How long do DSLR Lenses last? May I request your experience-based opinions on this? This question has been bugging my mind for quite a while. More so, as my most favorite workhorse Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM seems to be producing little softer images these days. It will be 5 years old this month (September 2014). I heard mixed opinions from enthusiast photographers re this issue. Veterans say, “lenses last for decades if properly cared for.” Many others say these glasses get softer with time. A well-known camera dealer opined “prosumer L lenses start getting softer after approximately 3 years of use while, premium L lenses remain good for 5 years.” I put this question to my bird photography Guru Arthur Morris. He replied “They should b expected to remain sharp forever. You might need to micro-adjust it or send it back to Canon along with your favored camera body.” As per suggestion of my very good friend Aftab Uzzaman; I ran through a discussion thread on Dpreview wherein found this opinion by Karma Traveler that seems logical: “No doubt youll come across many anecdotes about how lenses can last 10 or 20 years with proper care. And with older lenses, that is probably to be expected. Older lenses had fewer optical elements in their construction. They dont even have motors. The design is very basic and straightforward, with fewer mechanical or electronic components. As long as the lenses arent abused, they could last forever. I do have my doubts about the current generation of lenses though. Were seeing lenses with a whole lot of optical elements in many groups. Image Stabilization adds floating elements into the equation, which IMHO makes these things more fragile. There are also motors in these lenses now, which I believe have a finite life span. The lens design has become far more complex --- a lot of floating elements and a lot of mechanical parts and a lot of electronic components, any one of which could fail at any given time. There was a time when lenses could be passed down from someones dad or granddad. I think those days are over. Unless you go with Zeiss lenses, I guess. No autofocus, no motors, no image stabilization. I can imagine these things lasting forever.” Now, may I request fellow members to kindly offer their valuable opinions gathered from experiences? Thanks in advance.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 02:25:19 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015