As in the previous two years, Roger Cicala of LensRentals blogged about the repair statistics of lenses and cameras in his company. LensRentals is a U.S. based rental company specialising on lenses, photo- and video cameras. With over 12000 lenses and cameras the company has available and 2000 repairs between July 2012 and July 2013, the sample is big enough to draw substantial conclusions. However, one shouldn’t make the mistake and automatically assume that photo equipment generally fails that often. A lens or a camera that isn’t shipped every other week and that is carefully used and well cared for won’t conk out as frequently as is the case at LensRentals. 😉
© Jack Berglund / ohyeswecam.com
Based on the data, what immediately stands out is how sensitive the lenses by RokiBowYang (in these parts better known as Walimex/Samyang) are. Even though these lenses aren’t equipped with autofocus and image stabilizer, they are at the very top of the list. According to Cicala, they cannot be repaired, which is why any faulty sample needs to be replaced by a new one.
It is also an interesting fact that besides Samyang, exactly those lenses fail most frequently you wouldn’t expect, due to their weight and sturdy looks. Following the Samyangs, diverse 24-70mm and 70-200mm originating from various manufacturers lead the list. Roger presumes it might be due to the technology implemented within the narrowest possible space. The defects mostly concern zoom mechanism, aperture control, AF motor and the stabilizer. Fixed focal lengths without AF and stabilizers (and without zoom, of course) are said to be much more robust in comparison. Except for Walimex/Samyang, naturally. 😉
I wouldn’t want to claim Roger’s work for myself and present all of his results on Fotogenerell. For more data, especially the ones on costs and duration for repairs, please visit the LensRentals blog and have a look the very extensive and long blog article by Roger Cicala. It is definitely worth it! 🙂
