I just received from B&H a brand new 70-200 f/2.8L IS MkII lens.
All seems in order, except it doesn't have a date code. They're happy to swap it out, but I called Canon about it, and they said they often don't put date codes on the lenses these days. B&H says these go out as fast as they come in from Canon, so it hasn't been sitting around long.
I would rather not go through the hassle of swapping it out, if it doesn't mean anything, so I thought I'd ask here if anyone knows about "not date code" on very new Canon lenses?
Do a search if you want the straight poop as this topic has been discussed at great length in recent weeks. Actually I'm glad those things are disappearing. I'm tired of people asking for them on the B&S forum (gotta unpack the lens & use a frickin' loupe to read it!).
I have read that the new 70-200 f/2.8L IS MkII lenses made after July don't have a date code anymore. If you prefer to have one with date code, I can swap mine with you .
I also got a 35L with a UY09 date code. I am wondering if Canon has stopped to use date code on other lenses.
A date code can affect the resaleability. Some of the young'uns are always asking for the date code, wanting the newest lens as if it will spoil like milk.
Apparently, they are not going to recycle the old letters again, and have dropped them. Presumably, date codes will disappear from all new production runs of canon lenses if they haven't already.
Apparently, they are not going to recycle the old letters again, and have dropped them. Presumably, date codes will disappear from all new production runs of canon lenses if they haven't already.
From the photo of the lens mount in the link, it seems like they could easily add a '1' in front to make it a 7 character code, buying them 26 more years through 2037.
Maybe they will bury a chip inside of the lenses so that only Canon will know the specifics of when and where the lens was manufactured.
interesting that there are date code haters. I guess I must be a yung'un, since I like knowing how old the used lens I might buy is. That is particularly useful on lenses like the 50/1.4 that have a tendency to eat their AF motors over time. It's not any different than a shutter count on a body or an odometer on a car.
the date code or age of a lens doesnt really mean a thing. i have a 24L ii, uy o2 date code that is in worse shape than a UN 600 f/4 IS that i use to own. my current 600 doesn't even have a date code...oh my!
the problem is the internet marks, the people who do not actually take photos, but sit around and talk about date codes, how canon could engineer things better, etc....
timbop wrote:
interesting that there are date code haters. I guess I must be a yung'un, since I like knowing how old the used lens I might buy is. That is particularly useful on lenses like the 50/1.4 that have a tendency to eat their AF motors over time. It's not any different than a shutter count on a body or an odometer on a car.
Actually it is a lot different than "shutter count on a body or an odometer on a car." The shutter count--if you can retrieve it--indicates how many shutter cycles have been burned through and thus the theoretical shutter life remaining. The odometer indicates miles driven and is thus a ball park indication of possible wear and tear on a car. The date code merely tells you when and where it was made and nothing more. It could have sat in a stock room or gun cabinet for 2 years with zero use or lived a tough life as a store demo or sports lens and had the aperture, AF and IS activated a 100,000 times...
Gochugogi wrote:
Actually it is a lot different than "shutter count on a body or an odometer on a car." The shutter count--if you can retrieve it--indicates how many shutter cycles have been burned through and thus the theoretical shutter life remaining. The odometer indicates miles driven and is thus a ball park indication of possible wear and tear on a car. The date code merely tells you when and where it was made and nothing more. It could have sat in a stock room or gun cabinet for 2 years with zero use or lived a tough life as a store demo or sports lens and had the aperture, AF and IS activated a 100,000 times... ...Show more →
Fair point. Then it is certainly as useful as knowing the model year of the used car you plan to buy. It certainly does not tell you everything you need to know, but it is more information than nothing.
If we are talking manual focus and aperture, I would agree that there is very little concern with buying a 20 year old lens. When you are talking about micromotors and solenoids, they do most certainly wear out over time.
There's no date code on my TC 2xlll either, just a very long serial # and it appears to be painted on not etched in as in days of old. At least they are still being made in Japan...
timbop wrote:
interesting that there are date code haters. I guess I must be a yung'un, since I like knowing how old the used lens I might buy is. That is particularly useful on lenses like the 50/1.4 that have a tendency to eat their AF motors over time. It's not any different than a shutter count on a body or an odometer on a car.
The motor does not change when sitting in a drawer. My oldest Canon lens (other than the used 300/4 non-IS) is about 10 years old and maybe used for a total of 6 weeks. I have not used at all after having it CLA'd six years ago. Now is that lens (300/2.8 IS) worse than the 70-200/4 IS that I have used frequently for the past 3.5 years?
EB-1 wrote:
The motor does not change when sitting in a drawer. My oldest Canon lens (other than the used 300/4 non-IS) is about 10 years old and maybe used for a total of 6 weeks. I have not used at all after having it CLA'd six years ago. Now is that lens (300/2.8 IS) worse than the 70-200/4 IS that I have used frequently for the past 3.5 years?
EBH
granted the data is all anecdotal but if I was buying a 100-400L I like to know if it was a 2004 vs. a 2009.....seems there is a bit of difference in lens variation in those two time frames...
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