p.1 #3 · I broke a lens for the first time. What is the most expensive gear break have you had?
I dropped a 50 1.8 a few years ago; it fell out of my coat pocket when I was rushing to get into the Seattle Zoo before closing time. It also broke in two.
My most expensive FUBAR moment was when I had my 20D with 17-55 fall off a tripod when I didn't lock it properly. I had a 580EX attached, and the hot shoe on the camera was damaged, the foot on the flash snapped off completely, and the lens came off the camera but the lens and the camera's lens flange seemed undamaged. I gave the camera to a friend "as is" and he had a new hot shoe put on it at Northwest Camera Repair in Everett, WA for about $75. I replaced the flash foot myself with an improved model from Flash Zebra that included a phone plug sync socket.
I chalked it all up to a learning experience and moved on. No incidents since then.
May 22, 2013 at 10:48 PM
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p.1 #4 · I broke a lens for the first time. What is the most expensive gear break have you had?
My 50 is a reliable crash magnet. It has fallen apart at least 3 times. Fixed every time, twice by hand, once by $30.
Worse, I dropped my 16-35 once, and it became soft on the right side. Worse still, I haven't noticed it until after an important journey 2 years ago. Still the pics came out good enough to be printed large, in most cases. Fixing it (and a few other illnesses of this lens, while I was at it) cost me about $300.
A smashed 77mm filter (the chestvest fell off the hotel bed, impacting my 70-200) set me back $80 this New Year. Luckily, my spouse gave me a new filter (Canon branded, no less) as a gift in February.
There have been many other malfunctions, but none were related to direct mechanical damage against the gear; it has just been like "stopped working for no apparent reason". But the worst of these cases has set me back about $750.
p.1 #5 · I broke a lens for the first time. What is the most expensive gear break have you had?
Used to carry around my Rebel with 50mm f/1.8 in my jacket pocket to use for walkaround shooting. I then left the jacket in Singapore and had to replace it. The replacement had differently designed pockets, so second time out the camera caught on the way out and fell to the ground. The lens took the impact and broke, so i used it as an excuse to buy the f/1.4. I assumed that the accident was just that, an accident, and that i had just lost my grip as i took the camera out of the pocket, so I continued to carry it around in my jacket pocket. Three days after buying the f/1.4 exactly the same happened again, and the f/1.4 cost 2/3 of new price to fix. I realised then that the shape of the pocket caused the camera to snag on the way out.
So my most expensive mistake was forgetting my jacket, as it cost me the price of a new jacket and two lenses.
p.1 #6 · I broke a lens for the first time. What is the most expensive gear break have you had?
Taking my 400DO to Tanzania during the dry (as they say, during the driest dry they've had in long) cost me $450 in cleaning, and that was 8 years ago. There was so much dust in Ngorongoro Crater, it was like sneezing in a flour bag.
My 1Ds2 got damp in a thunderstorm for some $500, too (they called it "submerged" which was BS, it was in a torrential downpour for 5 minutes and the gasket around the back buttons clearly was defective).
By far the most annoying repair was that of my 28-300, which became victim of rowdy driving (slamming on brakes while 1Ds3/28-300 was on the passenger seat, with ensuing gravity taking over). After a total 4 repair attempts by two different service centers (at an initial $200 payment, subsequent ones free) they replaced it with a brand new one. Not a refurb - a brand new one. Took more than two months, but all was good. You can imagine my shock when I dropped my 5D3 with the (new) 28-300 earlier this year, which peeled the mount off the lens (and scratched the pavement), as I considered the lens fundamentally unrepairable after the original fiasco. However, they repaired it just fine on first attempt. Makes me wonder what I did to the original one...
All in all I had 10 different repair calls in 2010, all for different things, including the lemoning of my 1Ds3, which they replaced with a brand new one as well even though it was out of warranty at that point. Beyond that, it was an expensive year.
p.1 #7 · I broke a lens for the first time. What is the most expensive gear break have you had?
Thanks for that post Stan - I try to be careful, but seem to end up sending in a repair a year, on average. I thought I was the only one.
Last year I didn't zip up my bag all way and the 1D IV fell out onto concrete...I was just shooting around in the Rose Garden taking scenics that day. I took the camera to South Africa and the sidelines of youth and college football games without incident...and then break it in practically my backyard on a day I didn't even really use it. ugh.
Happens to us all - luckily canon repairs are fast and efficient, and prices are reasonable. And a few war wounds on your gear means it's getting used
p.1 #8 · I broke a lens for the first time. What is the most expensive gear break have you had?
I wrote off a 1D years ago, when they were the best camera to have!! It was attached to a 600mm lens and it started raining, so I trying to put a rain cover on them. Anyway, it & the 600mm fell over and crack! The whole front face of the camera from the lens mount to the top where the prism is was cracked open!! It couldn't be fixed...but at least the 600mm was fine! It was a company lens thankfully and insured and the new 1dMk2 was soon to be released!
p.1 #9 · I broke a lens for the first time. What is the most expensive gear break have you had?
mclldavidson wrote:
...What has been the most expensive piece of gear your have broke?
Eight years ago, almost exactly one week after getting a brand new EF 70-200/2.8 L IS USM lens, I broke it. The lens slipped from my hand while I was grabbing it from a shelf above my head, about seven feet above the floor. On its way down, the 70-200L hit the EF 300/4 L IS on gripped 20D that I was holding in my other hand, and knocked it free.
After a detailed forensic examination, I figured this was the sequence: first, the 70-200L hits the floor at an angle of about 30 deg butt-down from horizontal; next, the 70-200 is resting comfortably on the floor; and then, the front rim of the 300/4L IS, with its inertia nicely augmented by the gripped 20D, slams into the 70-200L. The dent on and around the crack exactly matched the rim of the 300/4L IS. The 70-200L was toast. It had a great big crack in the outer shell, between the focus and zoom rings, and the AF didn't work any more (see attached photos).
The repair bill was about $800. The first $500 was covered by insurance on my VISA card, which was used to buy the lens.
Then, about two years ago, I broke my 35/1.4L. Well, it was more bent than broken (see last photo). Call it a " bag incident". By this time I was a member of CPS Canada, and so it was fixed at the flat rate of about $220. Now, I have insurance against all perils (including gear and professional liability) through PPOC. Here's hoping I don't have to make a big claim... (knocking on wood)...
p.1 #10 · I broke a lens for the first time. What is the most expensive gear break have you had?
I was shooting in Maine with my 600mm and 1Ds MKIII. Everything was sitting on a tripod and I stepped away for a moment. I looked back just in time to see one leg of the tripod sink into the moss and the combo collide with a tree. It snapped in half. Fortunately I was using a 1.4X TC at the time and it ripped the mount out of the TC. Both the camera and lens were in damaged. I even ordered the parts later and repaired the TC. Total cost about $35.
p.1 #11 · I broke a lens for the first time. What is the most expensive gear break have you had?
Oh, right. Mickey's post reminds me that I had a tripod incident, also in Maine (spooky). I was shooting my SMC Pentax 500/4.5 and MZ-5N. I had a brief out of body experience while trying to add a teleconverter, and everything fell apart. By sheer luck, I caught the lens. The camera suffered gravel burn on its forehead (top of popup flash). It didn't seem to hurt the camera's resale value...
May 23, 2013 at 08:02 AM
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p.1 #12 · I broke a lens for the first time. What is the most expensive gear break have you had?
Oh, the horror. Dunno what would happen to me if I ever totalled something as expensive as a supertele.
I forgot to say that my 24-85 has also suffered damage: some time during my trip to Kazakhstan in early May it gained an unsightly scratch on the rear element. Still seems to be working decently though, and I'm not sure it merits servicing - especially since the lens is discontinued and out of warranty (duh).
p.1 #14 · I broke a lens for the first time. What is the most expensive gear break have you had?
I've had a couple scary near-misses, but seldom real damage.
Worst incident was returning to a cruise ship in Juneau, after a rowdy evening at the Red Dog Saloon. The crew offered hot chocolate to refresh the boarding passengers. A nice slosh went over the cup rim onto/into my 60D with 15-85 IS.The lens was okay after wiping, but the cocoa had seeped into the built-in flash, on/off switch, and elsewhere (everything still worked, with a bit of manual effort) for $260 (CPS Gold cost).
I still recommend Jack Daniels backed with Alaskan Amber, but skip the cocoa, kids.
p.1 #15 · I broke a lens for the first time. What is the most expensive gear break have you had?
Some years ago my 24-105 fell out of an unzipped (a no-no) lens case onto concrete about 5 feet below. Visual damage was a bent lens to camera mount, and unknown internal possibilities. Couldn't mount the lens for testing, naturally. The potential CPS discount on the repair was the reason that I am now satisfied member - it was more than enough to cover the membership fee. Had to subsequently return the lens for more surgery since a flare problem flared up.
p.1 #16 · I broke a lens for the first time. What is the most expensive gear break have you had?
I once really trashed my CC after ordering the 500/4. Quick trip to marital therapy (lucky I was a CPS "chronic purchasing syndrome" platinum member) so I received a nice discount and a few "massage for the spouse" vouchers to use in the future.
Now that I'm feeling recovered, like any addict, I'm considering repeating this whole process again on a 200-400
p.1 #17 · I broke a lens for the first time. What is the most expensive gear break have you had?
Gravitytoy wrote:
I once really trashed my CC after ordering the 500/4. Quick trip to marital therapy (lucky I was a CPS "chronic purchasing syndrome" platinum member) so I received a nice discount and a few "massage for the spouse" vouchers to use in the future.
Now that I'm feeling recovered, like any addict, I'm considering repeating this whole process again on a 200-400
what is CC ?
p.1 #18 · I broke a lens for the first time. What is the most expensive gear break have you had?
Before you do anything drastic, can you post some pics of the halves of your lens?
I had the exact same thing happen to my 50 1.8 and I was able to snap it back together after a couple of minutes of fiddling. It may not be "broken." It may have just come apart.
By this time I was a member of CPS Canada, and so it was fixed at the flat rate of about $220. Now, I have insurance against all perils (including gear and professional liability) through PPOC. Here's hoping I don't have to make a big claim... (knocking on wood)... 
