Canon lens coating falling off?

Due to numerous user reports about lens coating peeling off some RF lenses, especially the Canon RF 28-70mm f/2L USM, I’ve decided to collect photos of affected lenses here, including their serial numbers when possible.
Has this happened before? Yes, certain batches of the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM experienced the same issue.

Send me an email with a picture of the front element if you have the same problem. Choose the lens model as title in the email.

A comment from Roger Cicala at Lens Rentals:

According to Canon fluorine coating makes it much easier to clean the front and rear elements, so dirt and oil can be easily wiped away. With at least some of the lenses Canon has released with this coating, our opinion is the coating is very fragile. We started putting filters on all of our lenses a year after Canon started putting fluorine coating on their front elements; the incidence of lenses needing front element replacements for coating scratches and peeling skyrocketed. Canon says it’s not so, so perhaps it’s just us.

RF 28-70/2L USM

Serial numbers and pictures

I also reached out to 17 more people who had coating issues, but since I never received any replies, I didn’t publish their pictures.

June 2024 – Has anyone else experienced this? We keep all of our equipment in cases and very well protected but this lens is getting these scuffs on the front, and they appear to be getting worse. They kind of look like water marks from a splash or something? Has anyone else had experience with the coating on these lenses having any sort of malfunction?

UDPATE: called Canon whilst trying to join their CPS program(whole other story, what a nightmare). They, as expected, accused me of using solvents and said things like ”we see this from time to time but its not a big issue we’re seeing with these lenses…”. Apparently they’ve never googled it. There’s a lot of us. They’ve quoted me about $585CAD+tax to replace the front element(parts and labour). Obviously REALLY UNIMPRESSED. But it is what it is. This whole experience has definitely made me reconsider my loyalty to Canon going forward.

SECOND UPDATE: Total came to $698.24 CAD all said and done. They came back to me saying this: ”Upon inspection, the technician found the product requires repair and parts to return the unit back to Canon specification. The parts required are as follows: SLEEVE FILTER, LENS ASS’Y 1ST GROUP. The estimate has been adjusted to reflect full repair and part charges.”. The new parts have a 6month warranty according to the representative I spoke with to.

Links

Reddit
Canon community U.S.A.

YouTube tutorial how to replace the front element

If you want to replace the front element yourself the part number is CY3-2517-000.

User comments, mainly from Facebook groups, about RF 28-70/2L USM

• July 2021 – MM: I’ve had EF lenses for years… Have cleaned them with zero issue.. Has anyone else experienced the coat coming off RF lenses after a few cleanses?.. This is ONLY happening to my 28-70 and my 85 rf… None of my other sigma or canon EF lenses has this issue Edit… I am NOT USING ANY CHEMICALS OR LIQUID TO CLEAN LENS.

• February 2022 – ML: Anyone else have a similar issue? I wonder what caused this. There is no scratch and I never used any chemicals to clean it but coating seems to be wearing off. Please help.
• February 2022 – VM: I have a weird story for you. The second Canon release this lens I purchased it. First day I had it I put protective filter. 1 year goes by I took the filter off to put nd filter on to find out I have a same exact mark but tiny bit smaller in the same exact area which is weird. How it got there I have no clue
• February 2022 – KD: Happened to my 28-70 too. Had to send it to Canon and got a new front element.
• February 2022 – DN: This literally happened to me last week on the exact same lens and I sent it in to canon. Let’s see what happens

• April 2022 – WN: This was the RF 28-70mm F2 lens that I purchased nearly one year ago from Canon, but the condition of the lens is making me disappointing and eventually losing confidence in this global brand — Canon. As this lens was purchased at extremely high price and therefore, I always use it carefully and take good care of it. I even use a UV filter on it to protect my lens against dust and scratches.
  This morning, I spotted the dust on front glass, and it seemed to be like a scratch. I then attempted to remove the dust on front glass carefully with using a microfiber cloth and distilled water. Unfortunately, the coating of the glass faded immediately. I was literally surprised on the quality of Canon lens, how could a lens that costs such high price will have such poor quality? Also, consumers buy lens from Canon considering on its global brand and high reputation. Therefore, we as a consumer, always expect Canon’s products to be the best and the products’ qualities are always ensured.

  This lens has been with me for only few months and the quality of lens becomes worse. This brought up a concern about the quality of Canon’s products. Is Canon taking shortcuts in the manufacturing process and using cheap raw materials to save the cost and make more profit? I spent approximately RM13,000 to purchase this lens, and expecting a better quality from this product itself but as you can see, it turned out to upset me.

• November 2022 – ND: So my 28-70 is losing its optical coating. Has anyone else had this issue and gotten it fixed. I’ve read a couple instances on canon forums and reddit but nothing about a fix. I’ve owned 6 other L series lenses over the years and have never had this issue. I haven’t cleaned it weird or sprayed anything on it. Just looking for others that also have this issue on a $3k lens.
  Picture of the coating though it’s worse in person. And is now showing in some photos.

  Thank you.

  November 2022 – KM: I had that happen to mine had to send it in $750 or something. Now the second one is doing it too.

• August 2023 – RD: Anyone else had an issue with the front element coating coming off on the 28-70 F2. Lens is 2 weeks old – and in all my years having lots of lenses never had an issue like this.
  Google shows a few on various sun forums with the issue, but be useful to see if it is more common to have a real moan at canon about it.
• November 2023 – Got my 28-70 last March and it’s been the best purchase ever. The last month or so I’ve noticed a blurryness in the middle of a lot of my photos I took my filter off to check it out thinking my lens just had a smudge from the last time I cleaned it and the coating on the glass is coming off. I’ve heard rumors that this is a known canon issues with this lens. Has it happens to anyone else? I’m sending it in next week to be fixed.

• December 2023 – RS: Yes, Canon’s new coating is weak. 3200 dollars and cleaning the front with a cloth, this suddenly appeared… very disappointed
• December 2023 – AW: I have the same lens and nearly the exact same spot.
• December 2023 – GP: This happened to me! Didn’t use any liquids, just a cloth and this happened. It’s a huge issue with this lens, not the first post I’ve seen about it. Call canon immediately.

• March 2024 – I acquired this 28-70 very cheap from someone who neglected it. Rip. Little marks do feel like scratches, but the smear may be the coating coming off.
• March 2024 – I have the same problem, I did not neglect it but did try to clean it more often which probably worsened the problem. Also considering none of my other lens look like this is a sign it might be a bad copy of the lens.

• September 2024 – Come on @canonusa !! This is the third 28-70 f2 that I’ve seen with bad lens coatings. Y’all need to fix this asap. It’s not fair that these cost so much and the coatings peel off

• October 2024 – Has anyone had issues with a lens doing this? It looks like smudge marks but won’t come off. I’m wishing I’d put a filter on it. It doesn’t really affect the photos but why is the glass doing this. I’m not scratching it or hitting it on anything and always keep a lens cap on when not shooting.

• October 2024 – Hi! This is my 28-70 lens, it’s been incredibly well taken care of and never stored without a lens cap inside a case. Over the past few months these micro scuffs have started showing up on the lens surface. Almost looks like the lens coating is coming up? Can this be repaired or do I need to get a whole new lens?
•  October 2024 – this happened to me twice I sent it in to canon and they replaced the glass.
• October 2024 – I tried to clean a greasy stain that a kind person left on the front element and it removed the coating when I tried to clean it off.
• I sent it to CPS and they said that I needed a new front element – it was a long wait for a replacement and seriously expensive but def repairable.
• October 2024 – Currently dealing with the same issue. I’ve only had mine for 3 months. Sending it in for warranty repair.

• November 2024 – I bought this lens off a friend a few weeks ago. Today I went to ship it to a buyer and was cleaning it up as I do with all lenses before I ship them. There was a tiny tiny mark on the side of the glass so I took a microfiber glass cleaning cloth like I always do on lenses and started cleaning it. It started to spread and smudge presumably the coating on the glass. I have never seen this before. I had to refund the buyer and admit that I messed up the lens. Is this repairable? Will it affect image quality? I did nothing but use a microfiber cloth and it really did a number on this coating quickly. Never seen anything like that. Any ideas?
• November 2024 – I had this problem with my 28-70 when trying to clean it with a microfibre cloth. The lens coating on these is fragile. There’s a reddit thread every few months on it.
  Canon’s RRP at the time was around AU$1k for the replacement lens element. I’m too scared to clean mine again.
• November 2024 – I owned multiple copies of this lens over the years and it happened on two of them. So yes, it is an a issue on some units. On a slightly more positive note, Canon do supply parts and I’ve managed to find out how to replace the front lens group, which made it a little less painful.
• January 2025 – Hello. I have noticed the protective lens coating on my RF 28-70 f2 has started to make these marks on the front element. After doing some research iv seen this has been happening to a lot of people with this lens.
  Can anyone let me know the sort of cost it will involve getting this sorted? I bought it off eBay a while ago so it’s not in warranty.