XSi and 85mm -- Err 01

jdbroadwater wrote in post #8254183
You should be able to use the depth of field preview button - with it pushed and as you are changing the aperture settings, you should see the diaphragm stop down. If not, it sounds like the diaphragm mechanism is indeed stuck. Best of luck!

Thanks for the help man. That seemed to do it. I stopped down to f/22, hit the DOF button, and the thing just shook like it was trying to move.

I think it's stuck stopped down quite a bit past f/1.8. How does it get stuck? Could it have gotten stuck in shipping?

It could have been during shipping or it may have been broken and the seller may have just dishonestly sold it as good when it wasn't; you never know on eBay.

Yeah, that's not good. Your camera works fine with other lenses, correct?
It sounds like the seller sent you a broken lens. Was it a person with good feedback? I'd contact them and try to send it back.

I honestly don't think the seller was trying to cheat me. He has 100% ratings.

And here's why -- it started working again. I sat down and typed up a letter to the seller, and when I was describing the current symptoms, I was playing with the camera. And it became unstuck and now can move all over the place.

Now what? A squaretrade warranty will put the total cost of the lens over what it would cost (edit: new) with a 1 year Canon warranty. But to all appearances, the lens is working just fine now. How likely is it to get stuck again?

I'd say very likely. It's not common in my experience for aperture blades to stick at all. If they did it once, my guess would be it'll happen again.