Couple of Lens quality questions

u8myufo

u8myufo

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Not sure if this has been asked before? But could someone tell me if there were any improvements over the years on any of the L series zooms or fixed. Take the 300mm F4L IS for example, whilst these were produced a number of years back, have the optics, coatings etc been improved? If so is there a particular date stamp that I should be looking out for?

Do they actually still manufacture the L series lens, or is there like everything else in this country a huge stock pile of them somewhere which gradually get pushed onto the shelves?

And lastly if they are still being produced,what are the odds that if I purchased a new 300 F4L IS, that it would be one that was made within the last couple of years?
 
I'm pretty sure that Canon make each model of lens exactly the same throughout its entire manufacturing run. This is barring things like the 70-300mm IS recall - I think I may have read of some other model on which, because of some known problem, you have to check the date stamp, but this is pretty rare & generally they're all the same.

There are, therefore, some Canon lenses on the market which have been in production since, say, 2000 or 2001, and which don't use the newer technologies featured in lenses only produced in the last couple of years. I wouldn't tend to worry about this too much - there is always something "better" around the corner, and you can waste half your life worrying about it. Sure, if you're undecided between two similar models, then perhaps the newer technologies would swing the balance, but generally you'd be looking at a particular focal range you're interested in & comparing samples between two different models, anyway.

Lenses announced at the big trade shows are generally available in the shops within about 3 or 4 months, so I very much doubt any sit in warehouses for years on end.

Stroller.
 
The last Canon lens I bought and checked the date on, 100-400mm L, had been made in the three months previous. I would be surprised if any lens was held for more than maybe nine months after manufacture - nobody can afford to hold costly stock for that long - but I wouldn't worry about it. It might even be at pre exchange rate price increases :)

As far as improvements go, a few lenses have been modified over the years, but manufacturers always make it very clear that a 'new, improved' version is available, usually with IS, or a bit more focal length, or some other tweak which gets the lens a MkII tag.

And I wouldn't worry about a design that is a few years old. Optical technology moves relatively slowly and there have not been any big jumps since high refractive index glass and aspherical surfaces were introduced over 20 years ago, and certainly perfected for mass production not long after that. The only thing that has improved recently is IS, which started off many years ago at around two stops improvement and is now claimed to be over four in some lenses.

One thing that has changed is the price of very good quality mass produced consumer lenses, and what you can get for a couple of hundred quid is quite astonishing these days. But improved manufacturing techniques are never going to do much for the price of specialist stuff like L glass.
 
Thanks guy`s for the info.
 
It's worth noting that the current incarnation of four of Canon's "super-telephoto's", the 300/2.8 IS, 400/2.8 IS, 500/4 IS and 600/4 IS, are all now 10 years old....released in 1999.
Quality lasts for quite a while.

Bob
 
Canon Bob said:
It's worth noting that the current incarnation of four of Canon's "super-telephoto's", the 300/2.8 IS, 400/2.8 IS, 500/4 IS and 600/4 IS, are all now 10 years old....released in 1999.
Quality lasts for quite a while.

Bob
Click to expand...
That is so comforting to know :lol: However the quality of my 300 F4L IS has slightly diminished after it whent in a stream for a brief 5 second swim before I dragged it out:annoyed:
Yes I kept quite about that one :bang: Insurance has agreed to send me a cheque for £850. I have already saved up enough towards upgrading from 400D to a 50D so I was jthinking about maybe buying a s/hand one, I had previously owned a 70-200 F4L . that coupled with the 1.4T/C did give great results,so was thinking that might be my choice. I am just wondering if a 300 F4L IS coupled with 1.4 on a 50D would be a better option? If I buy a used 70-200 I should still have enough to buy a walk about IS lens, which would be handy as I only have a 50mm 1.8. Any advice on which route to take would be great, I dont even mind buying a third party walkabout lens, so any thoughts on that would be handy. Birds and wildlife are my main subjects, birds shots are mostly taken within the garden from around 2-4 metres away. Thanks for any info
 
Strolls said:
I'm pretty sure that Canon make each model of lens exactly the same throughout its entire manufacturing run. This is barring things like the 70-300mm IS recall -
Lenses announced at the big trade shows are generally available in the shops within about 3 or 4 months, so I very much doubt any sit in warehouses for years on end.

Stroller.
Click to expand...

Can anyone elaborate on what the recall was/is for this product? As i have one (bought 2nd hand a few weeks back) and dont know if it needs recalling?
(assuming its the 70-300 IS USM one yes?)
Matt
 
Thanks! Mine is a good-un!
 
u8myufo said:
Do they actually still manufacture the L series lens, or is there like everything else in this country a huge stock pile of them somewhere which gradually get pushed onto the shelves?

And lastly if they are still being produced,what are the odds that if I purchased a new 300 F4L IS, that it would be one that was made within the last couple of years?
Click to expand...
I have three copies of the 300mm f/4 L IS. The date codes are UV0411, UV0911 and UW0311, which implies they were manufactured in April 07, September 07 and March 08.

It's possible that Canon don't make specialised lenses like this one continuously, but in batches every few months or so. The serial numbers of my ones are 133xxx, 134xxx and 139xxx, which suggests they make less than 10,000 of them per year - not very many at all, compared with about 50,000 of the 100-400L and about 100,000 of the 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS. (These are all estimates based on the serial numbers and date codes of my lenses.) I believe the 400mm f/5.6L, of which they make about 5,000 per year, is almost certainly produced in batches about twice a year, because there have been well-documented instances of stocks just drying up everywhere for a couple of months at a time.

If anybody else has a 300mm f/4 L IS and could let us know what the date code is, we could work out what their production schedule looks like. If you could let us know the serial number too, we can work out what their production volume is.
 
u8myufo said:
That is so comforting to know :lol: However the quality of my 300 F4L IS has slightly diminished after it whent in a stream for a brief 5 second swim before I dragged it out:annoyed:
Yes I kept quite about that one :bang: Insurance has agreed to send me a cheque for £850. I have already saved up enough towards upgrading from 400D to a 50D so I was jthinking about maybe buying a s/hand one, I had previously owned a 70-200 F4L . that coupled with the 1.4T/C did give great results,so was thinking that might be my choice. I am just wondering if a 300 F4L IS coupled with 1.4 on a 50D would be a better option? If I buy a used 70-200 I should still have enough to buy a walk about IS lens, which would be handy as I only have a 50mm 1.8. Any advice on which route to take would be great, I dont even mind buying a third party walkabout lens, so any thoughts on that would be handy. Birds and wildlife are my main subjects, birds shots are mostly taken within the garden from around 2-4 metres away. Thanks for any info
Click to expand...

That is a conundrum that many people face. I didn't find it easy at all, and all I can really say is I have ended up with a Canon 100-400mm L, and while I sometimes cast envious glances in other directions, I have no real intention of changing. But I went through two previous options before arriving at this (relatively) happy state.

It is all a compromise, and there are lots of options. Most of them costly. If you search the forums you will find plenty of useful debate, and people willing to help with advice on their experiences.

If you post a specific question relating directly to a certain subject with a couple of lens options, I'm sure you will get sound advice without the whole thing revolving around in an endless circle of what ifs and yes buts :)

PS Interesting post Stewart :)
 
Cheers Hoppy. The codes on my now soggy 300 Stewart are, UV111 and the serial is 137474.
 
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