STF or DBL

[polarsusd81]

I recently purchased the Canon 24-70 2.8L and it is a great lens, but I think it needs to be calibrated by CPS. Do you know how long the turn around time is for calibration? I have a wedding coming up in three weeks and if I can't get it back by then, I will wait. It will work okay for the shoot, but I just don't think it is as sharp out of the box as it should be. I rented one from west photo in Minneapolis a while back and that one was extremely sharp wide open and comparable to the 50 f1.4 from f4 and up. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Steve Foss]

Call or e-mail them to explain your problem and your time dilemma, and get a time estimate.

The East Coast service number (nothing but horror stories about the West Coast service center in California) is (732) 521-7888. Their e-mail is [email protected]

You mentioned CPS in your post. If you're a Canon Professional Services member, you'll get even faster service. I mailed in my 100-400 on warranty before I was a CPS member, asked them to rush it, and had it back within 10 days from the day it left my door.

It'd be a good idea if you have the receipt for date of purchase and the serial number of the lens when you call. Not sure you'll need it, but they may want to know that stuff.

Good luck!

[polarsusd81]

Thanks Steve. I am not a member of CPS, I thought that was the name of the service center. I thought I heard that thrown out there as the name before. I will have to try to give them a call tonight. I just got the lens a couple weeks ago, and one concern I had was when I ordered it, I went for the USA version of the lens and when I got it, it was the Japanese version. Is that something I should contact the seller (Huge photo store in NYC) about or not really worry about? I don't think it is a big deal, but when I ordered the USA version, I thought I would get the USA version.

But thanks again, I knew you had the answers.

Tom

[Steve Foss]

Tom, don't worry about Japanese vs U.S. versions. The lenses are the same.

[polarsusd81]

That is pretty much what I figured. I think the only time I have ever saw a difference is re-sale and sometimes the USA lens will bring just a bit more there. I hope to never need to resort to that though. I will most likely wait until after the wedding to send it in, just because I don't wish to risk it. The lens will work fine as it is just a bit soft in some spots. Still takes exceptional shots.

[Steve Foss]

Tom, it's probably the lens that sits on most pro Canon wedding shooters' camera bodies most of the time. It's that good.

I nearly picked up the 24-105 f4L IS awhile back after debating over it or the 24-70 f2.8L, because my wedding bookings have picked up, but held off. So far, particularly since I shoot almost exclusively outdoor weddings, I've done well with the 17-40 f4L and 100-400, and the 100 f2.8 macro makes a very sweet portrait lens when the light is poor.

Likely I'll eventually pick up the 24-105, since f4 is plenty for my type of shooting and it has the zoom range to come up to my 100-400. Not to mention, it's about as sweet as the 24-70.

But if your new lens is not performing as well as you believe it should, I think you owe it to your wedding clients to run it in for servicing to make sure it's all top notch before the wedding. There should be plenty of time if you get right on it. This is just my opinion, of course, but I wouldn't want a mechanic working on my motor if he thought one of his key tools was below par, and a tune-up can always be re-done. Once the biggest day in the lives of a wedding couple is over, it's over for good.

[polarsusd81]

Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking when I posted that earlier. After looking at the calender again, there should be time to get it in. I will most likely get it in the mail tomorrow. I have a fedex/kinkos just downstairs from the office. When I talked to them on the phone they said it would take nearly two weeks to process at this time, which with the shipping time would cut it close, but I will have to try to get a rush on it.