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Archive 2016Which lens company has the best support or service?
p.1 #1Which lens company has the best support or service?
I just read the loxia 21 thread where multiple people have received less than adequate service from Zeiss. I also read another thread where an Otus user was given terrible service. I'm now actually worried about my ZM lens and thinking it may be a liability in the future. With all that said, which lens manufacturers have treated you well?
Feb 24, 2016 at 06:07 AM
p.1 #2Which lens company has the best support or service?
I have to give credit here to Canon - the only time (fortunately for me!) that I had to have a lens fixed. The AF of a used 35/1.4 lens broke a few years ago. Dropped the lens off at the Jamesburg site of Canon, and they fixed the issue quickly in a day - free of charge.
Feb 24, 2016 at 06:43 AM
p.1 #3Which lens company has the best support or service?
I've honestly had the best experiences with Tokina, fast return and great communication.
Feb 24, 2016 at 07:21 AM
p.1 #4Which lens company has the best support or service?
Fuji went out of their way to fix my sticky aperture issue in the X100 even though I was the 2nd owner, the camera was purchased originally in Europe and it was pasted the warranty period.
Feb 24, 2016 at 07:36 AM
p.1 #5Which lens company has the best support or service?
I've had to use Canon service several times over the years and they were always very good...no problems.
Feb 24, 2016 at 07:49 AM
p.1 #6Which lens company has the best support or service?
Canon have been absolutely excellent, not only fast but also kept me fully informed by email. Sigma on the other hand.... Took over six months to sort a problem, eventually admitted to having 'lost' my lens and then sending me another that was also broken.
Feb 24, 2016 at 07:58 AM
p.1 #7Which lens company has the best support or service?
Seems like canon is leading the pack. Not too surprising.
What's surprising is the lack of response from the people that have had to deal with high-end manufacturers like Zeiss and Leica.
What's surprising is the lack of response from the people that have had to deal with high-end manufacturers like Zeiss and Leica.
Feb 24, 2016 at 08:05 AM
p.1 #8Which lens company has the best support or service?
As a member of CPS Canada, I've used Canon Service for many years, for lens repairs at least a dozen times. Service has always been prompt, courteous, and fully satisfactory.
I've had a similar, single encounter with Fujifilm Canada, for an X100 repair.
OTOH, I had a serious problem with a Toronto-based repair centre for Mamiya MF equipment. My A 300/2.8 APO was sent there by my local shop for a cleaning, and they put a 1/2" scratch, ending with a 1/4" chip/divot, on the surface of the second-from-front, first internal element. Must have been a screwdriver slip. They claimed it would cause no issues. It took almost eight months (plus the full support of my local shop), but I finally got them to pay me fair market value for it (after trying all possible sources for a spare element). Lens$db came in mighty handy for that one.
I've had a similar, single encounter with Fujifilm Canada, for an X100 repair.
OTOH, I had a serious problem with a Toronto-based repair centre for Mamiya MF equipment. My A 300/2.8 APO was sent there by my local shop for a cleaning, and they put a 1/2" scratch, ending with a 1/4" chip/divot, on the surface of the second-from-front, first internal element. Must have been a screwdriver slip. They claimed it would cause no issues. It took almost eight months (plus the full support of my local shop), but I finally got them to pay me fair market value for it (after trying all possible sources for a spare element). Lens$db came in mighty handy for that one.
Feb 24, 2016 at 08:08 AM
p.1 #9Which lens company has the best support or service?
My personal feelings, based on the last couple of years (because service changes a lot over time, what was awesome in 2012 may be terrible today, and vice versa). Also this is in the US -- things vary greatly from country to country.
Excellent (price, turnaround time, accuracy, customer service):
Canon, Tamron, Sigma
Good
Nikon (more expensive but otherwise excellent), Tokina, Fuji, Pentax (slower but otherwise good work)
Rokinon (they do exchange - repairs, replace with a new lens for a fee similar to what repair would be, but slow)
OK
Zeiss (slow and expensive, but always great work)
Maybe not as OK
Leica (very, very slow and very expensive, but great work)
Not adequate for lenses -- all three do much better with cameras
Olympus / Panasonic (slow, poor tracking, lots of things they won't/can't fix)
Sony (slow, very expensive - often more than the cost of a new item for lenses, poor tracking, don't keep parts for things no longer in production)
It ain't gonna get fixed, go buy a new one:
Voigtlander, most 'boutique' lens companies
Addendum: A couple of years ago Zeiss did exchange repairs for the US: they'd evaluate your lens, charge your for the repair, but send you a refurb back while your lens went to wherever to be refurbished. Now most lenses go overseas to get repaired and turnaround is much slower.
Excellent (price, turnaround time, accuracy, customer service):
Canon, Tamron, Sigma
Good
Nikon (more expensive but otherwise excellent), Tokina, Fuji, Pentax (slower but otherwise good work)
Rokinon (they do exchange - repairs, replace with a new lens for a fee similar to what repair would be, but slow)
OK
Zeiss (slow and expensive, but always great work)
Maybe not as OK
Leica (very, very slow and very expensive, but great work)
Not adequate for lenses -- all three do much better with cameras
Olympus / Panasonic (slow, poor tracking, lots of things they won't/can't fix)
Sony (slow, very expensive - often more than the cost of a new item for lenses, poor tracking, don't keep parts for things no longer in production)
It ain't gonna get fixed, go buy a new one:
Voigtlander, most 'boutique' lens companies
Addendum: A couple of years ago Zeiss did exchange repairs for the US: they'd evaluate your lens, charge your for the repair, but send you a refurb back while your lens went to wherever to be refurbished. Now most lenses go overseas to get repaired and turnaround is much slower.
Feb 24, 2016 at 08:09 AM
p.1 #10Which lens company has the best support or service?
I've had great (multiple) experiences with Canon. No complaints.
I had likewise great (a single) experience with Fuji. Like Chez, Hong Kong camera, shipped to US, received warranty service in Europe-- on the basis of a paypal receipt from eBay. But just one data point.
I had likewise great (a single) experience with Fuji. Like Chez, Hong Kong camera, shipped to US, received warranty service in Europe-- on the basis of a paypal receipt from eBay. But just one data point.
Feb 24, 2016 at 08:24 AM
p.1 #11Which lens company has the best support or service?
RCicala wrote:
My personal feelings, based on the last couple of years (because service changes a lot over time, what was awesome in 2012 may be terrible today, and vice versa). Also this is in the US -- things vary greatly from country to country.
Excellent (price, turnaround time, accuracy, customer service):
Canon, Tamron, Sigma
Good
Nikon (more expensive but otherwise excellent), Tokina, Fuji, Pentax (slower but otherwise good work)
Rokinon (they do exchange - repairs, replace with a new lens for a fee similar to what repair would be, but slow)
OK
Zeiss (slow and expensive, but always great work)
Maybe not as OK
Leica (very, very slow and...Show more →
I'm happy to defer here to the above comment-- and suggest others do too-- given the relatively large dataset compared to our individual anecdotes (which, nicely, seem to line up with the above)!
My personal feelings, based on the last couple of years (because service changes a lot over time, what was awesome in 2012 may be terrible today, and vice versa). Also this is in the US -- things vary greatly from country to country.
Excellent (price, turnaround time, accuracy, customer service):
Canon, Tamron, Sigma
Good
Nikon (more expensive but otherwise excellent), Tokina, Fuji, Pentax (slower but otherwise good work)
Rokinon (they do exchange - repairs, replace with a new lens for a fee similar to what repair would be, but slow)
OK
Zeiss (slow and expensive, but always great work)
Maybe not as OK
Leica (very, very slow and...Show more →
I'm happy to defer here to the above comment-- and suggest others do too-- given the relatively large dataset compared to our individual anecdotes (which, nicely, seem to line up with the above)!
Feb 24, 2016 at 08:25 AM
p.1 #12Which lens company has the best support or service?
My best experience with service - as well as lenses - has been with both Fuji and Sigma. Sample size 1.
Clearly, Roger is the best source.
Clearly, Roger is the best source.Feb 24, 2016 at 08:41 AM
p.1 #13Which lens company has the best support or service?
RCicala wrote:
Sony (slow, very expensive - often more than the cost of a new item for lenses, poor tracking, don't keep parts for things no longer in production)
It ain't gonna get fixed, go buy a new one:
Voigtlander, most 'boutique' lens companies
...and there it is. With the manual focus, Vogitlander lenses, could not a competent lens repair specialist fix the lens, particularly if it just required adjustment rather than a specialized part? ...or do you see a lot of cases where a special part is required to fix Voigtlander lenses (say the M lenses)?
Sony (slow, very expensive - often more than the cost of a new item for lenses, poor tracking, don't keep parts for things no longer in production)
It ain't gonna get fixed, go buy a new one:
Voigtlander, most 'boutique' lens companies
...and there it is. With the manual focus, Vogitlander lenses, could not a competent lens repair specialist fix the lens, particularly if it just required adjustment rather than a specialized part? ...or do you see a lot of cases where a special part is required to fix Voigtlander lenses (say the M lenses)?
Feb 24, 2016 at 08:47 AM
p.1 #14Which lens company has the best support or service?
Leica is slow and expensive but does excellent work. Even when my Leica R 50mm Summicron had had a complete CLA 3 years earlier and develped a little oil on the aperture blades, they did another CLA on the lens for free and paid the return shipping. I have had other experiences with Leica doing similar service for free. Other than the cost and how long it takes, I have been extremely pleased with their service.
Rich
Rich
Feb 24, 2016 at 08:52 AM
p.1 #15Which lens company has the best support or service?
I sent my decentered sony FE 35 2.8 to sony, they acknowledged the problem, changed the lens module promptly without charge. That was within warranty. My sony A7 past warranty died after I dropped it on concrete floor, they repaired by changing the main board for 100-200 USD. Can't complain so far with Sony. This is in Hong Kong.
Also had to repair my xpan after the frame line and rangefinder became messed up after a flight in the checked luggage. To get a quote alone was 200 euros, in total the repair cost 500 EUR.
Another experience was with Kyocera, just before March 2015, when they would stop repairing all Contax G gears, I sent in my Contax T3 with broken "teeth" on the film spooler and a G21 that's slightly decentered. They repaired both for around 250 USD. It was sent from Hong Kong to Japan and turnaround was about 1 month. Repair bill for the G21 says "swapped front element, done MTF adjustments". Unfortunately they don't produce nor repair any cameras any longer.
Also had to repair my xpan after the frame line and rangefinder became messed up after a flight in the checked luggage. To get a quote alone was 200 euros, in total the repair cost 500 EUR.
Another experience was with Kyocera, just before March 2015, when they would stop repairing all Contax G gears, I sent in my Contax T3 with broken "teeth" on the film spooler and a G21 that's slightly decentered. They repaired both for around 250 USD. It was sent from Hong Kong to Japan and turnaround was about 1 month. Repair bill for the G21 says "swapped front element, done MTF adjustments". Unfortunately they don't produce nor repair any cameras any longer.
Feb 24, 2016 at 09:32 AM
p.1 #16Which lens company has the best support or service?
Wow! Thanks for the replies everyone. Very insightful
Feb 24, 2016 at 12:23 PM
p.1 #17Which lens company has the best support or service?
I had issues with Canon for a rebate for a printer. I lost 200 USD they lost a customer for 10 years. They are in parole now since I want the 17 TS very badly.
Feb 24, 2016 at 12:41 PM
p.1 #18Which lens company has the best support or service?
Tariq Gibran wrote:
It ain't gonna get fixed, go buy a new one:
Voigtlander, most 'boutique' lens companies...and there it is. With the manual focus, Vogitlander lenses, could not a competent lens repair specialist fix the lens, particularly if it just required adjustment rather than a specialized part? ...or do you see a lot of cases where a special part is required to fix Voigtlander lenses (say the M lenses)?
Adjsutments could be done anywhere, no question. But something like a bent filter ring can be forever.
RCicala wrote
Sony (slow, very expensive - often more than the cost of a new item for lenses, poor tracking, don't keep parts for things no longer in production)It ain't gonna get fixed, go buy a new one:
Voigtlander, most 'boutique' lens companies
Adjsutments could be done anywhere, no question. But something like a bent filter ring can be forever.
Feb 24, 2016 at 02:32 PM
p.1 #19Which lens company has the best support or service?
RCicala wrote:
It ain't gonna get fixed, go buy a new one:
Voigtlander, most 'boutique' lens companies...and there it is. With the manual focus, Vogitlander lenses, could not a competent lens repair specialist fix the lens, particularly if it just required adjustment rather than a specialized part? ...or do you see a lot of cases where a special part is required to fix Voigtlander lenses (say the M lenses)?Adjsutments could be done anywhere, no question. But something like a bent filter ring can be forever.
Thanks!
Tariq Gibran wrote
RCicala wrote
Sony (slow, very expensive - often more than the cost of a new item for lenses, poor tracking, don't keep parts for things no longer in production)It ain't gonna get fixed, go buy a new one:
Voigtlander, most 'boutique' lens companies
Thanks!
Feb 24, 2016 at 02:45 PM
p.1 #20Which lens company has the best support or service?
Javier Munoz wrote:
I had issues with Canon for a rebate for a printer. I lost 200 USD they lost a customer for 10 years. They are in parole now since I want the 17 TS very badly.
You lost $200? Try loosing the cost of a 44" wide format printer because of a manufacturer defect (an overheating issue that fries the board) Canon refused to fix after just over 1 year of light use. The sad thing is that I'm not alone (another member on this same forum had the exact same experience with the same printer). They are on my $%$# list for quite a while - and my "never buy a printer from again" list forever.
I had issues with Canon for a rebate for a printer. I lost 200 USD they lost a customer for 10 years. They are in parole now since I want the 17 TS very badly.
You lost $200? Try loosing the cost of a 44" wide format printer because of a manufacturer defect (an overheating issue that fries the board) Canon refused to fix after just over 1 year of light use. The sad thing is that I'm not alone (another member on this same forum had the exact same experience with the same printer). They are on my $%$# list for quite a while - and my "never buy a printer from again" list forever.
Feb 24, 2016 at 02:52 PM