Recently my Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 IS gave up the ghost; from my (very limited) guessing I think the IS mechanism has died. With a new one being on the worse side of £650 and a second hand one being only about £50 less I've obviously opted to get it looked at by a repair centre.

Now I'm going to assume that anything mildly serious is going to require them taking the lens apart, fiddling and reassembling. In my life I've generally found that anything taken apart, fixed, and put back together never seems quite 'right' afterwards?

Has anyone had any experience with repairs on a camera lens? Should I be worried about it being slightly off compared to a new one? The shop that's got it is a Canon CPS Service Centre (though I'm not CPS) so I don't doubt they'll do a good job on it.

I'm just a worrier. At least it wasn't the 70-200.

Recently my Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 IS gave up the ghost; from my (very limited) guessing I think the IS mechanism has died. With a new one being on the worse side of £650 and a second hand one being only about £50 less I've obviously opted to get it looked at by a repair centre.

Now I'm going to assume that anything mildly serious is going to require them taking the lens apart, fiddling and reassembling. In my life I've generally found that anything taken apart, fixed, and put back together never seems quite 'right' afterwards?

Has anyone had any experience with repairs on a camera lens? Should I be worried about it being slightly off compared to a new one? The shop that's got it is a Canon CPS Service Centre (though I'm not CPS) so I don't doubt they'll do a good job on it.

I'm just a worrier. At least it wasn't the 70-200.

I have had plenty of work carried out by CPS, and have never had cause for complaint.

A new sensor and shutter in my 1ds2 (no charge)

New PCB's and AF stuff with my 1D mk3 (I dropped it on a job!!) again no charge.

Not sure about Canon gear but I've read many reports from pros on Nikon forums who have had lenses serviced, recalibrated or repaired at Nikon service centres with great results. I have read the odd report of people having less than satisfactory service but that seems to have generally been rectified the second time.

My advice. Make sure that you take it to somebody who is endorsed by Canon to get the repair done.

Thanks,

I'm pretty sure they'll charge me but it's good to know that I won't be noticing any niggling issues when (if) they can fix it.

I'm missing 22-50mm when I'm shooting now :'(

As an amateur who only shoots for fun, I never really thought before about buying a backup lens for when this kind of thing happens.

Tried your local jessops?

I'd rather stick spoons in my eyes than go into my local Jessops to be honest. But, to be fair, never really thought of them as a place for repairs.

The place I've given the lens to is definitely a good repair place, and I'd trust them over Jessops any day (as K1W1 mentioned - it's a Canon authorised repair shop). Might just be the Derby Jessops though; but I'm never impressed with their staff (and definitely their prices).

Edited 27 October, 201015 yr by Mort

I remember watching the Canon people fixing the pro snappers lenses at the Open Golf (several years ago as Nikon now has the position) and it was incredible how much stuff is crammed into a lens. The circular flexible looking PCB thingies looked very impressive and the amounts of bits and bobs spread across the tables looked worse than when my neighbour pulled his gearbox apart on his front lawn!.

I've had a Nikon lens fixed quite recently and had no complaints - My wife dropped my camera with lens on and it landed on the lens, snapping the bayonet mount off the back. It was repaired fine with no problems.

Just make sure you get a fixed quote to start with. I got one but after the repair had been completed they tried to charge me almost double. I eventually found the original quote and did get a refund of the over-charge but just be wary...

Tried your local jessops?

I hope that's a joke....

Rather than take it to Jessops just clout it with a 6lb club hammer you will end up with the same result.

I've had a couple of dealings with Calumet and they seem excellent. We have a big store in Manchester and they have very experienced sales staff. They didn't even patronise me when I turned up with a few naive questions

Recently my Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 IS gave up the ghost; from my (very limited) guessing I think the IS mechanism has died. With a new one being on the worse side of £650 and a second hand one being only about £50 less I've obviously opted to get it looked at by a repair centre.

Now I'm going to assume that anything mildly serious is going to require them taking the lens apart, fiddling and reassembling. In my life I've generally found that anything taken apart, fixed, and put back together never seems quite 'right' afterwards?

Has anyone had any experience with repairs on a camera lens? Should I be worried about it being slightly off compared to a new one? The shop that's got it is a Canon CPS Service Centre (though I'm not CPS) so I don't doubt they'll do a good job on it.

I'm just a worrier. At least it wasn't the 70-200.

How old is the lens? Maybe you should consider making a warranty claim under the sales of goods act if it is less than 7 years old?

I would reasonably expect a £650 lens to last longer than a couple of years especially as it isn't an item which is used 24/7 and should last a lifetime.

I hope that's a joke....

Rather than take it to Jessops just clout it with a 6lb club hammer you will end up with the same result.

Never had any issues with their repairs myself. :S