Dropped my 75-300.

[Matatazela]

It landed on the ground from about 20" / 50cm and the autofocus no longer functions. fortunately, the camera body side lens cap took the physical damage.

No glass was broken.

Should I attempt having the lens repaired?

[Nolz]

At Canon Aust. They will charge you a fee to have the camera looked at and a quotation will be given to you before they do any work on it. You can tell them that you want it repaired if it costs no more than X amount. If it looks like it will cost more than the X amount you had told them they won't fix it and will contact you for further advice.

Over here the quotation fee was $44. and you then take it from there.

I would give canon a call and see what their policy is on repair work.

[fetching]

you must feel sick. :(

[chemicalbro]

Damn........... that sucks big time...... :(

[Matatazela]

Canon South Africa costs R200 for the quote. I feel sick. It sucks big time.

I took it in to the camera shop, who said that it s definitely worth repairing. A new lens costs R 3, 100.00 (that's Rand, at approx R6.60 = US$ 1.00

Any way I look at this it is not good! Learn from my mistake!!!

[Music to my eyes]

This may be a silly question......but do you have any insurance that may cover this??
When I dropped my camera bag in the driveway (fell out of the car door when I opened the door ), the IS on my 75-300 wouldn't work........so I rang my insurance company and found that this item was covered......paid $100 excess fee and a $400+ repair was carried out. Phew.
Good luck....

[Matatazela]

I'm looking into that right now. I just need to find out whether it is covered under unspecified all risks.


I live in hope!

[Hellashot]

What make and model is it? If it's a Canon non-IS I would keep it for parts. It only costs $180 new at the most and you'll easily spend $100 minimum to have it looked at/repaired.

[xuxu1]

It depends on your own point of view (and your wallet).

Maybe your crying all day long because of what has happend and your trying to find a solution how to pay for fixing it.

In that case i would feel real sick.

Or your laughing because now you have found a reason to go for a (maybe) better lens.

In that case i would laugh a lot too.

So only you can decide for yourself.

ED

[weasel]

I have suggested to Canon over and over again, through the years, to print this warnning on their camera and lens boxes, "DO NOT DROP, DAMAGE MAY OCCUR, WE SUSGEST 'DUE CARE' BE USED AT ALL TIMES". But they always reply to me that statement should be understood at time of purchase. Please, write them with your story, maybe they will listen to you.

[Todd Jacobsen]

It landed on the ground from about 20" / 50cm and the autofocus no longer functions. fortunately, the camera body side lens cap took the physical damage.

No glass was broken.

Should I attempt having the lens repaired?

Go for a better lens, keep this one as backup.

As for insurance, there is usually a deductible. Mine is set at $500.00. Lens probably is not worth covering, your yearly insurance costs (within a year) would offset the cost of a new lens. Since you don't do this YEARLY (dropping a lens), I would recommend a 5 year estimate (insurance cost) for determining appropriate deductible amounts. But then again, maybe your lenses find the cement more than mine. Adjust for appropriate kluts factor.

[Matatazela]

My insurance will only pay R5000 for non-specified items and then only R500 on any one item, less 10% deductible or excess. That means that they are prepared to pay R400 at the most.

I will have it repaired as I cannot get my wife to understand about the value of good glass so soon after popping for the 350D less than 3 weeks ago! (120-300 F2.8 Sigma is good glass!!!)

I'll keep posting when I find out what the repair cost will be.

[Matatazela]

UPDATE!

After 3 weeks (almost) I have a quote from Canon South Africa through Photoworld in Pietermaritzburg, for R700 to repair, clean & service and recalibrate the lens, which I have accepted.

It is rather steep for an old model lens but I would rather have it working than abandon it and only have the 18-55mm.

So, there goes all my fun-money for the next month or two!

[condyk]

That's really bad luck but at least you know exactly where you are now cost wise and can have the lens calibrated with the body (maybe?) With a bit of luck it could actual produce better results with some individual attention, rather than one that's just come off the production line.

[Music to my eyes]

UPDATE!

After 3 weeks (almost) I have a quote from Canon South Africa through Photoworld in Pietermaritzburg, for R700 to repair, clean & service and recalibrate the lens, which I have accepted.

It is rather steep for an old model lens but I would rather have it working than abandon it and only have the 18-55mm.

So, there goes all my fun-money for the next month or two!

Oh well, congratulations......I guess :confused: At least you are not without a lens, and don't have to buy a new one to replace it. Glad insurance can cover some of it. Would be very nice if it came back a little sharper than before :)

[Matatazela]

Thanks to Condyk and Music, for those kind words! I too hope that it will be a little better than before.

Condyk; it just means that the Bigma is staved off a little longer :(

[Matatazela]

I had the lens repaired at a cost of R780 (about a third of the cost of a new one)

It came back in excellent shape, but still seems to struggle with focussing. I was out yesterday trying to photograph Ethiopian Snipe and it was very tricky. Even weavers have been problematic.

The 50-500 is definitely a priority for me now.

[Music to my eyes]

Hey Matatazela. Glad you got your lens back. Do you think it (AF speed/accuracy) is any worse than before because of the damage??
You should be able to sell it easily (if that's your plan) as plenty of people like the versatility of that zoom range.. I recently sold my 75-300 IS and had a lot of interest on Ebay for it.
With respect to your good wife ( your post awhile back mentioned she doesn't understand the value of good glass), I recently had some good fortune in persuading my wife to allow me to buy a 20D, 24-70L, 70-200IS and 580EX.......I think I got really lucky as a friend of mine lent me his 28-70L and 70-200L (non IS) and I took some good shots of our daughter - so much better (richer color, better bokeh, sharper) than anything I took with my 28-135IS and 75-300IS. So convincing her that good quality shots of our children (one on the way in January too!) are in fact priceless......she agreed :) :) So when these lenses finally arrive, I better take some damn good photos - or I'm toast!
- So are you able to rent/borrow the lens you want to buy? Maybe if you can show your wife what an improvement it is over your current lens, she may be able to see the difference for herself in the quality of the pics...and you're on the fast track to a new bigma!!

Regards,

Eugene
(-forever the optimist, - Live in hope! ;))

[DxHatchback]

same thing happened to my 75-300 as well

luckily no damage was done, just severely chipped in the front (non-glass)

as for repair, you have to consider that it's only $160 brand new

[Matatazela]

With respect to your good wife ( your post awhile back mentioned she doesn't understand the value of good glass), I recently had some good fortune in persuading my wife to allow me to buy a 20D, 24-70L, 70-200IS and 580EX.......I think I got really lucky as a friend of mine lent me his 28-70L and 70-200L (non IS) and I took some good shots of our daughter - so much better (richer color, better bokeh, sharper) than anything I took with my 28-135IS and 75-300IS. So convincing her that good quality shots of our children (one on the way in January too!) are in fact priceless......she agreed
Would you and your wife care to come over for coffee? Maybe your wife can say a few words to mine!Testing a lens will generally happen in-store or just outside - like in the parking area, as most stores carry a limited amount of equipment and are thus hesitant to let it go out of their direct supervision. There are stores and clubs in the larger cities, where rich people live LOL but I am not very close to one. I will definitely buy my lens from a store so that I can test it out before I leave and I will need to be 100% happy with the performance. If I spring for a new Bigma I will sell my lens. There is a lot of interest in these lenses. They represent a huge leap forward for most amateurs in SA. On the other hand, I may give it to my wife to use with EOS300 film! - DxHatchback - $160 US is a lot of money here! the repair cost $US120 - the new lens is about $US300 here. By the way - did you know that a new lens is equal to about Zimbabwe $3,840,000.00 ! ! !

[Music to my eyes]

LOL!
Would be delighted to drop in on you for coffee!!....the next time we happen through South Africa!
Likewise, if you're passing through Melbourne, gimme a hoy!!

Alternatively, you could set up a "shampoo commercial" type 'before and after' shoot with the old lens and the new one. With the old one, have really low saturation/faded colours, perhaps get the kids to look miserable, and with the new test lens have the kids smiling, nice warm light, focus properly, and have nice rich colours...."See Honey, see how much better this lens is??" ;)