I purchased the EF-S 17-55mm last Feb 2008. Now, I am having these problems.

March 12, 2008 - Sent to Canon NJ Service Center for focus adjustment and image softness. Lens was sent along with my 40D and other lenses for body-lens calibration. Service Center comments/details for 17-55mm said - Autofocus issues corrected and the lens mount was replaced; cleaned to factory specs; calibrated with Canon 40D body.

When I received it back everything was fine, and 17-55 focus and sharpness has improved IMO.

September 16, 2008 - I am experiencing Autofocus problem with EF-S 17-55mm. When taking photos beyond 35mm mark, the lens motor keeps shaking abnormally up and down with a loud rattling sound, and no focus is achieved; it keeps on hunting/seeking focus but will never focus on anything, near or far; at any shutter speed, aperture, any ISO, IS on and AF switched ON. I tried cleaning the lens contact but it didn’t fix it. my 10-22mm, 100mm macro and 70-200mm IS Canon lenses When mounted on the same Canon 40D body do not have these problems with autofocus or IS. I haven't tried using my 17-55mm with other body because I can't find anybody I know.


September 30, 2008 - Sent 17-55mm back to NJ Service Center. Service Center comments/details said - Replaced IS assembly and Autofocus assembly USM; adjusted center/tilt/focus, cleaned to factory specs.

Got the lens back on October 7th, and they didn't send my warranty card back, already called 3 times to customer service to send it back to me, until now I haven't received it... but warranty card is another story.

so i tested the repaired lens to check if the issue was repaired... no more problems...

Yesterday, October 15th, while taking pictures of my wife walking our dog... problem came back... 35mm mark, the lens keeps shaking abnormally up and down with a loud rattling sound, and no focus is achieved; this time only on subjects at least 10 meters or farther.

I'm sending this back to Canon again...

Does anybody experience issue like this? Did Canon really replace IS and AF assembly or they just tweaked something hoping it will fix it and me not sending it back? I really believe it's not a body issue because all my other canon lenses do not exhibit the same problem.

Is there a way to get Canon replace the lens? I'm afraid they keep repairing it until my warranty run out...

I'd rather have my 17-55mm being a dust magnet (which is not) than being unable to take pictures.

inputs, comments and advice are appreciated. Thanks.

I have not heard of anything like your descriptions, but that might just be you. Have you tired the lens on other bodies? w/ and w/o IS on?

i haven't tried the lens with other body, i don't know anybody that owns ef-s compatible body where i live.

yes i tried IS on and off... when IS off problem occur lesser than IS on. of course with AF off, no problem.

I've heard of this problem from a friend of mine.

turns out the AF was real screwy, screwy in that the lens was basically falling apart from the inside. so you know, might just be you got a craptastic lens.

Does anybody experience issue like this?

Nope, you unfortunately got a rare citrus optic. I bought a 17-55 IS Fall 2006 and have used the hell outta it and it still works like new.

ive heard IS problem with 17-55IS, Canon always return broken part when they changed it. I suggested fix it and sell it after you get it.

Ive had 70-200 2.8 IS few years back and it kept produce Err 99/01 on xxxD body but not on xxD body, I'm curious about it and i called canon, they said IS need to be changed and will cost me around US300++, i ended up sell it straight to avoid future problem. Now i try to avoid lens with IS

luant16 wrote:
ive heard IS problem with 17-55IS, Canon always return broken part when they changed it. I suggested fix it and sell it after you get it.

The OP might trying to persuade Canon into giving him a replacement lens, before selling the lemon to an unsuspected bystander...

An angry e-mail/letter to a person high up in the Canon organisation that deals with these matters usually works miracles

I have a little larger sample size (53 copies) that are put through a lot of stress (rental lenses) and can make some comments:
1) The symptoms you are describing are exactly what we see when the 17-55 IS is having IS problems, as best I can interpret what I've been told (we've had several copies act this way), when there are certain electronic problems the IS system interferes with the autofocus system somehow.
2) While I absolutely love this lens, it has the highest failure rate of any Canon lens in our experience: https://www.lensrentals.com/news/2008.09.20/lens-repair-data-10
Please consider when you look at the numbers that these lenses not only are used more frequently than almost anyone else's, they also get shipped around the country. The point is not the absolute failure rate, its that the 17-55 fails more frequently than any other Canon lens in our system (300% more frequently than average), all of which are treated the same way. Of note, ALL of the 17-55 IS failures we've had have been electronic. Most other lenses are as likely to have mechanical (zoom mechanism, element shift, etc.) as electrical issues. With the 17-55 the issues are always electrical in our experience.
3) The 17-55 has been reported to have electrical contact problems with older bodies, notably XTs and 20Ds. Apparently the contacts, or the amount of electrical signal passing through the contacts, makes it more likely to have 'autofocus bounce'. We often have customers who have what you describe, only with the 17-55 and not their other lenses, who say the problem goes away after cleaning the camera contacts. Seems apparent that the 17-55 electrical signals are more sensitive to a poor lens-camera contact than most other lenses.
4) This is personal opinion, but the 17-55 is unique among non-L, IS lenses: It has much heavier glass than any of the consumer-grade IS lenses, and the circuitry is packed in a very small area (the front 1/3 of the lens is simply a freestanding front element, all the circuitry is packed in the middle 1/3 of the lens). My guess, and its just a guess, is the weight of the lens, in a lighter consumer-grade shell results in more flexing of the circuitry and makes the lens a little more prone to electrical issues.

One other note I'll add to the above: The 17-55 f2.8 IS is one of the few lenses we've had to send back for second repairs - that is it comes back and fails again with in a couple of weeks. My assumption again is given the electrical nature of the problems, they often aren't apparent on a different camera (i.e. the test system at Canon repair center).

We've seen ourselves that when we start seeing the symptoms the OP described, they will occur on some bodies and not other copies of the same body.

First off, don't worry too much about the "warranty" period.

I forget how long, but the service center warranties their work. Be it 60 or 90 days, they do offer warranty on THEIR work.

Secondly...why did you send them the original warranty card? You're supposed to send copies of the warranty card and receipt, receipt less important than the warranty card.

Daan B wrote:
luant16 wrote:
ive heard IS problem with 17-55IS, Canon always return broken part when they changed it. I suggested fix it and sell it after you get it.

The OP might trying to persuade Canon into giving him a replacement lens, before selling the lemon to an unsuspected bystander...

An angry e-mail/letter to a person high up in the Canon organisation that deals with these matters usually works miracles

I think its more like design problem, My 50 1.4 exhibited dead AF after 4 years just like any others in this forum (I rarely used it & it never dropped) & I heard somebody exhibited the same problem again and again with different batch / same lens which has been fixed before.

I guess when it comes to design problem, you'll face it sooner or later, my 2 cents

RobertLynn wrote:
Receipt less important than the warranty card.

Nope. The other way around. If you poll the group you will find a high percentage rate doesn't even fill them out.

Proof of purchase is all you need other than a repair order authorization.

As canon USA regulation that warranty isnt transferable &he fixed his lens before. He can make a hope that Canon saved his data as ownership of the lens incl when the warranty will be expired, etc (basically that what other electronic company does, namely Nokia, etc)