Son of a... I dropped a 100-400L

So on the last day of our labor day holidays in San Diego, hours before our flight we decided to stop by the Zoo and go see the panda.

I was carrying my 5Dii + 100-400L on a carryspeed strap and walking just few steps away to the entrance, my shoulder suddenly feels lighter and I see my camera flying and then a solid thud on the floor.

I quickly pick it up, inspect the lens and body, everything is still intact, dont hear any rattling sound and took some test shots, everything works normally, AF and IS working as usual.
There's some scratches on the bottom rear of the 5Dii and following the lens I see that the filter holder on the front was bent, I guess it took most of the impact.

The reason why the camera took a flight was because I didn't tighten the strap plate on the bottom of the 100-400L enough.
Now the 100-400L is not even mine, it is my uncle's lens that I borrowed specifically for this trip.
I have to bring him the bad news now and pray that Canon can fix the front easily.

Moral of the story..
Make sure that everything is securely tightened
Or
Use a UV filter or hood
Or
Insure your gear or rentals

taemo wrote in post #14950987
Moral of the story..
Make sure that everything is securely tightened
AND
Use a hood
AND
Insure your gear or rentals

Fixed that last part for you.

Hope everything works out okay for you. At least everything is functioning.

And never borrow something that you can not afford to replace with a new item in the event you mess up....

Fix the lens for yourself and buy your uncle a new lens.... it may suck but it is the right thing to do.

This is a little home made addition to my strap made from some suitable width webbing.
I don't trust one screw to hold all that weight.

My 100-400L, and most of my other lenses, always wear a hood. No filters, please. Your situation is exactly why I never borrow L-glass. A buddy offered me the use of his 400 2.8. Tempting, but that lens is worth more than my car. If I can't afford to own it, I damn sure can't afford to buy someone else a new one if I break it.

I am re-assured to know you are doing the stand-up thing by getting it fixed. That restores a bit of my waning faith in mankind. Maybe there is hope for us after all.

jwp721 wrote in post #14951164
And never borrow something that you can not afford to replace with a new item in the event you mess up....

Fix the lens for yourself and buy your uncle a new lens.... it may suck but it is the right thing to do.

Agreed.

If your uncle has insurance, it may be able to get it fixed through that. But he still should get back a lens without flaw.

I was raised to return something borrowed in as good as, or better than, the condition that it was given to you.

Sorry about the drop though, that is too bad!

thanks all.

yeah, I'm buying him a new lens today as I agree, it is the right thing to do as well.
this worked out well for me too though since now finally I own a tele zoom lens

bob, that's a pretty clever idea. I might do that too

taemo wrote in post #14951980
thanks all.

yeah, I'm buying him a new lens today as I agree, it is the right thing to do as well.
this worked out well for me too though since now finally I own a tele zoom lens

bob, that's a pretty clever idea. I might do that too

Tough way to acquire one!!!

You did the right thing though.

bobmatt wrote in post #14951318
This is a little home made addition to my strap made from some suitable width webbing.
I don't trust one screw to hold all that weight.

You're still trusting the screw on the grip to hold all that weight. You might want to turn that plate 180° and move that safety strap over to the left neck strap lug.

Actually if you had a UV filter on there it doesnt sound like it would have made a difference

the filter threads are what got bent right? if there was a filter on there likely the filter would be stuck on there instead...

A lens hood however would likely have broken and probubly woulda saved the filter threads.... So yeah, Lens hoods are good

Sucks it happened, Luckily the repair shouldnt be too pricey

Sorry to read of the drop....Contact Canon Professional Services, they for sure can fix that lens. I use them once a year on all my bodies and gear. Great people and turn around.

Sorry for that
my best three cheap lenses :
18-55
55-250
50 1.8
for everything

taemo wrote in post #14951980
thanks all.

yeah, I'm buying him a new lens today as I agree, it is the right thing to do as well.

I'd at least ask him what he wants to do. Maybe he would rather have the money or something else.

tkbslc wrote in post #14953915
I'd at least ask him what he wants to do. Maybe he would rather have the money or something else.

he said to get him a new lens instead. he got a sweet deal tbh as his 100-400 was fairly used, pump doesnt move smoothly anymore and hood is a little loose on the front.

now i get to keep the 100-400 and so tempted to look for a 1D so that i can use a Tc on it

When using a long or heavy lens like the 70-200 MkII, Sigma 150-500 OS or when I had the 100-400 I always had my strap plate screwed onto the tripod mount. I make sure it's tight and keep checking it but so far I've never had a problem with it. Sorry for the loss of the lens, it really pays to get insurance to be on the safe side.