Neither am I. I think that this is a drawback of software controlled lenses. Many mechanical lenses can be repaired. This is far more difficult for software controlled lenses, I think. The answer Sigma gave that the majority of lenses can be repaired may hold for lenses that are mainly mechanical.
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My 70-200 f4 "Pro" has died
- Thread starter pdk42
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Vale46
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- May 2, 2023
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I don't think so. Even OM System/ Olympus is able to repair lenses for years. And they have a price list for each lens repair.
In my opinion Panasonic wants to avoid having to deal with spare parts.
GeorgeHudetz
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Nor am I. I am going to continue to buy & use the lenses that make the most sense for me. The 24-105, 70-200 F4, 100-500 & 14-28 are all unique lenses that Sigma has no direct answer for. Not to mention the 20-60, etc.
It is *very* disappointing to hear that the industry as a whole is moving towards a “replace instead of fix” approach, and I applaud Sigma for perhaps being at least somewhat of a holdout in that regard, but until somebody can convince me with realistic statistical numbers that a given brand stands out above (or below) the rest in terms of failure rates (and how can they?) I’m going to buy what makes sense for me.
Having said that, I do think Sigma is unique in the industry, being privately held, and I do recall reading comments from Roger on lens rentals about how they respond to concerns about quality. So certainly they are worthy of patronage and even a bit of loyalty.
In my country shops sell photographic gear with a 5 year warranty. My guess is that a lens will be replaced by a new one if I would offer a lens for repair.
In over 45 years time I never had a broken lens. A few years ago I had a decentered Pentax 16-85mm lens out of warranty. I sent it to the official Pentax repair centre, Rudiger Maerz in Hamburg. I had to pay about 200 euros to have it fixed. When the lens came back the lens was no longer decentered at the range of 60-85mm, but at the range of 16-28mm. I simply wasted 200 euros.
A Garmin navigation device can be revised (not repaired) at some 70% of the price when new. You will get a new copy. So when you have a broken screen (5 euros worth) it will be a very expensive replacement.
Lenses are not purely mechanical any more, but electronic, software controlled devices.