Dropped lens/camera!!

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pangster

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Paul
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Looking for some advice... And apologies if this is in the wrong section..

I was out shooting last night and made the cardinal sin of dropping my lens/camera (600D with EF 24-105mm attached) from about 3 feet onto pavement! (zoom fully retracted at time). The noise it made was absolutely sickening and it's the first time I've ever dropped any of my equipment in 10 years of photography!

It took a fairly hard knock full frontal on the lens (not surprising as the lens is heavier than the camera). I had no hood cover attached and the impact resulted in the lens protector cracking. There is very light cosmetic damage to the lens itself (a slight scuff next to where the protector filter screws in). The lens protector was bent out of shape (slightly) and would not unscrew. I managed to bend it back into shape by gently prising it back with pliers. This then unscrewed in one piece. On inspection - there is no visible damage to the front or rear element. The camera itself is completely unmarked.

I took a few shots last night when I got home and it seemed to focus as before and the pictures seemed fine. Is there any tests I can do (test cards etc) that will confirm if I have a problem? I think there might be slight play in the barrel of the zoom lens (as in a very very slight side to side movement and can't remember if this was present before or not - or whether this is normal for a Canon L series lens???). There is no lens creep.

Just looking for advice on what I should do in terms of tests to confirm any problems and whether very very slight side to side play in lens is normal? (there is no rattling or loose pieces).

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Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Have had this happen to me and it is a dreadful feeling :(

I would suggest, checking the focus of the lens, with the many available focus charts on the internet. It may, at first glance, look like the lens is okay (I hope it is) but this sort of knock could have move elements slightly out of line, etc. I'd also check the lens mount, both at the back of the lens and also the mount on the camera body. A hit like this could well have impacted where the lens meets the body. In my case, the lens completed detached from the body, taken the metal mount ring with it!

I really hope you've been "lucky" this time, but given the severity of the impact, I'd be doubtful if there is not some damage to the lens and / or camera.
 
thanks for the reply Johnny... I'll need to look out some of those charts and do a test. The lens was still attached to the camera and locks/unlocks as before. No damage to either mount (camera or lens side) from what I can tell. Mating surfaces are both still flat and level on the plane. My other lenses still fit and work as before.

I guess my main concern is any damage I can't see (if that makes sense?).. I'll try and do some test shots tonight and review the results. I'm bitterly disappointed in myself for not even having the lens hood on it!! - sods law - the first time I don't put it on!!
 
You might be lucky dropped a couple in my time,one was a complete write off body & lens,the other everything was ok except for a few marks :)
 
I've seen an awful lot of dropped lenses, unfortunately. Here's my simple guide.

1. A drop can cause a break in an electrical circuit within the lens. But it's easy to test. If all the electronics (AF, IS, metering, etc) work, then they work. It's technically conceivable that you might have a hairline crack in a circuit board, or something like that which will develop into a full-blown failure over time, but that's unlikely and not worth worrying about.

2. It's quite common for a drop to cause the guide rails in the internal zoom/focus mechanism to be slightly distorted. But again it's an easy test: work the manual focus ring and zoom ring from one end of the range to another, and pay a lot of attention to how it feels in your hand. If you notice that it's rough, or sticky, or stiff - either over the whole range, or just at one point - then something's wrong inside. But it won't affect your images so only you can decide whether it's bad enough to be worth fixing.

3. The other common outcome of a drop is that an optical element becomes decentred. The symptom of this is that one side, or one corner, of the image will be sharper than the others. There's a very simple test for this which is described by @HoppyUK in post #20 of this thread: http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/a-fear-of-bad-lens-copies.317381/
 
thanks for all the replies... I've done some more testing and inspecting today and fairly confident (as much as I can be that the camera is ok). With regards to the lens - I'm also fairly certain it seems to be ok as well (I'm just not sure that it can be given it was dropped onto concrete!!).. the zoom and focus rings all work as smoothly as they did before. I took some quick sample images and they seem pretty sharp (as before) at 100% crop.. all the electrics seem to work. There is no damage to either mounting surface and I think it's possible only the cosmetic damage the lens has sustained.... although there does seem to be a little (as in minute play) in the zoom barrel (and I can't recall if that was present before or not)... I can still feel the air gushing out the bottom when I work the zoom ring...

I'm maybe being a little paranoid?.. should there be any play in a Canon L Series zoom? - I have a Canon approved service centre in Glasgow so I might send it off to them to have a look at and test/calibrate if needed?
 
First let me say OUCH and sorry about your misfortune, hopefully just a front element replacement will fix it.

As has been seen before in online videos, lenses with smashed front elements still taking great sharp shots with no issues visible on shots (lens flare will be a bigger threat mind, with all that light getting scattered around the breaks)

This is why I always have a chuckle at some people freaking out because they found a tiny mote of dust inside there lens. Lol priceless.
 
Gazamonk said:
First let me say OUCH and sorry about your misfortune, hopefully just a front element replacement will fix it.

As has been seen before in online videos, lenses with smashed front elements still taking great sharp shots with no issues visible on shots (lens flare will be a bigger threat mind, with all that light getting scattered around the breaks)

This is why I always have a chuckle at some people freaking out because they found a tiny mote of dust inside there lens. Lol priceless.
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Hi Gaza - the front element is OK as far as I know?.. the crack you see is the lens filter (which I managed to get off with patience and a pair of pliers!).
 
Never noticed that, lol.
Just shows the benefit of a fitted filter. Any of my lenses which have no filters attached always, and I mean always, have lens hoods attached which can keep your front element well protected in a fall.
On your other question about play in the lens, my 24-105 has very slight play if you are being critically pedantic. I think anything with moving parts will have a very very slight degree of play. Its hard to advise without comparing side by side and like for like.
 
Oh and by the way Johnstones in Glasgow are very good if you go down that route. Why not just call them and get a price for a standard service anyway.
 
Gazamonk said:
Never noticed that, lol.
Just shows the benefit of a fitted filter. Any of my lenses which have no filters attached always, and I mean always, have lens hoods attached which can keep your front element well protected in a fall.
On your other question about play in the lens, my 24-105 has very slight play if you are being critically pedantic. I think anything with moving parts will have a very very slight degree of play. Its hard to advise without comparing side by side and like for like.
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thanks gas!! - I think I'm probably just being paranoid.. I'm going to need to take it out for a proper shoot (hopefully at the weekend) and review results then.. if not 100% i'll send it in for a service.. I agree about movement - I think you just imagine these things are worse than they actually are (magnified because of your paranoia!! LOL!)
 
Gazamonk said:
Oh and by the way Johnstones in Glasgow are very good if you go down that route. Why not just call them and get a price for a standard service anyway.
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I contacted them and they said they'd provide me with a detailed estimate after examination for free and I'd only need to pay the return carriage (which seemed VERY reasonable). I'm covered with my home insurance if worst comes to worst (although have a £175 excess) so as long as repairs (if any <£175) i'd look to go with the repair option as I've read a lot of good things about them since researching this. I won't really know until I've done more shooting with the lens.
 
StewartR said:
I've seen an awful lot of dropped lenses, unfortunately. Here's my simple guide.

1. A drop can cause a break in an electrical circuit within the lens. But it's easy to test. If all the electronics (AF, IS, metering, etc) work, then they work. It's technically conceivable that you might have a hairline crack in a circuit board, or something like that which will develop into a full-blown failure over time, but that's unlikely and not worth worrying about.

2. It's quite common for a drop to cause the guide rails in the internal zoom/focus mechanism to be slightly distorted. But again it's an easy test: work the manual focus ring and zoom ring from one end of the range to another, and pay a lot of attention to how it feels in your hand. If you notice that it's rough, or sticky, or stiff - either over the whole range, or just at one point - then something's wrong inside. But it won't affect your images so only you can decide whether it's bad enough to be worth fixing.

3. The other common outcome of a drop is that an optical element becomes decentred. The symptom of this is that one side, or one corner, of the image will be sharper than the others. There's a very simple test for this which is described by @HoppyUK in post #20 of this thread: http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/a-fear-of-bad-lens-copies.317381/[/QUOTE].
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Ok an update from me. I went into Glasgow last wednesday and left my camera and lens with AJ Johnstone. I asked the to check and inspect both. They've confirmed that the lens needs adjusted and that they will service my camera and reset the camera body depths? and fully recalibrate it and service it.

So work being done on lens and camera:
* Dismantle lens to recentre element groups and recalibrate to standard
* Dismantle camera to reset main camera body depths
* full recalibration and service to standard

Total price £314 - which I thought was pretty reasonable. The only thing I'm not sure of is 'camera body depths'?? - can anyone explain what this is? - I'll ask when I pick up, but thought I'd check on here first.

Also - first impressions of AJ Johnstone are very good and I can see why they have a solid reputation[/QUOTE]
 
pangster said:
The only thing I'm not sure of is 'camera body depths'?? - can anyone explain what this is? - I'll ask when I pick up, but thought I'd check on here first.
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Think it just means that when they dismantel the camera, they will check all the internal parts are sited correctly and there's no internal damage to the camera (shutter mechanism etc), before putting it back together and calibrating it.
 
pete.rush said:
Think it just means that when they dismantel the camera, they will check all the internal parts are sited correctly and there's no internal damage to the camera (shutter mechanism etc), before putting it back together and calibrating it.
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thanks for the reply pete.. figured it might be something like that. I'll ask when I pick it up.
 
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