500mm f4 L USM mk1 (1 Viewer)

[Steve Arlow]

500mm f4 L USM mk1 - Canon UK Support

I can't see a thread on this so I'll start this one, apologies if this has already been covered.

Canon UK are no longer supporting the 500mm F4 L US MK1 lens, this support ceased in December 2017. If you have one of these lenses, and there are still a lot of them out there, and you need a repair, service or calibration you will have to find an alternative company. I believe there may be a couple out there that can still do this, just sadly not Canon themselves.

If anyone is aware of such companies it may be worth posting here who they are; I will need a service of my lens shortly.

 

[Mark Batten]

I can't see a thread on this so I'll start this one, apologies if this has already been covered.

Canon UK are no longer supporting the 500mm F4 L US MK1 lens, this support ceased in December 2017. If you have one of these lenses, and there are still a lot of them out there, and you need a repair, service or calibration you will have to find an alternative company. I believe there may be a couple out there that can still do this, just sadly not Canon themselves.

If anyone is aware of such companies it may be worth posting here who they are; I will need a service of my lens shortly.

Steve. Also own the same lens. Would fixation service the lens or are they dependent on parts from Canon?

 

[Steve Arlow]

I just recently came back from a trip and wanted Get lens serviced and calibration checked which is no longer done by Canon U.K. whether third parties are reliant on parts from Canon I don’t know.

 

[Mark Batten]

i am sure a fair few mark 1 owners will want to know what the position is on third party services.

 

[johnf3f]

There is a thread about the 400 F2.8 over on Talk Photography (similar situation) which might be of help?

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/canon-400-2-8-is-repair-anyone-had.653285/

 

[Malcolm Stewart]

I ran into this problem with my even earlier EF 300 F/2.8L USM. It was fine optically when I bought it in a "well used" condition, but I soon ruined the motor by trundling it - in its original Canon padded case - over the boardwalk at an RSPB reserve.

After being seriously messed about by a relatively local "Canon Accredited" repairer with the lens returned to me unrepaired and in a worse state* than I delivered it, I made more enquiries and had the lens repaired and returned to full use by H Lehmann's of Stoke on Trent.
*Tripod collar detents wrong by 30 or 45 degrees - can't remember which now.

Since then, I've always carried my big white lenses in a back-pack, and they seem to survive.

Lehmann's have also repaired shorter lenses for me, and I'd have no qualms using Lehmann's again for my other lenses. I've had good service from Canon UK where the items were younger.

 

[Malcolm Stewart]

It's worth mentioning that Canon's 10 year limit (to which I think the OP is referring) can apply not only to the lens as a whole, but also to the internals of lenses which have seen updates earlier in their life - e.g. aperture or lens motor changes. (Happened to a friend of mine with, I think, an EF24.)

 

[mr_birdman]

Gulp... great to hear. I am in Australia and have just sold mine. Albeit it was a beast of a lens and working exceptionally well. However, things can break.....

A fellow I know bought the EF 500mm f/4.5L USM about 10 years ago or so, it stopped working and he could not get it fixed... an expensive paperweight....

Personally, I think it is disgusting practice, that they try to force people to upgrade for newer lenses by not supporting them. It is not a small investment for a super telephoto lens and a lot of people don't necessarily have the means to afford to update every ten or so years....

 

[R J H Photography]

I also had an issue with my 600mm F4 (AF MOTOR REQUIRED REPLACEING) although I had to wait 8 weeks for the part Lehmanns managed to cure the problem, I was also advised that services and such would be OK, the problem would be locating parts if any where required.

 

[Steve Arlow]

That's the problem though, if Canon no longer support these lenses they will not be making parts for them and the store of parts will ultimately diminish and run out. If a part cannot be sourced then £5K-£6K lenses become doorstops.

 

[stevo]

Which is why some camera/lens repairers are buying up these & other lenses & stripping them for parts.


Cheers.


Steve.