EEK! I dropped my canon 50mm 1.4

So right before a hiking trip, I dropped my 50mm 1.4 from waist height onto

carpeted floor. The carpet was pretty thick and the lens bounced off the side

of a bed before hitting the floor so the impact wasn't that bad.

 

Anyways, I just picked it up and put it in my camera bag without checking it cuz

it didn't seem like that bad of a drop. Sure enough, on my hike, I discover the

lens is damaged.

 

So what seems to be the problem is the autofocus. On autofocus (it's a FTM

lens), when I turn the focus ring, it's totally fine. On manual focus, it's

totally fine. But on autofocus (when trying to focus with the body), it would

be slow when the focus is near infinity and gets slower when the focus gets

nearer. When it approaches the close focus range, the autofocus would slow down

to a hault and pretty much get stuck there. I can manually focus (full manual

or FTM) the lens away from that point and AF would work slowly again but halt

again somewhere near close focus.

 

So I'm guessing the USM got knocked out of alignment or something like that.

I'm not sure how this micro USM works but I'm wondering if anyone has had this

problem and how they solved it or is there some easy to follow Do-It-Yourselves

online to fix similar problems. Maybe it just needs a "knock" in the right

direction to re-align the USM or something like that. Any suggestions? If not,

then I'll probably have to send it into Canon, or if it's an easy problem to

fix, I might bring it to a local repair shop.

 

Oh, I've also tested the lens on another body and the same symptoms exist.

The problem with that lens, though it has USM and ftm, It's not a ring USM, therefore it still use gears to move the glass elements when auto focusing.

 

The damage might have something to do with a gear being damage , due to the front of the lens taking the impact of the fall.

From what you write, this lens wants to see a canon repairsman.

 

Especially the 50/1.4 is (due to the somewhat strange combination of a micro-usm and full-time-manual) known to be kind of fragile. And since a lot of parts are plastic, there isn't much you can do yourself.

It's not so much the focusing technology that makes this lens fragile; it's the fact that the

front element moves--it thus absorbs any front impact directly with the focusing gears.

On the first day of my Rockies trip I dropped my 20D with 17-85mm IS lens attached from waist high onto a wooden floor! It fell onto the lens and smashed the filter (no hood attached), bent the filter ring such that I needed a wrench to remove it. The most heart stopping moment of my holiday. The lens appeared undamaged and I contined my trip using the lens to no ill effect thank goodness. I know that there are delicate components in the camera and lenses but, in my case at least, they seem robust enough to survive such a drop.

>>> Maybe it just needs a "knock" in the right direction to re-align the USM or something like that. <<<

 

I am not sure if this line is serious or if you are just letting off a bit of steam from frustration (understandable).

 

But if you want to try it hold the lens over the carpet, in the same position but 180 degrees around and drop it again: that should fix it.

 

OK: that is silly advice and of little use to you, so too IMO is dissecting the if`s, but`s and maybe`s about the lens design etc.

 

1. Get an idea of how much it will to fix by a qualified technician.

 

2. How much is a new one?

 

3. What is better value to you?

 

Sidebar: 2a. Are you happy using it as a manual focus lens only?

 

Also: I read (here at photonet I think) that there is a school of thought that believes manually focussing this particular lens when the selection is `AF` is detrimental. Sorry I can not recall further details, and, at the time of reading, I did not confirm the sources.

 

WW

I made 2 long scratches on rear element in 100/2.8 macro USM few days ago :(

I dropped my 50mm 1.4 once, soft enough landing to avoid exterior scratches or damage,

and it didn't seem to focus well after that. A trip to Canon restored its capability. The job

ticket accompanying it said something inside was broken and replaced.

I dropped my 70-200 f4 L anout a foot on to concrete and got the same problem - no autofocus. I was told it was a damaged helicoid though some lens barrel parts and the mount were changed at the same time as they were marked. It was not cheap. It was done part-paid under house insurance. Ask for a quote then see if it is economic to fix.

I'd get a repair estimate from a local shop. If it is more than $80 to repair, I would either:

 

1. Buy a 50mm f/1.8 with the $80 you would spend fixing the 1.4, and keep the 1.4 for manually focusing and/or when you need f/1.4.

 

2. Trade it to the shop as part credit toward a used f/1.4 model, if they have one. You should be able to get at least $100 credit, maybe more.

 

3. Sell it on E-Bay with a description of what you have posted here, an esitmate of the repair costs, and get a replacement.

 

Luckily this is a reasonably priced lens!

 

Keith

Light weight, small size, lots of automation, cheap price, all add up to a fragile lens.

 

Older well made manual focus glass would survive this. New style plastic, just replace it. I would not bother letting a repair person hack it up and then buying a new one anyway.

Exact same thing happened to me (same symptoms)--I dropped it less than 8 inches onto carpeted floor. Give up trying to fix it yourself--it's one of those gears inside. Just send it in to Canon to fix. I paid $140, including shipping. It works great now--just like new and I'm more careful.

I think it would need to see a repairman straight away, so that you do not damage the mech any more with use.

 

As it appears to be a competition regarding dropping lenses, I managed to drop an old 80-200 telephoto down an set of stone stairs in a church, it hit every step on the way down (thirty five or so). When I caught up with I expected shards of glass to drop out of the end, but the glass wasn't even scratched. It worked fine, and even after submerging myself in a river with it in the pocket at a later date, I still sold it for 50 pounds on *bay! So that one was definitley indestructible as it worked fine when I sold it!

 

Best of luck with getting yours fixed though.

 

Jim

Savas Kyprianides >> How much did the repair cost you?

 

Thanks for the comments everyone. Looks like it needs to go back to Canon. I'm in Canada and the closest dealer is in Calgary Alberta. I hope it'll cost no more than 150 canadian.

This is VERY fragile lens especially to shakes / falls. The AF on mine stopped working for no apparent reason one day. On doing some research on the boards & the net, it seems like the AF on this lens is very very flimsy and will break for no apparent reason.

 

If you want it repaired, check out the Horizon electronics folks @ Camera Clinic 295 Gentry Way #6 Reno, NV 89502 775-829-2244. AFAIK, it costs ~110 to repair + shipping.

 

-- V

Weiyang Liu,

I just purchased a new Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM for $283 USD from Adorama. There is a Canon $25 rebate on this lens until the end of the month. They often have used lenses there, so it might be worth cheching. I have bought two used lenses from Adorama and I believe that they are reliable, both in checking the functionality of used equipment and backing their sales with good return policies.

 

Jim

I dropped my 17-55 f/2.8 IS last onto the hardwood floor of the church last Saturday right before the wedding started. Luckily, I put my foot out and sort of kicked it before it hit the floor, so it landed rolling fast. Picked it up, and no damage was done. Sometimes you just get lucky.

 

The 50 f/1.4 is a fragile lens. Mine's been dropped too, but not by me. It's focus was binding, so I took it apart to see what's the matter. There are some plastic cam followers in there that slide in the cam slots of one of the sleeves. Both the screws that hold the followers and the cam slots themselves are quite fragile. On mine the cam slots got slightly bent and are causing the binding.

 

I should either order the parts or send it in I suppose, but I've read reports that repaired copies of this lens often have poor optical performance. Honestly, I'm not sure it's worth doing.