I moved to the Canon Digital Rebel (300D) in 2004 only to find the 18-50mm kit lens was soft on all focal lengths on the left side. Canon Repair Depot in Jamesburg, NJ fixed it under warranty. Then I discovered the 300D body viewfinder image was off center and slightly tilted, causing framing errors. Canon Depot claimed it was within tolerances and declined to repair. OK, it’s the lowest end DSLR body Canon has ever manufactured, but give me a break!

I have since purchased a 5D MKII body, 17-40mm F4 L, and 70-210mm F4 L lenses, with no problems. But I recently purchased a 24mm F3.5 TS-E II lens ($2,199!) only to discover my 5D MKII body has a misaligned lens mount causing the left side of the image to be soft with this expensive shift lens. There appears to be an issue with this lens on my 5D MKII body, causing the focus plane to be tilted with all lens adjustments on ZERO. Ironic, since this is a “Tilt & Shift” lens.

Critical review at 100% of images shot on the 5D MKII with my other lenses shows this same “tilted” focus plane, to a lesser degree, with the left side of all images focusing at a closer point than the center. This is an obvious “compound issue” due to assembly defects with BOTH the expensive 5D MKII body ($2,699) and this VERY EXPENSIVE 24mm TS-E MKII lens!

The 24mm TS-E lens goes back to B&H for replacement and the 5D MKII body to Canon’s Repair Depot, thankfully still under warranty!

For you “Non-Believers” – Call it what you like, but from my 35-year perspective on professional camera equipment – CANON CAN DO WAY BETTER!

BTW- I am a B.S.E.E. and 40-year veteran of the computer technology manufacturing industry.

not becoz of IQ, but becoz of QC just as karel says… and strangely some early post above is mad when someone pointed out (or sharing more likely…) their opinion (or experiences) when all along its true.

sure, there are non faulty canon dslr… lots of ‘em. but you have to accept the fact (even without backup link karel provided) that there are the faulty one. Now even nikon have them as well, just look at charles nibbana post… a faulty d70, while my d70 works damn well for 6 years and never showed the famous CHA or BGLOD (ask google). the only faulty i had was with my recently purchased tamron 17-50 f2.8.

The problem was that if i took picture with the tammy, it wont record the data to the CF correctly (half of the pic’s are blank, sometimes only jpeg data but cant be shown) and that’s about it. I solve it just by re-attaching the lenses. Of course it hinders my work and i already decided to upgrade anyway so its still not a problem (remember… 6 years old body being banged around).

ok back to the stupid QC i think some of the people here who (clearly) dont like what karel says think that he is bashing canon’s product while what he is mad at was canon’s QC (is there any bigger fonts?)

peace out

I for one am glad I found this blog. All Karel is doing is, in my opinion is warning people to spend their hard earned cash on low quality mass produced stuff by canon or nikon, or any other brand. That’s the bottom line, for me.

again, HARD EARNED money. And I for one don’t want to hand it over to a bunch of execs worried more about the bottom line, and how to increase share holder value, at the cost of quality control, … then customer satisfaction, … When I hand over 1500 or 2000 EUR to someone I expect something of quality in return, and something that delivers on it’s promise.

I guess this is all just a logical result of the transformation of society, corporations and business philosophy. Examples of the rise of “the low cost society” Affordable, mass produced, disposable goods for the people.

I’d like to know if people had these issues with canon, nikon lenses, bodies, … 20 – 30 years ago, when reputation, quality was still important, critical to business.

I bet revenue & profits of canon, nikon have exploded this last decade. due to a number of factors at which I can only hint at, but won’t. Sad that there’s isn’t more reaction from customers, but maybe most of them indeed don’t know, or aren’t well informed about these issues. I wonder what would be a good way to put pressure on a company like canon to improve their quality.
I’m buying a hand-made, Swiss Arca, that way I’m sure I get value for money!

- you don’t know how to use your equipment.

- error 99′s are a normal feature.

- Nikon have errors as well, so it’s normal for Canon to have them.

- there is nothing wrong with the auto focusing system, it’s your fault.

- quality control costs money.

- it’s normal to recalibrate your lenses, even from a “L” range lens.

- lens hood are additional accessory and should be sold separately.

as we can see, circular reasoning and lying is a trait of the Canon fanboys and of Canon executive.

what I find most insulting is that a once great leader in photography will sell faulty DSLR cameras in exchange for your hard earned cash. Canon are seriously taking you for a bunch of fools, wake up people, there are alternatives.

“Shooting is not possible” could canon give us explanation why? Canon should give us a honest message like this:

“Shooting is not possible, we screwed up big time, we made you miss a fantastic shot, send this Camera for repairs so we can screw you some more. If you’re out of warranty then you’re truly and royally screwed, and we will charge you the same price for a new camera to send it back to you un-repaired. You’re better off buying a new Canon camera so you can face this vicious “error 99″ cycle again.”

I had it with Canon.

40D lockup problem?
Help please: 40D focus and calibration problem…
the moment is to buy the mk III
No Lens or Camera problems – what’s wrong?

I like the first post of the last thread. Here’s a quote:

Seems every other thread you read here is about a camera and/or lens not focussing properly or some other issue that results in lousy photos. I’ve had lots of good examples of bad photos

Looks like I am not the only one who noticed. So Doug, are you going to say something?

40D Sensor Focus Adjust?
Four Canon Items – Five Focus Problems
Mark III back to canon…
Yikes – Mark III body falls off of lens

Any comments, Doug?

40D + 24-105L soft images
Canon 40D good and bad
40 D and error messages and Canon Repair Center Irvine CA

Do you need more help Doug? Will you open your eyes now and notice the problems? How about the repair center horror stories? Even Lloyd Chambers said one trip might not be enough, and indeed, the forums are also filled with posts form users mentioning having to send in their equipment multiple times.

I don’t really care who the manufacturer is, you are simply wrong with your exaggerated claims. You site Lloyd Chamber’s comments to support your position relative to Canon. However, you choose to ignore the sections of his statement in which he indicates several manufacturers are the same with respect to the noted product issues, or the implication of you get what you pay for using Leica as a benchmark.

Adding a few more posts hardly supports your 50% claim. Further, I suggest you read the threads that you reference, these hardly work in your favor.

We all have the simple option of purchasing from the manufacturer of our choice. Leica might be a better choice for you and others that are dissatisfied with either C or N.

You haven’t seen any data because apparently you want to ignore it. Look at Lloyd Chamber’s comments, that is exactly what I have seen with others according to their comments. Canon QC is in a sad state, and as some here have said, nobody seems to have the guts to speak up about it.

I indeed noticed my threads have been deleted on DPR. It should be clear to others why that was done.

Meanwhile, posts keep popping up, here’s the latest:

ERR 99 thing is scaring me off
40D front focus
40D Focusing issues
Focus accuracy improved

Read comments in those threads from others mentioning also having (had) issues. And these are just on the first page of the forum at the time of writing this. Dig deeper and see how many more you find!

You may have noticed all of your threads and posts on DPR for the last 3 weeks have been deleted. And before you begin, I doubt this is a conspiracy either against you or in support of canon by DPR.

You need gain a sense of reality and perspective.

My google search link brings up enough threads, not just one that you claim to have seen on only the first page of the forum.

Also you say:

This blog entry, and the DPR thread, are quickly becoming defused from a one manufacturer sucks perspective.

As if your goal is to just make sure it’s not just Canon that appears to have bad QC. As I have said from the beginning in my comments, I don’t care if Nikon or anyone else has the same bad QC. It doesn’t make Canon or them better. In that case they all need to work on improving quality because as it is now, in my opinion, it is not acceptable. If you cannot manufacture a working lens at a retail price of $2000 without issues, then why do it and fool everyone into buying it? I never read anything form Canon telling me that they scaled down their QC and have a ~50% failure rate so they could make me afford the lens. Instead they boast about their products. Just read a Canon press release.
And so when I put down my $2000, I expect to get a good working product! Like the guy in this thread http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1019&thread=27599522

Early Jan I purchased a new 70-200 2.8 IS from B&H, lens date code Dec/07. After experimenting with it I found it to be soft (I have a 28-135 kit lens which is sharper) so it was sent in to Canon for re-calibration.

Two weeks later it returned with the following work done to it;
“Replaced EMD/IS lens ass’y, zoom unit, 2nd/3rd group lens ass’y, barrel, & other. Checked all, adjusted center/tilt/focus & cleaned factory specs”. It’s been gutted and everything replaced!

After experimenting with it (focusing chart) I noticed that it now back focuses. Needless to say it was returned (overnight shipping ). A week had pasted and I had not heard anything so I called. I was told they need my body as well, I explained the back focusing issue is the same on two different bodies I have, they told me to send in BOTH bodies.

I sent in my 40D to have the lens calibrated to it. Lens was received back with the following repair; “Replaced lens mount, mount rubber & Collars”

The first thing I noticed upon receiving the lens and body back was that the zoom collar on the lens was extremely loose, so loose that if the lens was pointed up or down the weight of the lens elements would cause the ring to rotate by itself.

This time I was told to return the lens to the California service center where it was again serviced and returned with the following repair;
“It was found that the mechanical chassis was loose causing the zoom ring to catch. The mechanical chassis was replaced.”

Upon receipt, the lens was again tested and found to be back focusing. At this point I demanded a new replacement lens. The troubled lens was returned and a replacement set to me. It is performing fine to date.

Unbelievably poor service which took a over THREE months and countless calls to resolve.

Buyer BEWARE!

I commented:
“Your statement that the forums at DPR are “filled” with various complaints is incorrect.”

To which you replied:
“LOL. Look for them, it’s easy to find.”

I don’t consider your reply meaningful. Out of curiosity I checked the 40D/+ forum, as of a few minutes ago and there was 1 complaint on the first page. There is a long thread in which the OP asked if users have problems, the replies indicate positive experiences. I also checked the Canon SLR lens forum, there was 1 complaint about a 3rd party lens.

I suggest you look up the word “filled” in the dictionary of your choice, your usage is incorrect.

Lloyd Chambers’ experiences with the 2 major manufacturers correctly reflect the costs associated with higher assurances of quality IMO, and this is not limited to photography equipment. What still remains, however, is a user’s expectations and satisfaction threshold. This will vary from user to user, and a lens that does not meet a manufacturer’s theoretical MTF data does not necessarily mean it is bad or there is a QC problem.

Manufacturers target groups of customers, establish both performance criteria and the maximum permissible levels of failures. If a camera or lens does not exceed its maximum allowable failure rate, it is considered acceptable.

In a non-photography industry, we manufactured scientific instruments that were used by both businesses and periodically by NASA. Instruments that were to fly on the space shuttle as part of specific missions required the highest level of reliability, and cost significantly more to manufacture to guarantee reliability. Few businesses would agree to pay the higher costs required to ensure very low initial failure and very high mean time between failure rates.

This blog entry, and the DPR thread, are quickly becoming defused from a one manufacturer sucks perspective.

Unfortunately, that experience is not unusual for either Nikon or Canon, and my blog contains other experiences over the years (but not all). I’ve had similar experiences with the Nikon 12-24DX, 17-55DX, 17-35 AF-S and others, the Canon 24-70/2.8L (two samples), 16-35/2.8L (two samples) and others. I would estimate based on my own experience that somewhere between 30-50% of brand new pro-grade lenses have at least mild optical issues, and some, like the 70-200/4 have moderate to severe ones-. Fortunately, in most cases these are correctable with a trip to the service center.

Quality control costs money. Companies price their products based on a number of factors, but QC is a major cost–this is a major reason why a Leica lens costs 3-5X a Canon or Nikon one–you can expect the lens will perform according to specs, with a very very low failure rate.

The other dirty little secret is that the exotic lenses we see today like the Nikon 12-24DX require extremely high precision for their optical designs to be realized (a tiny error on a 100mm lens is very very different than the same error on a 12mm lens). That is the bottom line: Nikon and Canon have superb optical designs, but realizing them requires exacting precision during assembly, and both vendors have clearly opted for low success rates to keep the selling price low.

Solutions: (1) buy 2-3 samples and keep only the best one (in my experience in virtually every case, testing will show differences among multiple samples!), (2) buy used from a trusted party who vouches for the lens, (3) resign yourself to the 4-5 hours it takes to really check a lens out, and to the 3-4 week delay in having the Canon or Nikon service center fix the problem (one trip might not suffice).

dude i’ve been reading DPREVIEW forums for years (including the Canon SLR Lens, Rebel/XT/XTi…, and 10/20/30/40D forums) and i have no idea what you are talking about when you say they are “loaded” with posts of people complaining about faulty camera gear.

Just follow the search link in my post and see the results. Here’s just an example, notice how many people are replying to say they had issues and sent the camera and lenses back:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1019&thread=27602928

i also think it’s a little funny that you ramble on about a “good number of people” and provide links to other people complaining about having faulty camera equipment but you don’t make any mention of the quality of your own camera gear.

I mentioned experiencing issues first hand, and so I am also basing this on my own experience. I’ve had a 40D body die within 2 days of minimal use with ERR 06, 40D body arriving with black dirt on the sensor, focus issues with at least 2 L lenses, and have yet to check others.

Doug:

You have made very broad based claims against a manufacturer with no statistical information to support these. Rarely does one see “I’m happy” posts for any product in forums, whether it is photography related or not. Reading forums hardly qualifies as sufficient research to make a blog entry as you did. What percentage of users have what problems?

Obviously I can’t provide hard numbers, because I simply do not have access to all that data. I have experienced issues myself, and have noticed many others having the same issues and posting about it online. Many have the issues but don’t even realize it, as osxholunman writes above, and I have said! Look at my response below.

The Google search query you set up as a link in this blog can easily be changed to search for “Nikon problems”, or for those of any other manufacturer.

As I have stated, my goal is not to see who is better here. It doesn’t matter if Nikon is just as bad or worse, because in my opinion, Canon is pretty bad already and needs to fix stuff. You can’t say “oh Nikon is just as bad so it’s normal”.

Your statement that the forums at DPR are “filled” with various complaints is incorrect.

LOL. Look for them, it’s easy to find.

osxholunman:

hello, the reason why it is perfect to someone and bad to others, it is depend on how picky you are, for some people slighty blur is acceptable, but some people want pre-press quality.

I have a friend he use the famous out of focus 1dm3, he told me he has no focus problem so far, so I asked him to send me a few full res pic for my enjoyment, he did, guess what all his shoot were slighty out of focus even on bright sunny day, I later found out that he never view his shoot 100% he only view them fit on screen, so he never see the problem.

This is a great example, and is also in line with my own experiences. This is why I said that apart from the people posting about issues, I suspect there are many more out there who have issues but don’t post about it, but even more that have issues and don’t know they have them! The issues I had myself with front/back focus, were such that if you didn’t look at the image at pixel level, you would think you have a sharp image. Looking at pixel level shows how soft is and that the focus is off. And for a pro, this is unacceptable. Even as a normal user I would not find this acceptable because I know it can and should be much better and there are good alternatives out there. Hell, you don’t have to look at alternatives because Canon should just put more effort into testing the lenses before they ship them. When their products work, they are excellent, it’s just that it seems that you have to be lucky these days to get a working one out of the box.

Here’s an example: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1019&thread=27599522

hello, the reason why it is perfect to someone and bad to others, it is depend on how picky you are, for some people slighty blur is acceptable, but some people want pre-press quality.

I have a friend he use the famous out of focus 1dm3, he told me he has no focus problem so far, so I asked him to send me a few full res pic for my enjoyment, he did, guess what all his shoot were slighty out of focus even on bright sunny day, I later found out that he never view his shoot 100% he only view them fit on screen, so he never see the problem.

The Google search query you set up as a link in this blog can easily be changed to search for “Nikon problems”, or for those of any other manufacturer. The Nikon variation returns many, many pages of hits. There is no sense in quantifying these either as statistically they not relevant. This only points out that you have a biased view, and are attempting to prove it based on inaccurate data.

Your statement that the forums at DPR are “filled” with various complaints is incorrect. There are complaints, but no more than those in the Nikon forums. Your leading problem, ERR 99, can be caused by numerous problems, some the responsibility of Canon and others by 3rd party accessories that do not work or work well with camera body, e.g. flashes, lenses, etc. Some of causes require routine user maintenance, e.g. cleaning the contacts on a lens.

You clearly do not have the education, training or experience in math, statistics or quality control.

Based on the information you published about yourself on your website, you admit that you have only 3 years experience in photography, in spite of the $20K in equipment you claim to own. It appears you have spent a lot of time collecting equipment, and not enough time learning photography, the equipment, or how to use it.

I have no issue calling any manufacturer to task when they under deliver. This blog, and your attempts to defend your position, however, does more of a disservice and removes your credibility. Yesterday one of your threads related to this on DPR was removed.

I suggest you delete this blog entry, let the whole thing pass into internet oblivion, and rethink your approach to influencing a meaningful and effective improvement where you think it is required. Throwing mud at a wall, and hoping some sticks, is just not effective.