What could be wrong with this lens?

tomwazza

tomwazza

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Morning All,

Just had a scout around eBay and found a lens I'd like for a pretty good price. The only problem is that the AF on the lens isn't working; s/he says that it keeps hunting.

They've also said the there are a few spots of dust in the lens, is this what could be causing the focusing problem? Would it be expensive to have the lens overhauled?

Or should I stay well clear?

Thanks for all your advice (again),

Tom.
 
tomwazza said:
Morning All,

Just had a scout around eBay and found a lens I'd like for a pretty good price. The only problem is that the AF on the lens isn't working; s/he says that it keeps hunting.

They've also said the there are a few spots of dust in the lens, is this what could be causing the focusing problem? Would it be expensive to have the lens overhauled?

Or should I stay well clear?

Thanks for all your advice (again),

Tom.
Click to expand...

Treat it as if you were bidding on a manual lens. Is it worth that cost on that basis? If so if might be worth thinking about, if not don't bother. It might be something as simple as a dirty contact on the lens. If it is covered in dust then the previous owner might not have been very clean with it. It might be something else that is expensive to repair. Problem is that you will not know before parting with your money and by that point there is nothing that you can do.
 
it's an EF-S 17-85MM IS USM.

I think you're right, it's under £60 at the moment and ends this evening so perhaps worth a punt?

Any ideas if it's possible to have it serviced/cleaned and at what cost?
 
tomwazza said:
it's an EF-S 17-85MM IS USM.

I think you're right, it's under £60 at the moment and ends this evening so perhaps worth a punt?

Any ideas if it's possible to have it serviced/cleaned and at what cost?
Click to expand...

It is possible to have anything serviced/cleaned/repaired the cost will vary depending on what is at fault. You can try cleaning the contacts yourself but small amounts of dust inside the lens can just be left there as they will not affect the image quality. On some lenses it is easy to remove the final lens so if it bugs you you might be able to clean it.
 
I got quoted £162inc VAT to have my 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM repaired, so I would imagine it will be somewhere around that price to get this fixed, if there is anything wrong.
Could be something easy like a dirty contact or just the owner not using it properly.

That quote was with Lehmanns, but Canon Elstree should be cheaper, I keep meaning to ring them to get a quote for my lens.
If you ask, they will also clean the lens inside and out.
 
It is a £300-350 lens so spending the best part of £200 after buying it is not really worthwhile. I would suggest that IF it goes for under £100 and you buy it as a manual lens then fine. IF when you get it you can clean the contacts and get the AF working then winner. I wouldn't buy it with the intention of getting it serviced unless it went for what it is now. How much are they 2nd hand and working?
 
Currently the highest bidder.

If I did win it, I'd want to get that AF working. If I couldn't then it would probably go back on the bay.
 
This lens can often be found in the classifieds here for less than £200 in good order.
 
tomwazza said:
Currently the highest bidder.

If I did win it, I'd want to get that AF working. If I couldn't then it would probably go back on the bay.
Click to expand...

On that basis I wouldn't have bothered. How much can you pick up a working one for? I've just checked ebay completed listings and found that a good few go for the low £200 if that is the case I would just get one of those. There was a new one that went for £230
 
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