Old school Cannon FD lenses still beat modern autofocus for repair work

I see everyone online raving about these new mirrorless lenses with all their electronics and stabilization. But when a lens comes into my shop with a fried circuit board, you're basically throwing it in the trash. Last week someone brought in a 2022 Sony zoom that needed a $400 main board replacement. Meanwhile that same day I had a customer's Canon FD 50mm f1.4 from 1978 with a stuck aperture blade. Took me 45 minutes and zero special parts to fix it. Those all-metal lenses were built to be taken apart and put back together. You can still find them for $50 at garage sales. Am I wrong for thinking the old mechanical glass is better for our trade?

2 comments

2 Comments

diana82911d ago

Ngl you totally changed my mind on this, I was all in on new gear before lol

alicec8611d ago

Ngl you totally changed my mind" - ha, that's cool lol. But here's something nobody's really talking about: the resale value on old gear is gonna tank if everyone jumps on the new stuff at once. Like when everyone sold their gas guzzlers for hybrids and then the market was flooded. Wait six months, let the hype die down, then you can pick up perfectly good used gear for half price while the early adopters take the loss. Patience pays off more than the latest and greatest does, trust me.