# Anyone in the US buy a RF 70-200 2.8 IS recently?



## 1D4 (Aug 21, 2020)

I bought a RF 70-200 2.8 IS a few weeks ago, and have had some strange, intermittent AF issues. It's not at MFD and I did update the firmware to the latest, but I still need to test more to confirm if it's the lens, the R5, or the operator.

My question for now is if anyone who has bought the lens in the past few months could share the first two digits of your RF 70-200 serial (you can also PM me)? I purchased mine from a very large retailer, who I thought would sell through their inventory and re-stock fairly often, but my serial indicates that the lens was produced about 9 months ago. That makes me wonder if it was a faulty return that accidentally slipped back into circulation, or if it really has been just sitting in the warehouse for over half a year.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Aug 21, 2020)

I thought Canon stopped dates in there serial numbers. My RF 35 does not have a S/N on it so I don't know what they are doing for RF lens serial numbers.


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## Jonathan Thill (Aug 21, 2020)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> I thought Canon stopped dates in there serial numbers. My RF 35 does not have a S/N on it so I don't know what they are doing for RF lens serial numbers.


Should be a S/N on the RF 35 I have mine listed in my CPS account. Will have a look where I found it


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## 1D4 (Aug 21, 2020)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> I thought Canon stopped dates in there serial numbers. My RF 35 does not have a S/N on it so I don't know what they are doing for RF lens serial numbers.



The ones on the RF 70-200 2.8 IS seem pretty accurate. Mine was 83, which (if the old chart is still accurate), would be November 2019. Some other owners have 82 and 83, which would match up with the first couple of batches of the lens in Oct/Nov 2019.

BTW, I just ended up returning mine for an exchange, since at the very least, it came with a small piece of debris (or imperfection) on the first element under the front element. Seemed too large for dust and had a little bit of a shine to it, so I sent it back while I still could. Hopefully the replacement lens works better for me.


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## Bdbtoys (Aug 21, 2020)

83 (Nov 2019). Purchased in March 2020.


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## Chris.Chapterten (Aug 22, 2020)

1D4 said:


> The ones on the RF 70-200 2.8 IS seem pretty accurate. Mine was 83, which (if the old chart is still accurate), would be November 2019. Some other owners have 82 and 83, which would match up with the first couple of batches of the lens in Oct/Nov 2019.
> 
> BTW, I just ended up returning mine for an exchange, since at the very least, it came with a small piece of debris (or imperfection) on the first element under the front element. Seemed too large for dust and had a little bit of a shine to it, so I sent it back while I still could. Hopefully the replacement lens works better for me.


Good luck with the new lens. What mode did you have the AF in with your lrevious copy?


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## 1D4 (Aug 22, 2020)

Chris.Chapterten said:


> Good luck with the new lens. What mode did you have the AF in with your lrevious copy?


Thanks Chris! AI Servo, center point, using back-button AF. I'll have to experiment with a bigger AF area when I get my new copy.


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## Chris.Chapterten (Aug 22, 2020)

1D4 said:


> Thanks Chris! AI Servo, center point, using back-button AF. I'll have to experiment with a bigger AF area when I get my new copy.


I see, have you had any issues with other lenses using the same AF mode? Hopefully it is just the lens and not the camera!


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## brad-man (Aug 22, 2020)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> I thought Canon stopped dates in there serial numbers. My RF 35 does not have a S/N on it so I don't know what they are doing for RF lens serial numbers.


The serial number on my copy is on the bottom of the lens when mounted, between the information panel and the focus ring.


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## 1D4 (Aug 22, 2020)

Chris.Chapterten said:


> I see, have you had any issues with other lenses using the same AF mode? Hopefully it is just the lens and not the camera!


The 70-200 is my only lens for the R5 at the moment, which has made it hard to determine what the fault is. I will hopefully get the RF 100-500 next week, and the 15-35 2.8 comes after that. I used to shoot the same AF mode for many years with the 1D3/1D4 and 5D3/5D4, but I may need to adjust things to account for the cross type AF points versus phase detection.


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## lbeck (Aug 22, 2020)

Curious about the exact type of AF issue you were having with the first copy?


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## 1D4 (Aug 23, 2020)

lbeck said:


> Curious about the exact type of AF issue you were having with the first copy?


I probably shouldn't have even mentioned the possible issue (basically missing focus occasionally on simple scenes with lots of contrast) since I didn't fully test...it can be anything at this point, but I'm leaning toward my theory above. I mainly wanted to ask about the production dates on the lens, because the irregularities (a pretty old production date from a store that turns over stock often, plus the debris or other anomaly inside the lens).


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