I have had this lens, now out of warranty, for a while now and have been extremely happy with it.

However, it is now suffering from what I now know is a fairly common issue. That is, Error 01 - clean lens contacts. I have taken it to 2 camera shops (who agree with me) and researched its symptoms on a few camera sites.

It is now bleeding obvious the problem is an internal flex circuit ribbon that stretches along with the barrel during zoom. This is prone to become brittle then crack.

I took it to Canon at North Ryde today, prepared to pay not only the cost of a new ribbon but, the cost of labour too (of course).

However, Canon tell me that you can not simply fix/replace this part. They want to replace (and charge) for the whole apperture assembly at $600-700. I know the apperture blades are not sticking (as Canon tell me it must be) because, with the setting of f22, I press then release the DOF preview button over and over while watching the blades sliding freely in and out.

This, to me, seems akin to a car company wanting to force me to replace the whole front end of my car because a headlight blows.

Before exploding, I will email Canon corporate to ask them if the replacement of the ribbon is possible, without replacing all the other bits that are fine.

Has anyone else had this, or a similar, problem? What satidfaction did you receive?

Scotty