Broken Canon 16-35 lens
 

I just had a mishap that was not fun to see. Shooting stills inside and went to put the camera on a table and it slipped out of my hand. The Canon EF16-35L 2.6 broke off from the 5D MKII camera. The mount stayed on the camera but the lens is now in two pieces, the lens it the floor not the camera on first impact. I was able to remove the lens mount off the camera as normal. Put the 70-200 on the camera and it seems fine. But still worth getting the camera checked out.

Sent an email to my insurance company so they can move quickly. And an email to Abel where I purchased the lens asking where to get the lens fixed and camera checked out.

Where do you send lens to be fixed? Do they do this in NJ? I am in RI. Will need this the end of next week.

Mistake on my part but the amount of time I handed cameras and this if the first one I have dropped there is not much to do but move on.

Found the info through the Canon site. I am going to send the lens back for hopefully a repair and the body back to be checked over.

That's terrible, Paul. Best of luck with a fast, solid, inexpensive repair.

My thoughts are with you Paul. it is never a nice feeling and puts your stomach in knots when it happens!

I've accidently dropped cameras about 10 times during my worldwide travels, and a few times even at home. Occasionally I've been lucky and the results were just external dents or scratches, but more often the lens has cracked in half or, like the time when I dropped a complete new camera and lens off the side of the Grand Canyon, it was smashed into a million pieces...as shown in this photo:

Yup my stomach jumped when the camera bounced. One of the many, many, reasons to have great insurance.

It was a clean break and hopefully the lens took the brunt and not the body which seems to be fine. But I will still send the body in for a checkup.

Sorry to hear about the slip of hand. Insurance does help.

I always used to send cameras to Marty at Professional Camera Repair in NYC. But I think after they are out of business now. So canon is your best bet.

Are you a member of Canon CPS?

If not join they have many accelerated repair programs.
Link:
Canon U.S.A. : Canon Professional Services

I hope the rest of the new year goes better for you. We are finally seeing heavy snow up here.

Thanks Olof,

I am sending the gear to Canon.

Appreciate the Canon CPS link. I tried to sign up but they say I do not have enough gear.

New Year is going well this is just a very small bump in the road that happens.

Hi Paul -
My friend Jim Sicile had the exact same thing happen, broke the 16-35 right off the mount. As I recall Canon repaired it for about $200.00 and Jim was mighty relieved.
If you purchased with a credit card it may be worth calling them, some guarantee/insure items for up to 90 days after purchase ( although I suspect that benefit will go the way of the ox cart soon).
Accidents happen, don't let it make you nuts.

Thanks Denis,

$200 repair fee would be fine. Sending this out overnight in the next hour.

Not going nuts just feel bad about nice gear hitting the wood floor. But no worry here, I am ready to move on and put it back to work quickly.

Contacted a repair shop in NYC Abel recommended and they said 2-3 weeks at the early end. Canon said 7-10 days max. So it goes off to Canon.

Slightly off-topic, but you reminded me of something that happened to me once.

I literally dropped (it slipped out of my hand) my 70-200mm f2.8 IS once, and my body, my instincts if you will, were so shocked and concerned in that split second, that I literally was able to catch it before it hit the ground. It might seriously have been the most athletic, hand-eye coordinated thing I've ever done, LOL!!!

It was seriously a miracle almost, as the lens was headed for the concrete garage floor, ha!

That said, sorry about your woes, hopefully they'll fix it up for a reasonable price -- I love that lens (16-35).

GOOD CATCH Bill,

When it flew out of my hand it went the opposite way I was going. Guess i need your quickness.

Sent it today overnight morning delivery since yesterday FedEx and UPS were shut down with the snow storm. Should hear Monday/Tuesday what the damage is for the repair. Hoping the body is ok and does not need a repair.

I'm a Canon CPS member, but even then they won't accept some of my equipment: I could register my photocamera's (5D's) and lenses (8 in total), but the most expensive lens, a Canon video wide angle, could not be registered. Strange organisation...

I once dropped a 70-200 while testing a motor boat for a watersports-magazine. Believe it or not, the bayonet fitting came loose, probably by rubbing the camera against one of the posts of the flybridge during the brisk motion. When the lens eventually came off, it first hit another photographer's head on the deck below the fly, and then bumped off his head the right way: onto deck, not into sea! No damage at first sight (except the lump on the other guy's head), but about a year later the internal block of lenses came loose, so I had to have it repaired anyway.

Too bad in this country there's not one insurance company that will ensure photographic equipment or video stuff.

Good luck with the camera, Paul!

Hi Luc,

I was surprised when I tried to register for CPS they said I do not own enough gear. Oh well I get their point.

Yikes the head is harder to fix then the lens. Glad it all worked out.

Your story is exactly why I sent both the lens (no real choice there) and the camera body which seemed fine but you never know.

Canon received the gear yesterday and I should know the damage by Tuesday.

I have great insurance for all of my gear but it is not cheap.

I insured all my camera gear last year with E&L.
I was travelling to Canada to do a documentary so I thought it prudent.

Well Canon just sent me two repair estimates and I approved both.

The body was $300
Lens $160

Guess it made good sense to send the body back. Could have been a lot more expensive.

I thought the camera body was undamaged? $300 is a hefty bill if nothing was wrong with it. Which repairs have they said needed to be done to the body?
The $160 lens bill seems OK though and well worth getting it repaired.

I could not see anything wrong with the camera body but thought it made sense to send it back for a checkup. The camera lens mount was knocked out of square which is not a surprise.

Agree the lens fix after broken in two for $160 is a great price.

I was told this is still full warranty after the repair since I used Canon.

Yes, Canon's own repair prices are sometimes quite steep compared to a private professional camera repairer that I use; but if it is true that the actual body bayonet mount was knocked out of alignment, then it was worth having it fixed to avoid any metering or connection problems further down the line.

Agree Tony I would not want to have a shot lost from a poor repair. Also Canon has a 7 day turnaround and others were 2-3 weeks.

Wow some huge CARP on your site.

Yes, I've fished for them since boyhood and never lost the excitement for adventure since then! :)

Tony it looks like a blast. I could see how you can not loose the passion.

That's very, very reasonable. I paid over $700 for the repair of my lens by Canon in France. They gave me a replacement during the repair period, however.

Agree Luc the repair is less then I expected. They will have it back to me before the next gig. Missed a few nice shots with ice and blizzard but oh well.

Camera and lens arrived back today which is 5 days sooner then I expected. All is working like nothing happen. It came back overnight morning delivery as I sent it.

Very impressed with the speed of the service, time frame, professionalism, and doing what they said they would when they said they would. That is rare and very much appreciated by this customer.

Great news, Paul!

Now be more careful in future and watch for falling rocks and banana skins... :)

Will do good advice since I love bananas.

Thinking of getting a nice little wrist strap that could have solved the whole issue.

Yes, Canon have a fantastic service repair, no matter where you are in the world. Here in Spain, I had my LCD repair returned back to me within the same week and I wasn't even a member of CPS at the time.

By the way, being a member does have its advantages besides fast repair. In the documentation I've been told I can 'test drive' new models about to come out. They'll deliver the camera to me and I can borrow it free of charge for 6 days. Saving mine for the mark III when it comes out!! (You can do this twice every year too)

And to answer Luc, the reason why CPS don't accept registration for some equipment is usually one of two reasons. (1) It's pre-registered to someone else already if it's a 2nd-hand lens/body or, (2) It's a 'grey' import.

I can't register my XH A1 with CPS because I sourced it new from Hong Kong (even though it was from a reputable dealer). All my other equipment has been sourced from Europe/USA.

I wonder what went wrong with your body to cost $300. Did they tell you what they did to it?

Thanks for the nice post Kris,

I tried to register for CPS but they said I did not own enough gear. I plan on a buying a 300mm prime and the new 2x extender maybe that will get me there.

The paperwork on my 5d MKII said.
"Your product has been examined and it was found that the product performed according to specifications, the unit did not function properly. Adjusted exposure & focus w/lens, cleaned C-mos and checked all factory specs. Update firmware." That is word for word and spelling they used. I trust them to give me a camera body that will do the job.

I had sent the camera overnight morning delivery and they did the same back to me. Very nice.

Hi Kris,

the problem was, if I remember correctly, that I couldn't enter this type of lens in the field where you're supposed to list your equipment.
The $300 repair was for the 70-200 lens, not the camera. They just had to refix the internal lens block, as it had come loose after it had been dropped. Seemed very expensive to me, but of course still half of what a new lens would have cost.

Paul: happy end after all! I like that.

Yes Luc a happy ending.

Not sure if you noticed on the other thread I sold the Nano.

Yep, I noticed. If it wasn't for our ridiculous tax laws, It surely would have been here with me now.

Sorry about the Luc. If you are shooting 4:2:0 you should consider the Nano it really is a rugged tool that helps picture quality.

I'm looking at Nano Flash and Aja Ki Pro Mini. The Nano has the advantage of it's small size and low power consumption, but the Aja seems more robust and ergonomically better. Your thoughts?

I think they are both nice. I do like the Aja for it's 10 bit out and drop right into FC. But the KiPro mini is not out yet. I bet it is a great seller once it hits the market. Also I think the size is very similar and the KiPro mini is almost $1K less.

I can get a Ki Pro Mini here immediately. Very tempting, I must admit.

Really they don't even know when it will be here. First they said Nov and still no answer. If you go that way let us know how it works?

If I do, I'll keep you posted. I'm trying to organize a test-shoot at the dealer's next week.

Sounds like a smart move.