Canon 5dmkiii error resonse

[Pinarelloman]

I am in Poland and have a problem with the 5dmkiii when coupled with my 24-105. I receive an error response of " Communications between the camera and lens is faulty. Clean the lens contacts.
I tried the 70-200 2.8is and it worked fine.
I have got some lens cleaning fluid and cleaned the contacts and mating surfaces and the 24-105 appears to now be fine.
As I am off to Auschwitz early next week, should this be an issue to worry about?
The lens was purchased used and has serial nbr UT1101 and 321958.
Is it likely the lens contacts may be worn. I ask this, because I can buy another lens here before travelling further and get this repaired at home.
Any thoughts?

[ricktas]

contacts can get dirty, and cleaning them is the easiest way to remedy it. Did you clean both the contacts on the lens and those on the camera body at the lens insertion point? Cause if your lens contact points are dirty, they will likely have put some of that 'dirt' on to the body contact points as well.

Two cheap and easy ways to clean them

1. a rubber, pencil eraser, and give them a gentle rub with it (careful not to get bits of rubber in your camera).
2. methylated spirits and a cotton bud and again gently rub the contacts with the cotton bud with metho on it. < preferable over using an eraser.

In both these I say GENTLE, cause the contacts are often coated and anything other than a gentle rub will not only remove the contamination that is stopping the points from working, but also that coating. In other words treat the contacts as delicately as you can.

[Pinarelloman]

It was OK for about 20-30 shots. It seems to struggle with slightly dark or shadowy areas. I have tried cleaning it again and will see how that goes. Today I will try and find some methylated spirit.
Anyone know the Polish word for it?

[Pinarelloman]

I was desparate and ended up using nail polish remover, followed by the lens cleaner to try and neutralize the corrosive effect of the acetone. The cotton buds had a black residue on them when finished.

[farmmax]

Keep the acetone away from any plastics! Did it work? I have the same problem with one of my lenses on the 50D. It is a Tamron lens and the main lens I use. It happened suddenly a couple of days ago. My canon lens is still working fine.

I cleaned all the contacts, with no luck, so then hunted on the internet. One of the suggested fixes involving removing the lens, using the camera without the lens and a couple of other things, got it going again for a while. The next time I went to use the lens the problem was back. I did some experimenting, and found if I didn't use the lens over 38mm (it is a zoom lens), I could do what I liked with it. Change apertures, take photos in rapid fire, use any settings I like, but the minute I try zooming out over the 38mm, the error message crops up again. A broken cable in the lens is often responsible apparently, but in those cases, the lenses may work at just one aperture (usually wide open). I've emailed Tamron and am awaiting a reply, but suspect I may have to replace the lens. It has probably taken over 60,000 photos.

[Pinarelloman]

Well the acetone did not work. I visited Auscwitz today and with difficulty took most pics with my 70-200 2.8. I did put the 24-105 on at the crematorium, but it stopped after a few pics. I did get it working though using live view as it was not hunting for focus. Once it focused I was able to release the shutter, but that also stopped after a while.
Home next week and I will take it to a repairer.
Will Canon Aus accept lenses from the public or must you go through a dealer?
Maybe I should have tried manual focus?

[Warbler]

It was OK for about 20-30 shots. It seems to struggle with slightly dark or shadowy areas. I have tried cleaning it again and will see how that goes. Today I will try and find some methylated spirit.
Anyone know the Polish word for it?

Vodka....

Do you get the error when you're at the wide end only? My 28-70 has to go in for repair as I get this message at the wide end and it jammed at that end when I was using it a few days beforehand. If the cleaning doesn't last, you might want to get it checked when you get home.

[farmmax]

I can use mine as a manual lens. Because I can change the aperture via the camera, provided I don't exceed 38mm focal length, I put the lens on and set the aperture to the setting I want. Then I press the button on the camera to unlock the lens, and very slightly rotate the lens just enough to disconnect its electrics. Then I can manually focus and and take as many photos as I like at what ever focal length I like. The only problem is, the lens is not locked on the camera so you need to support the lens at all times with a hand, and don't climb mountains or ford streams with it :) If you can manually adjust your lens aperture, some people are putting some insulation between the camera and lens electrical points when locking the lens in, and using the lens as a manual one.

This is the YouTube video I watched which helped me to at least get my lens working enough to experiment and find out how best to use it. Shouldn't be any harm in trying this. It works for some people.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9qwrWbS0d0

[Pinarelloman]

I tried again today for future reference, my camera works on manual focus.

Wish I had known that at Auschwitz.

[farmmax]

That is good news! At least you can limp along using it until you get home. Hopefully it is not the autofocus motor causing problems.

[Pinarelloman]

Home now and have been quoted $330 to repair the lens.

[Warbler]

Let me guess. It's that broken ribbon thing common to the 24-105?

[Pinarelloman]

Look, the guy has not looked at it ye, but is pretty sure that is the problem.
Here is the response.

90% of the time the Power Diaphragm Assembly flex becomes torn from zooming the lens in and out over time, causing communication error 1 also auto focus hunting issues (auto focus moves in and out not locking onto a focus point).
It will cost $330.00 per lens to have the Power Diaphragm Assembly flex cable replacement.
The price also includes a service and clean to all optics, barrels, gears, motors and components. Also the alignment of the optics are checked and kept in alignment. Tightening and glue locking any loose screws ensuring all barrels are tight and the zooming system is tightened.

The PDU flex cable is also fix correctly and protected so that the flex lasts a lot longer.
The repair comes with an 12 month warranty.
We do require 3 to 7 working days to complete the job.
We are located at/or Postage

[Warbler]

That is one of the few things about Canon that really irks me. That is clearly a design fault that they refuse to acknowledge. Another was the foot on the original 580EXII which never made good contact with the hotshoe. Canon refused to accept that is was an issue but then sneakily replaced the foot with a new design later on. I have a few of these and the foot on the first one has nice smooth pins, but the later onbes have sharper pins. It's easy to just run your finger over then and feel the difference. Why they didn't just own up and fix them is beyond me.

Anyway rant over. I am generally happy with Canon and my Canon gear.

[Pinarelloman]

My lens has now been repaired. The cost was $330. The cable was broken as mentioned above. Happy with the service from a Sydney company called Works Perfect.

[bricat]

Can you inform us as to how old the lens is. This was apparently fixed in later models so just wondering.......cheers Brian

[Pinarelloman]

So UT gives me Japan manufacture and either 1979 or 2005 as manufacture date.
I would guess 2005. I purchased the lens second hand in 2010 and it has worked perfectly.

I did ask the guy whether it is a common Canon fault and he said 24-105 yes and also 24-70.
I then asked about 70-210 glass and he said not very often anything goes wrong with those lenses.