Tradgedy in SF

Nimai

Guess who just dropped his brand new Canon 16-35 f/2.8 L onto the concrete sidewalk?

Yes... me.

:cry

I bought this lens and received it in time for my San Francisco vacation. Traveling with my 6 year-old and 6 month-old I somehow forgot to close my toploader waist-pouch. CRASH!

My wife told me she had noticed it was not closed, but assumed I knew what I was doing and didn't want to sound like a nag! Boy, I wish she'd nagged...

Well, I picked it up and looked it over. The glass looks ok. The rim around the front of the lens is scuffed and bent in a bit, making the lens cap not fit easily. I tried it out, and AF still works. I guess things could have been quite worse.

Has anyone banged up their lens? What did you do? Send it off to the manufacturer? Bring it to a local shop?

Thank you... (feels better to get this off my chest! : )

DavidTO

Man, that stinks. Never happened to me, but not because I'm any more careful, just luckier!

I do have a lens that's acting wonky, and I may have to take it in myself.

Good luck, hope it works out,and keep us posted.

Andy

Nimai wrote:

What did you do? Send it off to the manufacturer? Bring it to a local shop?

Thank you... (feels better to get this off my chest! : )

Canon Service (Authorized) ONLY.

TristanP

Sorry to hear. My 50/1.4 was dropped a couple feet onto the sidewalk and then stopped autofocusing (or moving completely through the focus range at all). Shipped to Canon service, had it back within two weeks. Cost $85 for the fix. It's still not 100% (some squeeking while focusing on occasion and focus overall seems slower), so I need to send it back.

Nimai

TristanP wrote:

Sorry to hear. My 50/1.4 was dropped a couple feet onto the sidewalk and then stopped autofocusing (or moving completely through the focus range at all). Shipped to Canon service, had it back within two weeks. Cost $85 for the fix. It's still not 100% (some squeeking while focusing on occasion and focus overall seems slower), so I need to send it back.

That price and turn-around time is encouraging, at least.

Andy: Thanks- I'll get it right off to Canon when I return to Austin, TX.

Atrucker

It's one of those things we all do and it makes most of us say a bad word or two when we do it. Tell the wife to nag once in a while.

Pezpix

I managed to drop my 24-70 canon L glass on some jagged rocks while hiking in the Dana Point area and it damaged the motor drive on my lens. Thank goodness the Canon Factory is right here in my backyard in Irvine, CA where I sent my beloved lens for repair. And fortunately, it was still under the Canon warranty so no harm, no foul.

Plus, they even recalibrated it for me Gotta love the Canon factory. The only way to be sure!

Matthew Saville

Hehe. The Canon building is right down the street from where I live, I drive by it all the time. Ironic that I have Nikon gear. If I ever need a 20D, I'll never have a problem with service...

But since it's an L lens, if you had a filter on it the lens is probably mechanically fine. If it autofocuses and everything else just fine then hopefully they'll just give it the once over and send it back...

-Matt-

PS: PezPix, Dana Point resident? Come on up to Crystal Cove or Little Corona sometime and we'll hang out! Unpredicatable weather we've got these days, great for beach-going!

Shay Stephens

It happens
The lens I wound up dropping all the time was the 70-200. Twice it has dropped forcefully enough to bend something important (front and back). The metal is quite soft, so just as easily as it bends, I make it unbend with tools. If you are not comfortable doing it yourself, then send it to get serviced as recommended.

As a side note, I have recently changed the way I store the lens while working to cut down on the chances of it dropping again in the future

ScottMcLeod

Nimai wrote:

Guess who just dropped his brand new Canon 16-35 f/2.8 L onto the concrete sidewalk?

Yes... me.

:cry

I bought this lens and received it in time for my San Francisco vacation. Traveling with my 6 year-old and 6 month-old I somehow forgot to close my toploader waist-pouch. CRASH!

My wife told me she had noticed it was not closed, but assumed I knew what I was doing and didn't want to sound like a nag! Boy, I wish she'd nagged...

Well, I picked it up and looked it over. The glass looks ok. The rim around the front of the lens is scuffed and bent in a bit, making the lens cap not fit easily. I tried it out, and AF still works. I guess things could have been quite worse.

Has anyone banged up their lens? What did you do? Send it off to the manufacturer? Bring it to a local shop?

Thank you... (feels better to get this off my chest! : )

Had a customer bring in a 24-70L that she'd dropped onto the front, shattered the UV filter, and bent it so you couldn't remove it, or screw another UV on top.

I tried unscrewing (gently, but insistently), but it wouldn't go. I told her to take it to Canon Authorized Service.

binghott

Matthew Saville wrote:

Hehe. The Canon building is right down the street from where I live, I drive by it all the time.

canon's usa headquarters are like a minute away from me, but unfortunately, as far as i know, they don't do repairs there. all they're good for is press releases i guess.

kdog

Bummer. I don't know if it'll make you feel any better, but there's a guy on another forum who dropped a brand new 500 F4 IS ($5,500) on the concrete, before he'd even taken his first picture. He was fumbling around looking for the key for the case or something, and it rolled out of the box and fell to the concrete. He put it on the camera, and save for a little chip in the paint, it worked perfectly. Evidently L lenses are built like tanks.

Good luck with your lens.
-joel

Nimai

Thanks all-
Just to complete the story, here's what happened.
I called in and sent it off to Canon Factory Service, Jamesburg, NJ, including a letter with a description of what happened and my contact information. They took my credit card info over the phone, and said they wouldn't charge anything until they gave me a quote.
I received an email 4 days later with a quote for the repairs: $187.28
I authorized the work in a reply, and today I got it back!
I feel quite relieved. I do believe that L lenses are built like tanks. But I feel better knowing that my tank is not bent up and works well.

gtc

protection
as a 'just in case 'precaution for problems out in the field I have my telephotos covered with what we,in Australia, call stubby holders and I believe what are called in the US as beer caddies.

black neoprene rubber holders for cans of beer-these sit on the end of my telephotos and act as lens caps and also protection from dropping and other bumps and problems.

they work really well and will protect your front element. if your lens has them, the filter ring.

you can also use them to cool beer...

dallas

An extra word to the wise. It may seem silly at the time, but if you make your purchase with a credit card (platinum, I know, and I think gold... VISA or Mastercard), and you do anything really stupid in the first 90 days, the insurance on the card covers it, including theft and loss. And it doubles a one year warranty to 2 years. I cracked a case on a p+s years ago right out of the box and they reimbursed me. We all hope we will never need it, but I always buy high ticket items on the card. Glad the repair worked out for you. Everyone should check their own card policies, but most cards have this now... like the rental car insurance.