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Dodgy Lenses …
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Quick question.
This is short notice but putting it out there for a quick response if possible. Am to buy a 2nd hand Canon 17-55 f2.8 IS later this evening. Price has been agreed.
Supposed to be 11 Months old, pristine, and bought in Japan.
Having heard the word ‘Japan’ alarm bells started ringing re counterfeit goods!
Has anyone out there heard of counterfeit Canon lenses on the market? Do they exist?I can do all the usual checks, i.e. Glass, focus ring etc, but is there anything else I should be looking out for?
Regards,
NI’ve never heard of counterfeit lenses doing the rounds but what might be an issue is the status of ‘grey’ imports. Basically you may not get warranty support for lenses which have a serial number from a different market (ie. Asia or USA) and I’ve heard of some repair centres (in the US) will not service grey imports even for payment! Dont know if that is such a problem over here though.
When checking a lens I look for scratches on either front or rear element (generally a scratch on extreme edges of the front glass element wont show up in photos), oil on blades (if you can select aperture on lens, stop it down to F22 and check for misshapen blades or oil), looking through the lens there may be a little dust but unless it’s very heavy or conspicuous it wont cause harm except perhaps more flare. Check the zoom seems smooth through the range, ditto for focus. If it’s got a USM motor then try to autofocus with a lens cap on and see if there’s any whining while its going through the range, could indicate a USM motor about to die. Check the contacts aren’t corroded also.
You should check that there is a serial number and that it makes sense:
The serial number is printed on the back of most EF lenses, typically in small white characters on a black baffle in the rear lens mount.
Since Canon’s SLR lens factory is in Utsonomiya, you might see a date code starting with “UG” for a lens manufactured in 1992, for example.
From 1986 it would be UA, 1987, UB etc.
A 1986
B 1987
C 1988
D 1989
E 1990
F 1991
G 1992
H 1993
I 1994
J 1995
K 1996
L 1997
M 1998
N 1999
O 2000
P 2001
Q 2002
R 2003
S 2004
T 2005
U 2006
V 2007Previous to 1986 the lens date codes did not include the factory letter. A lens made in 1960 would be:
A followed by a number
This continued up to to 1985 ie Z followed by a number.
I think the 17-55 f2.8 was introduced in 2006. The serial number should start with UU, UV or possibly UX.
All my personal camera gear I own, either comes from Hong Kong, China or Japan
Canon (or any other manufacturer doesn’t have separate factories for lesser quality lenses, cameras etc…
It’s just to do with the Warranty, in which case I have a Mack Warranty registered to every lens and body I own.
All the Warranty’s are Worldwide and vary between 3 / 5 / 7 years)
Even better so than the Manufacturer’s Warranty, as they are normally only for 1 year
If it was actually bought in highstreet Japan then there is I would say no chance that is is counterfeit.
Hope your purchase went well.Martin
Hi folks. Yep I bought the lens 3 weeks ago. No problems and the seller was genuine. V happy with the quality from it.
Regards
N
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