Why is the age of a lens important?

Lenses are generally well built and last, especially if you are buying the pro series lenses... age isn't usually a real issue, however it may be an indication as to how many bumps and knocks it may have received...
 
Also Canon have had a few lenses that had problems with the first batches of production.

The initial runs of the Canon 70-300 IS USM sometimes had an issue that when you switched them to portrait mode, the picture became unsharp. This was fixed in later production runs and a recall was done for the initial run, but there may still be a few unfixed copies out there.

Same story for the Canon EF 24-105 IS USM L. This one had a flare problem under some very specific lighting conditions in the initial production run.

If you know the date code of the lens and you know when the issue was fixed, you can rest assured that the copy you're buying doesn't have those issues.
 
I suppose lens age comes in handy as someone's said when there are several versions of the same lens; you can tally the age up to the spec. Other than that I'd look more at condition, providing the lens suits your requirements
 
Assuming you know what spec the lens is and that it's not requiring a recall, the age in itself is pretty meaningless if it all works as it should. It does let you take a more informed gamble as a buyer as to how much use/abuse it could have had.

Personally, I'll buy on condition over age for pretty much everything.
 
Age is important to people, so even if it isn't to you there is a case for minding it if you think you might want to resell at some point.

Personally I've tried to buy any L lenses within warranty, though people have told me on here that Canon won't honour it, Canon told me they would.

I also judge value for money on the age, I know some lenses hold their price better than others, but I'm reluctant to buy something for considerably more than it cost new.

If, as has happened on ebay, several lenses are available, all in excellent condition and all around the same price, then I'll buy the youngest one.
 
Age is really pretty irrelevant. It's absolutely no indicator of lens condition. I've got a 40 year old 50 1.7 Minolta Rokkor, and since it has been hardly ever used, it's still like new.

Modern lenses are different - IS and AF drives can burn out, but that's from use, not age.

Only a few lenses have a date/factory stamp anyway. For any production related issues, the serial number is the one to check.
 
Like anything mechanical and electrical - they will wear out eventually. AF issues, diaphram sticking/broken, electronic failure, dust/mould in them, as well as knocks and bumps etc etc.
 
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