused

Ooh macros so much more fun

Ann McRae

Well, shiza - no real easy answer.

The macro would have been the next lens I bought, if I ever got around to it. I really lust after one every summer.

The 300mm was my primary sports action lens, as well as wildlife lens. I have the 70 - 200 and a 1.4TC and can use that combo for sports for now.

I just

Just talked with Canon -> the lens needs many parts, if they fix it, they warranty that for 6 months. If they don't, they refund me the $ already paid. I'm not sure that makes this any easier.

Wayupthere

Yes kind of a toss up. If it were mine I would try to sell it and let someone else do the fixing..not so easy.. or fix it and try to sell before the warranty is up. Not that they cant fix it correctly, I would rather not have it.
Then the decision to go macro or replace
Gary

BradfordBenn

Trying to add an analytical spin to it, if this is your go to lens for sports action shots what impact if any would not it have on your business. For example if you see that half of your sales last year are from shots with that lens would the rest of your choices be able to fit that same need so that you have shots that will replace the revenue. Basically trying to remove the emotion and make it a business decision. Also in terms of warranty it is a six month difference for the warranty is it worth that much more to get a new one just to have the longer warranty?

And I know you know this, but the 70-200 with a 1.4TC is not going to be as crisp or fast as the 300 prime.

It is definitely a conundrum. I don't know Canadian tax law, but is there a tax implication of repair or new? Such as can you treat a new lens as a capital asset and take depreciation?

DsrtVW

If it were me I think I would go for the new lens. Not knowing what the damage is I say that as to the percentage of cost of repair as to new. I have had several lenses repaired. But they did not go over half the price of the lens. Except for my Used copy of a nikon 300mm f4 ED which was over 10 to 15 years old I paid 300.00 for it an paid 230.00 for a new aperture repair. But the modern replacement is 1300.00. I am not sure about Canon but I have a statdard 1 year warranty or if I buy from my local camera shop(authorized Nikon Dealer) I get a 5 year extension warranty.

Don Kondra

Hi Ann,

I'm went through this decision process recently and decided to repair.

Look at it this way, if you repair the lens you will have a total of $500 less invested than buying a new lens and your beloved lens will have a new lease on life instead of becoming a $900 paperweight !

Cheers, Don

Ann McRae

Well, I think I am going to replace it with new. I have a job coming up that will allow me to do one of the following:

pay some of my income tax owed

or

buy both the 300mm and a macro

ThatCanonGuy

Honestly, I'd probably go with a used 300 f4. If you don't use the IS that much, you can occasionally find used non-IS copies (which are supposed to be sharper than the IS version) for $700 or so.

Ann McRae

So I told Canon to send me the lens back. I can salvage the lens caps

I've had reasonable success with the 70 - 200 and the TC for rugby, so now I'm thinking about wildlife/birding. I was generally using the 300 w/ TC so I'm thinking about the 400mm instead!!

Any advice or recommendations? Thanks!

20DNoob

You could always try getting it sorted elsewhere for cheaper most likely, KEH comes to mind. If you go that route make sure the packaging is marked "for repair" that way you should avoid paying duty/tax on it. I've got a RD-1 that needs to head out to Japan to get repaired and that's how I've been instructed to do it through the intermediary who sorts it out with Epson Japan.

Good luck.

Wayupthere

So I told Canon to send me the lens back. I can salvage the lens caps

That would have been my choice. You can always repair at a later date if you want. I would always look sideways at it, every time I pulled it out of the bag

pay some of my income tax owed

Paying all your bills vs buying new stuff is overrated
Gary

Art Scott

repairing a tool is no different than repairing my car or motorcycle, it has to be done from time to time and do we look at our cars sideways before heading off on a trip after repair...certainly not... Repair by a qualified Service center and or manufacturer has never been a problem for me and sometimes it has even made the repaired item work better than it did when I first bought it new or used from someone and then it made me wonder if I had been using a slightly defective tool all along...but if will use the 400 as much as the 300 then get the 400 and also the macro...we can let the govt wait for our hard earned tax dollars ... ... ... Can't we???

Brett1000

Ann McRae wrote: »

So I told Canon to send me the lens back. I can salvage the lens caps

I've had reasonable success with the 70 - 200 and the TC for rugby, so now I'm thinking about wildlife/birding. I was generally using the 300 w/ TC so I'm thinking about the 400mm instead!!

Any advice or recommendations? Thanks!

for wildlife and birding you'll definitely need 400mm, I prefer the 100-400 for versatility