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I was so happy to see\u00a0the FedEx driver\u00a0that I snapped his picture through my living room window as he walked my lens up to my front door. Yes, I was acting like a little kid on Christmas morning!<\/p>\n Dig that crazy purple outfit – including color coordinated gloves!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n And here it is, inside its case, before I even took it out of the box. It was packed super-well and there wasn’t even a scratch on the outside of the box. One of my concerns was damage during shipping but I needn’t have worried.<\/p>\n Two years ago when I had to send the same lens into Canon for repair it was out of my hands for 3 1\/2 long weeks and I thought I’d go out of my mind without it for so long. Since\u00a0that was an experience I didn’t want to repeat I joined Canon Professional Services (CPS) because one of the benefits of membership is expedited service – a maximum service turnaround of three business days. I shipped my lens to Canon’s Costa Mesa, CA\u00a0Factory Service Center\u00a0on Monday February 20\u00a0and expected to get it back about March 1 (allowing\u00a03 days for repair service on site, 4 days for shipping there and back and two days for the weekend in the middle).<\/p>\n But it was out of my hands for only 4 days total\u00a0(Monday the 20th to Friday the 24th)! I think that’s exemplary service and that alone was worth the $100 annual fee for CPS Gold\u00a0membership (there are other membership benefits too). Since many intermediate Canon photographers wonder if they should join CPS I thought I’d provide a brief summary of the benefits and\u00a0conditions of membership and my experience with it.<\/p>\n I’ll never be without CPS again! Getting my lens back in only four days was more than worth the price of admission all by itself and in addition my 20% discount saved me $53.80 on the repair. It would be my recommendation (for\u00a0what\u00a0that’s worth) that any Canon photographer who qualifies snap up a CPS Gold membership at the first opportunity. I’ve heard that Nikon has a similar program but\u00a0I don’t know much about it (though I’ve heard through the grapevine that it isn’t as “user-friendly” as Canon’s). Here’s a link to all the details about CPS<\/a> if you’re interested.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ok, what about the repair of my lens? I sent it in because of some intermittent and variable sharpness and overexposure issues I’d been having. Here’s what Canon said about my repair:<\/p>\n I’ve done some research and\u00a0some folks who’ve had issues with the power diaphragm assembly on other Canon lenses have also had sharpness issues so I’m hoping this repair and “adjustments” solved both problems. My first test shots yesterday afternoon suggest that they have been remedied\u00a0(I’m very encouraged) but only time will tell for sure.<\/p>\n For those interested this repair cost me $230.37 including tax\u00a0after my\u00a0$53.80 CPS discount.<\/p>\n If any of my readers have had experience with CPS I’m sure many of us would be interested in hearing about it – positive or negative. In the past I’ve heard some of both but most feedback I’ve heard on the subject has been overwhelmingly positive.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n PS – I suspect some of my readers are sick of hearing about my lens woes so hopefully this will be the last I’ll post on the subject!<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Most readers know that recently I had to send my 500mm lens into Canon for repair. I truly feel lost without it and my separation anxiety has been pretty intense but the FedEx man brought me the cure yesterday afternoon at 1:15.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/fedex-driver-9315-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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