Focus searching (or not as the case maybe) on old lens (EF 70-200 F4L)

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Just wondering if I've diagnosed these symptoms correctly.

My age old (20+ years) Canon EF 70-200 F4L has finally started playing up. Its been dropped out of short pockets while shooting Miss England and from greater hights while scaling fences at silverstone - but this year I noticed it not picking up focus on subjects. At first I thought it was the focus limiter but tests quickly rulled this out.

If I get the focus "about right" manually it then starts to track and will work in servo mode but i just can't rely on it.

I suspect the focus motor is going? Would that be correct? although its always been so quiet and silky smooth that I can't really hear anything anyway....

If so - is there value in getting it fixed? where I could I do that and whats an aprox cost? Its produced some cracking images over the years and i'd be sorry to see it go although an RF 2.8 version is next on the shopping list anyway once they release some info about the new version... So, cost effective to fix? yes/no? I can still use it on a remote for sure.
 
I surmise it will be a "parts availablity" question as well as 'is it worth the (possible) cost of such a repair' ?
 
It’s sad that it’ll be ‘abuse’ rather than age that’s done the damage, it’s a genuine baby when compared to my 70-200 which was ‘old’ when I bought it 2nd hand in about 2003, released in 95 mine came in a solid lens case rather than the soft bag that’s now used for L lenses.

But back to the question, it’s likely not economically viable to repair, they’re fairly cheap now.

And for info I’m loaning the RF 70-200 f4 this weekend, having previously loaned the 2.8, I’ll let you know how it stacks up.
 
Phil V said:
It’s sad that it’ll be ‘abuse’ rather than age that’s done the damage, it’s a genuine baby when compared to my 70-200 which was ‘old’ when I bought it 2nd hand in about 2003, released in 95 mine came in a solid lens case rather than the soft bag that’s now used for L lenses.

But back to the question, it’s likely not economically viable to repair, they’re fairly cheap now.

And for info I’m loaning the RF 70-200 f4 this weekend, having previously loaned the 2.8, I’ll let you know how it stacks up.
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Please do, that will be really useful.

In terms of the abuse - that happened in 2007 and 2012ish so its more of an age thing I think - its never been a problem up until march and i was taking photos of the cat (just randomly) with it no issues over christmas and earlier in the year. I guess a bit like my 24-105 which needed an aperture flex cable replacement - age and wear more than abuse. Canon CPS did that in 2022 (Just before they canned the service). So if they can repair a mk1 24-105 i am guessing its still possible to fix the 70-200
 
I had it in my head that the f4 was a relatively recent addition, but it was 1999. I must have got mixed up with the IS version.

BTW the RF F4 has arrived and it’s surprisingly small and light. First shots look pretty decent too
 
Phil V said:
I had it in my head that the f4 was a relatively recent addition, but it was 1999. I must have got mixed up with the IS version.

BTW the RF F4 has arrived and it’s surprisingly small and light. First shots look pretty decent too
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must be light if its lighter than the 2.8 version which seemed very light when I handled it.

Yeah - the IS version must have been about 2007..ish because I bought my non IS version in 2005. Then the Mk2 came later of course
 
Here’s a sample from the weekend, only really used it for the 5a side, it was faultless.
 

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A_S said:
must be light if its lighter than the 2.8 version which seemed very light when I handled it.
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It’s 695g which is 10g lighter than your EF mount and 65g lighter than the IS version of the EF lens.

The RF 2.8 is 1070g (375g more)
 
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Guess thats obvious when you spell it out.... obviously the one with less glass will be lighter!
 
A_S said:
Guess thats obvious when you spell it out.... obviously the one with less glass will be lighter!
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And the new ones are plastic bodied, the old ones were metal.
 
Just realised, I’d like an RF version of the 70-300l that I had no interest in when it was EF mount.
 
Shame about your 70-200 F4 they are old now but still excellent, I bought mine in 2006 and it’s one of my 3 lenses that I use all the time , would be lost without it
Is it worth ringing Canon to find out how much it would actually cost to repair ?
 
LCPete said:
Shame about your 70-200 F4 they are old now but still excellent, I bought mine in 2006 and it’s one of my 3 lenses that I use all the time , would be lost without it
Is it worth ringing Canon to find out how much it would actually cost to repair ?
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Possibly, I know there are chaps on ebay that can repair old lenses so i was hoping someone might recomend one. When I get a bit more time I'll try and have a search around if not
 
I might be wrong but I would expect Canon could still fix it , they would be my first choice , always been excellent when I’ve needed service. repair or calibration
 
LCPete said:
I might be wrong but I would expect Canon could still fix it , they would be my first choice , always been excellent when I’ve needed service. repair or calibration
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I am sure you are right - lets see what canon announce then I'll make a call. Just that I am sure CPS would find an additional 30 odd things they needed to fix :p
 
I would guess you can't manually focus it to achieve a properly pin sharp image of a equally spaced landscape test shot it was once capable of. Chances are it would be quite poor without even looking too hard and thus it is not doing a good job tracking.

A dead af motor would be exactly that most of the time. Nothing or just some random noises.

No reason not to pick up IS model now that they are going for nearly next to nothing. I honestly would not bother with any of EF f/2.8 variants because they are truly turd for the money you spend even in todays values
 
A_S said:
I am sure you are right - lets see what canon announce then I'll make a call. Just that I am sure CPS would find an additional 30 odd things they needed to fix :p
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I can only go by my own experience, have always found Canon to give decent service, do know what you mean though, remember someone on here saying that they had a quote to fix an old camera body and Canon wanted to fix cosmetic issues that weren’t important to him
To be honest though I would want a lens to be spot on , to me camera bodies come and go but a decent lens is long term
 
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