# why would anyone scratch off the red ring of an L lens?



## sunnyVan (Oct 21, 2013)

I noticed that there's some lens listing for a lower price because the red ring is gone. I have zero interest in these listings but I'm curious why people would want to scratch the ring off intentionally. I saw quite a few of these. Any ideas?


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## neuroanatomist (Oct 21, 2013)

On some lenses, at least, the red ring is a separate plastic band around the lens. If that band gets cracked, the red ring falls off. I would not be inclined to buy such a lens, not due to the lack of a red ring, but rather due to uncertainty about what other damage might have been caused by the impact that cracked the red ring.


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## jdramirez (Oct 21, 2013)

red ring draws attention which could lead to a robbery. why do rich people not keep a wallet stuffed with hundred dollar bills.


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## jdramirez (Oct 21, 2013)

define scratched. was the ring there and they filed it down to the black plastic?


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## sunnyVan (Oct 21, 2013)

the red ring is taken off completely such that the lens is black only. Saw a few of these on ebay and amazon. Seems very suspicious to me. I can't think of other reasons other than deterring theft and robbery. 

It's kind of dumb though. A Mercedes still looks like a Mercedes without the logo.


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## distant.star (Oct 21, 2013)

.
Plain!

Amish photographers always remove the red rings!!


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## gmrza (Oct 21, 2013)

neuroanatomist said:


> On some lenses, at least, the red ring is a separate plastic band around the lens. If that band gets cracked, the red ring falls off. I would not be inclined to buy such a lens, not due to the lack of a red ring, but rather due to uncertainty about what other damage might have been caused by the impact that cracked the red ring.



This happened to our 24-105 - which is a heavily used lens, but hasn't suffered any impacts. I have no idea why the red ring cracked. Of course other people may have lost the red ring due to an impact....


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## BozillaNZ (Oct 21, 2013)

There is a design/material issue with 24-105L lens (apart from the aperture flex cable which snaps after some years of use). The red ring is a brittle plastic ring which have some chance to spontaneously crack and fall off. I don't think all of the are intentional, at least I have seen / owned 2 24-105 lenses which the red ring cracked by itself.

Of course auctions of this type would not attract the red ring whores but apart from partially weakened weather seal around the red ring/focus ring, the lens performance is not affected.

That being said, the 24-105L is dubbed the 'kit lens' of Canon entry level FF cameras, don't put up your hope too high that it gives the best construction because it does not.

Also, is a red ring really boost your ego? :


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## brad-man (Oct 21, 2013)

Yup. One day the bling ring came off of my 24-105 while removing it from my shoulder bag. The lens had not suffered any injury to my knowledge. It was on my travel rig that is usually in the trunk of my car (S FL), so I had assumed that the lens barrel expanded in the heat more than the brittle plastic could tolerate. I let it be for a few weeks, but the lens just_ looked_ wrong so I superglued it back on.


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## duydaniel (Oct 21, 2013)

Get a red rubber band and your problem is solved :


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## sunnyVan (Oct 21, 2013)

Ic. Interesting. Thanks everyone.


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## Zen (Oct 22, 2013)

Same story with mine. No drops or bangs, but the ring cracked and fell off. Interestingly, I had scheduled to send it in to CPS for cleaning and asked them to replace, repair or ? They said "OK" at no charge. When I received it back, all they did was to turn the ring so the break is at the bottom of the lens and add a short piece of clear tape. Seems like a less than adequate repair.

But I AM quite satisfied with CPS in general. No complaints. Actually, except for the tape repair, CPS is quite impressive.

Glad to hear that it can be super glued back on. I was thinking of doing the same but was worried about the chemical reaction on the lens body. But based on brad-man's experience, I'll give 'er a try.

Zen :


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Oct 22, 2013)

sunnyVan said:


> I noticed that there's some lens listing for a lower price because the red ring is gone. I have zero interest in these listings but I'm curious why people would want to scratch the ring off intentionally. I saw quite a few of these. Any ideas?


 
The red ring is a plastic band, and sometimes breaks and falls off. It might be a sign of poor maintenance. Canon will usually send you a replacement band if you ask them nicely.


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## LetTheRightLensIn (Oct 22, 2013)

neuroanatomist said:


> On some lenses, at least, the red ring is a separate plastic band around the lens. If that band gets cracked, the red ring falls off. I would not be inclined to buy such a lens, not due to the lack of a red ring, but rather due to uncertainty about what other damage might have been caused by the impact that cracked the red ring.



+1

and +1 (although to be fair, I've heard on one or two designs it can come off after time even if treated well)


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## trof2 (Oct 22, 2013)

Because sometimes you need to attract as least attention to your gear as possible.
I usually alcohol off all my insignia because I live in the hood.


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## neuroanatomist (Oct 22, 2013)

Zen said:


> No complaints. Actually, except for the tape repair, CPS is quite impressive.



And here I was thinking the 5DIII's light leak was the only thing they fixed with tape...


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## AcutancePhotography (Oct 23, 2013)

duydaniel said:


> Get a red rubber band and your problem is solved :



I am so going to start putting red rubber bands on all of my lenses. Awesome idea! ;D


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## mackguyver (Oct 23, 2013)

distant.star said:


> .
> Plain!
> 
> Amish photographers always remove the red rings!!


Nice one, I was thinking it was the same people who suffer from the terminal illness of Nikon envy and paint their white lenses black. Maybe they're all Amish ;D


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## dgatwood (Oct 24, 2013)

AcutancePhotography said:


> duydaniel said:
> 
> 
> > Get a red rubber band and your problem is solved :
> ...



Cool. Now I have a shorty 40mm f/2.8 L. And a 10-22L.


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## Schruminator (Oct 24, 2013)

Zen said:


> Glad to hear that it can be super glued back on. I was thinking of doing the same but was worried about the chemical reaction on the lens body. But based on brad-man's experience, I'll give 'er a try.



Just be careful, a little glue goes a long ways. On my 24-105 (fell off for no reason) I did this before I sold it and initially the focus ring got glued too! Luckily I barely used any glue and it spun with a little bit of force. After that, it worked just fine and you couldn't tell a difference from normal, but had I been a bit more generous on the glue I may have glued the focus ring permanently in place...


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## Zen (Oct 24, 2013)

Schruminator said:


> Zen said:
> 
> 
> > Glad to hear that it can be super glued back on. I was thinking of doing the same but was worried about the chemical reaction on the lens body. But based on brad-man's experience, I'll give 'er a try.
> ...



Thanks for the tip. I Plan to be careful.

Zen


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## sandymandy (Oct 24, 2013)

I would NEVER remove it.







Results speak for themselves!


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## silversurfer96 (Oct 24, 2013)

The same thing happened to me on my 24-105mm. One day, I took the camera along with the 24-105 out of the camera bag and noticed something wasn't right. I looked at it... I grabbed it. The red ring just came off. It broken into three pieces. I was like "What???". It was like a dream.

Long story short, since it broken into three pieces, I couldn't glue it back on. I decided to put it up for sale. To me, it just didn't look right without the red ring.


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## AcutancePhotography (Oct 28, 2013)

silversurfer96 said:


> I decided to put it up for sale. To me, it just didn't look right without the red ring.



That's an odd way of thinking. It was still optically the same lens and it would take the same pictures as before.

I would rather people be impressed by my photographs than my lens. ;D


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## WPJ (Oct 29, 2013)

Trof2, attach a pic,of,camera and lens please it like to see what it looks like.


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