70-200mm F4 L IS - Damaged

I bumped this lens recently, not very hard, and now I notice that it will not focus either auto or manually beyond a certain range. I did not realize that my camera bag was open and when I picked the bag up my body and this lens fell three or four inches, landing on a carpet which was sitting on my garage floor. The body received no damage or marks. I can move the focus either auto or manually between infinity and roughly 5m -that is it. Off to Canon next week for an estimate on repair.

Anyone else experience a problem with this lens when it is bumped lightly?

It just depends on luck; how the lens falls, what angle etc...

Mine dropped from about 5ft onto hard tile, the only damage was a slightly bent mount which had to be replaced, but otherwise everything was still functioning fine (this was my non-IS version, not the IS).

maybe the drop flicked the focus limit switch?

DreDaze wrote in post #15901339
maybe the drop flicked the focus limit switch?

Thanks, but I tried every combination of switches and nothing works. Not a mark or scratch on the lens. This is a great, very sharp lens but it appears that it is also a very fragile lens as well.

Very sorry to hear what has happened, but I am surprised at how fragile this lens is. My Tamron 70-300mm ($150 lens, no longer own it) fell off of a table approx 1.2m tall along with the 30D it was attached to and landed on a 45 degree angle against the lens hood and nothing went wrong.

It's surprising that a fall that short onto a carpeted surface did any real damage. I have several times dropped equipment that far without any damage at all. Must depend on how it hits. My camera and tripod blew over in the wind a few weeks ago, with that lens mounted. It fell on concrete. The hood shattered, of course, and the filter ring was damaged, but the local repair shop said it is otherwise fine. (I am picking it up in a couple of days.) My guess is that the hood absorbed some impact, but still, there was enough to bend the filter ring, and the lens still worked.

In any event, now that Canon has it, you'll find out quickly enough.

Chiefy wrote in post #15901071
Anyone else experience a problem with this lens when it is bumped lightly?

Nope. Mine fell from 5 feet onto a hard-wood deck. No damage (except to my heart); still as sharp as ever.

Sorry that happened to you.

I dropped a 135 f/2L about 3 feet - waist high - lens down onto a basketball court. No damage whatsoever. It is still going fine. Luck has a lot to do with it.

I've heard instances where the focus mechanisms 'slip' in these lenses.

From what I understand, it's a pretty simple (inexpensive) repair.

Maybe it was just a coincidence...

Hope it's a quick and easy repair.

Unbalanced wrote in post #15904265
I've heard instances where the focus mechanisms 'slip' in these lenses.

From what I understand, it's a pretty simple (inexpensive) repair.

Maybe it was just a coincidence...

Hope it's a quick and easy repair.

Thanks, I took it into an authorized Canon repair shop today, they will give me a free estimate. Because it does focus from infinity to about 5m I think maybe you're right about the focus mechanism slipping.