Damaged Lens 70-200 L: Some Advice

[david_stuart2]

Hallo

 

Please refer to the following link:

 

http://www.club-wind.com/images/broken_lens/broken_lens.htm

 

I stored this 70-200L lens in the Lowenpro bag in the picture. When pulling

some stuff down from a cupboard, it caught on the bag strap and pulled the bag

down with it, with the lens inside. I would say the drop was 6 feet.

 

Well, as you can see, the bag didn't help much.

 

Anyway, the lens came down at an angle with the filter taking the brunt of the

blow. The filter glass shattered of course, and left the following damage:

 

1. The filter bent and unable to be unscrewed from the lens body.

 

2. Much more seriously, the glass at the top of the lens has been pushed down

slightly at the impact point, so that it is no longer at planar/level with the

top of the lens lens. The motor appears to still work fine and so does the

autofocus and manual focus, but the top glass pushed down at an angle on the

one side creates a distortion on any picture taken with the lens. Much more

distortion is visible at extreme focal length. See examples in the pics.

 

My questions are as follows:

 

1. Is it worth repairing this lens, from a cost standpoint?

 

2. Any ideas what it will cost to replace that front glass assembly?

 

Thanks!

[shambrick007]

Sucks! 1. probably, 2. send to canon to find out then you'll know for sure - worth the price of postage don't you think?

[jon_austin]

Ouch! Sorry to hear about this; I truly feel your pain.

 

I have no idea what the cost might be, but I strongly recommend that you contact a Canon Service Center for a repair estimate. Only you can determine whether it's worth repairing, depending upon the amount of the estimate, and such factors as age and condition of the lens, whether you would replace with the same or a different model, etc.

 

I've never sent a lens in for repair, but I had a light stand blow over in December (wind caught the umbrella; I've since purchased light stand weights!), and one of my Speedlites fell onto a stone patio, breaking the hotshoe. I got a repair estimate online, shipped the flash to the Canon Irvine facility, and received it back in like-new condition in about a week. Very positive experience.

 

Here's the link:

 

https://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=OnlineRepairBookingAct&fcategoryid=216&modelid=7341

 

This link is for the 70-200/2.8 (non-IS), which appears to be your version of the 70-200 from your photos. If not, you can change the lens model in the appropriate drop-down box.

 

Good luck!

[johnson_d.]

No, it's a goner. I'll give you $100 for it ;).

 

Seriously though, how could it possibly be not worth repairing? I can say with near 100% certainty that a repair will not cost more than a new lens or not likely even half that. Send it to Canon.

[frankz]

The blow appears to have knocked the 1st element a bit crooked.

 

Send it to Canon - it's certainly worth that.

[tommyinca]

Doesn't Look that bad from the picture. The filter is easy to remove. The bellow seems OK. Should be easy to re-seat the knocked off element and colliminate the lens again. Should not cost that much unless there are other un-seen damages.

[david_stuart2]

Thanks to all your responses! I will certainly send the lens in to Canon for evaluation. I am actually down in Brazil at the moment, which makes things a lot more complicated logistics wise, but having received your input I see that its definitely worth it.

 

In particular thank you for that link to the Canon estimate center...!

 

Regards!

David.

[bob_mcbob]

It could be worse :)

<p>

<img src="http://sig.fortepianos.com/70200511.jpg">

[dave404]

I got a personal articles insurance policy on my L lenses and other expensive stuff. It is supposed to cover accidental damage or theft I making me more confident taking them out places. Of course I never tried to collect.

 

Send the lens to the good old Canon service center in Jamesburg and see what they could do. I'll bet they can fix it.

 

As for Chris, I think the lens hood is still serviceable.

[mark u]

Chris - this is how to repair a failed IS unit - get it right next time!

 

http://home.fuse.net/pets/EOS/70-200/70-200.htm

 

;)

[david_stuart2]

:-) Very interesting... perhaps I should get a big pair of pliers out and ready the workbench clamp...

 

Unfortunately the damage is bending and breaking; its not possivble where I am, to do the repair.

 

Thanks for all the input, I'm going to close this question out.

[david_stuart2]

As a follow-up, I thought you may be interested to know that this lens was repaired, serviced and shipped for $185. I think that was a great deal! Canon repair center in NJ did the job. A new one would have cost around $1300...

 

Regards! and thanks for all the contributions...

David.