Build quality of lenses and repair rates
Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008
LensRentals.com, a great place to rent camera equipment recently posted their lens repair data for the past year:
Lens Repair Data 2.0.
In short, what it says is that better built lenses get repaired less. The high end Canon “L” lenses have a lower repair rate than the lower end Canon EF-S and Sigma (third party) lenses.
One might say that the cheaper rentals go out more but in their case this isn’t true, the higher end lenses go out more.
What does this mean to buyers of lenses? If you think of buying a good lens as a long term investment, the sturdier the lens, the longer the investment will last without repair.
For what it’s worth, the only non “L” I have is my beloved Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro and it’s the only lens I’ve ever broken. I have no idea how I did it, it was inside a padded bag but it fell apart in my hands when removed one day. Must have put the bag down too hard.
All of my other lenses have been through a lot of use and have never had an issue.
well I think i would always say buy the best you can afford not always but there is a reason why it cost more, granted these days people want everything on the cheap but they don’t realize that it is driving companies (that are there to make a profit) to build things with less quality to get more market share, in order to keep there profit margin up.
Edward, all of this is true, but, it’s always good to know which are the decent lenses that may not be top of the line, and among the top of the line L lenses, which ones are less than great. Just because it’s an L doesn’t mean it’s any good. Or, better put, just because it’s an L doesn’t mean that all who use it like it.
right, well my comment was about lends and build quality in general but yes I agree with you (which is why i always ask you before I buy a lens)