dropped lens - damaged thread

Hello all:

Hoping someone might have some experience with doing a stupid thing like not protecting an expensive lens with a filter. I dropped my 16-35 EF lens and the resulting damage is a bent thread. Consequently, I can't attach any filters. Even the lens cap is difficult to squeeze on. What should I do? Can Canon fix something like this? Attached

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bend back with pliers? or send to canon.

ouch, no other damages? hope the optics are ok. I would try to bend it back but that's me

id try and bend it, i dropped my nifty a while back lucky for me it had a uv on it that shattered, not the lens

Ouch, I guess the lens hood didn't help protect your lens? I would just send it in to Canon and have them fix it and look at it just in case.

Take Care,
Cheers, Patrick

I did exactly the same thing with a Tokina lens many years ago. I simply made a claim on my home contents insurance and bought a new one.

The sharp knock could have caused internal damage as well.

I had the same thing happen to a 24-70L, Canon UK replaced the whole rim.

Not at all sure that having a filter on the lens would usefully protect it against being dropped. I tend to use hoods rather than filters unless I have a special need, like a grad to hold back the sky.

newcan-c wrote in post #10658497
Can Canon fix something like this?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Asking us if Canon can fix it makes about as much sense as asking Canon if WE can fix it...

If you're anything like most of the people here, even if you bend it perfectly straight again, you'll still 'imagine' that your pictures are less sharp / OOF / or of otherwise poorer quality than before - even if nothing has physically changed. Save yourself (and us) some time and use your telephone and get at least some advice you CAN rely on from Canon directly.

I seriously doubt that an attached filter would have prevented damage to the filter threads in the lens. A rigid lens hood (which on that lens does not attach to the filter threads) may have prevented any damage at all to the lens.

While photographing the Grand Prix of Monaco, I dropped a Nikon F camera to the concrete from about four feet back in 1968, and the metal lens hood caved in and absorbed enough of the energy that the lens never needed any repair at all. I replaced the hood because it looked too ugly after bending it back out (though I was able to continue using it for the rest of the race). The body took a ding which it still has, but that never needed repair either.

I will never use a lens without a rigid hood attached unless the hood makes it impossible to make the image. The only situation I can think of where that might be the case is extreme closeup (macro) photography.

Send the lens to Canon. They can repair it easily and if nothing but the filter thread is damaged I'm sure the bill won't be too outlandish.

If you don't need to use filters, you could just leave it as it is. Saves effort and money!

i dropped my nifty fifty only had it two days

My buddy dropped his 70-200mm with a filter on it. The filter glass broke and scratched the front element.

does it really need fixing? Go without a filter.

The 16-35 lens in question appears to be the original version with the 77mm filter thread. If so, the filter thread is attached to the non-moving shell of the lens, so it is entirely possible that the damage is limited to the filter thread alone. However, I would recommend a thorough functional test before deciding to not send the lens to Canon for repair. If it works fine, the filter thread could be tweaked back to approximate the original shape so that the lens cap can be applied easily.

The cosmetic repair, if that's all that is needed, should be fairly inexpensive as all that's needed is replacement of the front outer ring that supports both the filter and the hood.

Pliers? no....you'll bend the threads....
Find a piece of wood that approximates the circle shape of the rim and tap it against the ring and it will get it back to shape...a local wood shop can make one to fit the rim perfectly (on a circular saw)...shouldn't be too much...