Can a lens just die like this??

Hey guys,
I was just shooting some Christmas pictures indoors last night with my 7D and my 16-35mm f/2.8 L lens.. after about 20 pictures or so under the Av setting, the shutter wouldn't click and take any more pictures. Everything else is fine, but I can't click the shutter or have it focus and then take a shot, I got worried because I thought maybe the shutter went dead and it would be a hassle and expensive to replace. I then shut off the camera, replaced another lens, (my 24-105 f/4 L and 70-200 f/2.8 L) and it worked fine.. it was able to focus, and take shots and everything looks perfect. So.. clearly, it's not the camera body. To further test this.. i put the 16-35mm lens into my backup camera body, the XSi, and same thing.. it doesn't focus or take pictures.. so obviously, it's the lens that's malfunctioning..
have you guys had anything similar happen before?.. is the connector dead? Rest assured, I already checked if it was AF/MF, made sure the focussing distance was ok, etc..
Help?? Is it worth it to fix?
Much appreciated!!
Thanks guys!

did you clean the contacts on the lens? That would be step 1.

Step 2 is to send it in... and YES, it would be worth it to send it in... even if it costs you $300 to repair, its a $1300 lens. So yes.

My plan would be:

1. freak out!
   
2. clean the contacts
   
3. turn the focus and zoom fully both ways, softly and carefully feeling for any roughness or crunchiness
   
4. give it a little shake near my ear, listening for loose or gravelly/sandy sounds
   
5. leave it rest for ~30mins. take batteries out of cameras and leave them rest too.
   
6. test lens again in reverse order (xsi then 7d)
   
7. accept that i've trouble shooted the issue and satisfied myself that it's not a result of dropping or rough handling and there's nothing more i can do.
   

Had a similar situation a couple of weeks ago, but it was with the 17-85 IS.
This specific lens has a design flaw that makes the flat cable inside the lens bend and break with usage. I found many people with a similar problem and Canon still charge us to fix it.
The problem with your 16-35L is probably not related, but the behavior was exactly like you describe.

Don't forget to record the firmware versions and press the DoF preview button and try anything else that will test the lens and prove that some things are working.

bdp23 wrote in post #11444116
My plan would be:

1. freak out!
   
2. clean the contacts
   
3. turn the focus and zoom fully both ways, softly and carefully feeling for any roughness or crunchiness
   
4. give it a little shake near my ear, listening for loose or gravelly/sandy sounds
   
5. leave it rest for ~30mins. take batteries out of cameras and leave them rest too.
   
6. test lens again in reverse order (xsi then 7d)
   
7. accept that i've trouble shooted the issue and satisfied myself that it's not a result of dropping or rough handling and there's nothing more i can do.
   

Letting the lens and cameras rest unpowered is to give capacitors a chance to discharge and ICs to cool down. You may find it's an intermittent problem.

I always go out of my way to furnish a really detailed troubleshooting outline for any repairs and explain why I discount some possibilities. I hope my thoroughness is appreciated, but mostly that the service agent & technician realises I'm serious about this issue and getting it resolved swiftly.

I like to avoid the frustration of lazy repairmen who return a device "fixed" after replacing something randomly, but the device still exhibits the same 'broken' behaviour.

Canon is the ONLY person I'd trust my lenses to (save for maybe Adorama), let them determine the problem and fix it. If you aren't experiencing any broken glass and the problem is electronic, the repair shouldn't be so bad... generally, the most expensive repairs are those that require elements to be replaced. It doesn't sound like thats the case here. If its just a control board or a motor gear, it shouldn't be too bad. Plus Canon will do a wonderful job of giving it a thorough cleaning while they have it. I've heard NOTHING but wonderful things about their repairs.

bdp23 wrote in post #11444128
Don't forget to record the firmware versions and press the DoF preview button and try anything else that will test the lens and prove that some things are working.

Why? whats the use of this? He's determined thru process of elimination that the problem isn't camera related (because it exhibited the same behavior on another body). The lens is at fault. There's no need to exert any extraneous force on the lens, no shaking, no zooming, nothing... do yourself a favor, take a few pieces of scotch tape and tape both the zoom and focus rings down so they don't shift in transport and then package the lens up in preparation for sending it to Canon.

Thanks guys for all the feedback.. the problem is defintiely not camera body related, it's the lens itself. What is the most surprising is that I was shooting with the lens at the time, I didn't take it out, just on the next shot, this problem occured. It just kinda died like that.. which is VERY weird. I did clean the connector already and there is definitely nothing loose in there..

nureality wrote in post #11444153
Why? whats the use of this? He's determined thru process of elimination that the problem isn't camera related (because it exhibited the same behavior on another body). The lens is at fault. There's no need to exert any extraneous force on the lens, no shaking, no zooming, nothing... do yourself a favor, take a few pieces of scotch tape and tape both the zoom and focus rings down so they don't shift in transport and then package the lens up in preparation for sending it to Canon.

As I wrote at the top of my first post "My plan would be..." and I meant 'from the instant it occurred'. There was no mention about all the steps taken to determine the fault.

Most of the extra effort is to determine if it's intermittent or a once off issue. The original poster hadn't mentioned trying the lens again at a later time, etc. Maybe it's a once off issue that the lens got into a strange state internally or the 7D miscommunicated and the lens locked up (both reasons to let the lens discharge or cool and try again later).

Certainly, I'd be sending it for repair and as already stated, give them as much info and the might need to reproduce the error.

Unlike commenting in forums, transport of the lens isn't instantaneous, so I would spend a few more minutes in the remaining 3-5 hours before Fedex picks up the lens or (as these things happen out of business hours) until the next day when I'd take it to the post office.

As far as I can see, no one has suggest just flipping the AF On/Off switch on and off a few times.

I'd also clean the contacts well, both in the camera and on the back of the lens. Use a clean cloth that's slightly dampened with isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol). That will remove any oils that might have gotten on there, and are usually the problem with lens to camera communication. It's often finger oils or just some of the lubrication oil from inside the camera.

If that doesn't work, well the AF motor in the lens might have died, or the off/on switch, or some of the connections got broken. Usually there would be an error code on the camera, though. That's why I suspect it might be something like dirty contacts.

I doubt that it's anything in the camera body, so rebooting that will not do anything, I suspect.

This is just some stuff you can try quickly and easily yourself, before sending the lens in to Canon for them to check out.

amfoto1 wrote in post #11445046
As far as I can see, no one has suggest just flipping the AF On/Off switch on and off a few times.

Alan, a good idea. My 24-105 quit on me once, and I was flabbergasted. I mounted and dismounted the lens a couple of times to no avail. I then did your suggestion, and it's worked since!

All it takes is a small bit of dirt to break a connection...

Did you check the focus switch on the lens.....