Tighter tension on 17-55mm zoom?

I love my Canon 17-55mm lens, but when I am carrying it around or shooting downwards, the zoom quite often likes to "slip" and zoom right to 55mm..

Is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening? Can canon or some repair shop make the zoom have more tension/friction?

Mine does this too. It's normal for this lens. I wouldn't worry about it, I've been using this lens for a few years and this hasn't caused any problems. Don't you hold the zoom ring when you shot anyways, including when shooting down?

GuitarDTO wrote in post #15000068
Don't you hold the zoom ring when you shot anyways, including when shooting down?

Certainly not for longer exposures...

I put a strip of painters tape on the barrell. Works pretty well. Filter and hood is a little heavy and I use a sling so my lens is pointed down when walking. I check on it every now and then but the creep is not nearly as bad as without the tape.

Fat rubber band around the lens, at the back edge of the the zoom ring and the front edge of the focus ring, will keep the zoom from extending. A bit of a pain to have to remove for a quick shot, though.

Strange, my 17-55 never did this. I owned it for about 2 years and purchased it second hand from another forum member. In fact, there was never any zoom creep whatsoever, let alone going from 17mm all the way to 55m during carry.

Here are some DIY fixes if you aren't wanting to spend money: http://lensband.com/di​y/

Mine won't creep if its at 17mm, but if its halfway zoomed or so it will.

ljason8eg wrote in post #15000551
Mine won't creep if its at 17mm, but if its halfway zoomed or so it will.

This.

My 5 year old copy started doing this about 3 1/2 years in to me owning it. At first it wasn't a problem but after a while it became annoying. It wasnt anywhere near as bad as my one year old 15-85 but I can see why people would want this fixed.

Mine creeps. The Cinch strap's only downside might be that lens is pointed directly down (this is also a huge plus as the front element is in the most protected position possible and the grip is out and ready to grab). I've noticed that lenses that don't normally creep creep when in this position. The 17-55 has a very large and heavy front element, and it just pulls it down. I wish it had a zoom lock.

Does yours creep when it's on a tripod on shooting position, or only when you are walking around with it?

I played with with a few 17-55s. There are numerous and heavy glass that moves in sync inside when one turns the barrel. So its pretty awesome that Canon got this lens to work at all. There are 17-55s that I tried that does not "creep" but it is "sticky " at zoom range 17-30. Then there are 17-55s that are easy and smooth to zoom, but then you get the lens "creep" due to gravity. I got mine "calibrated" so mine personal one is in between. It doent creep, but it is a wee bit sticky when zooming down from 35 -17. But its not bad at all. As a comparison, I have the 24-70 and that one zooms smooth as butter and does not creep. But then again, my copy of the 17-55 is sharper than my 24-70 at all focal range wide open. Also I have a 70-300 and that creeps like crazy.