corndog
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Well I wanted to give this a try, and Google brought up this thread, fairly discouraging news unfortunately. I had already bought the lens thinking it would be the same as the non-IS version, wrong! Being a glutton for punishment, I decided to go for it anyway. To summarize, yes you can do this. It requires a little patience, and a few hours time.
To remove the mount, you should start by removing the two tiny fasteners that hold the contacts to the mount. Next remove the four main fasteners for the mount but don't remove it just yet. Carefully raise the mount away from the lens, making sure you don't damage the flex circuit. Gently grab it and pull up, there is no retaining mechanism. It should then look like the image below, the two arrows indicating the connector on the PCB at the top, and the flex circuit connector at the bottom.
I need to add that I'm not sure this next step is totally necessary. The main purpose of this is to keep the dust prevention bits intact. Anyway, fill the bottom cavity with a two-part epoxy that fully cures, no soft stuff. Odds are any five minute epoxy at your hardware store is fine, that's all I used. I believe the two little components you see in the top image at five and seven o'clock are accelerometers, the devices that sense movement. I don't know if they're completely sealed, but even if they aren't, the epoxy was too thick to make it inside. Do not overfill the cavity with epoxy, the image you see at the bottom is very close to being over filled. Looking at the bottom image, find the hole for the mount fastener at about six o'clock, if you look just about 1/8" above it, and a little to the right, you can see a half circle impression in the mount. There are three of those, and the PCB inside the lens touches those spots for support, so don't fill it that high.
Next I sanded the mount. I can't say how far, but you should be able to get an idea from the images below. In the bottom photo you can see the two accelerometers showing through, and the little pocket I had to make for the flex circuit connector, more on that below.
Next lay the mount over the lens exactly where it will be installed, and mark on the mount where the connector is. Using whatever method you like, make a little pocket for the connector, and just keep test fitting until the mount will rest all the way down. You will probably need to guide the flex circuit so that it wants to lay away from the center of the lens. Just make sure the pocket is deep enough, and you're not smashing on the connector. I used a soldering iron to melt a little pocket, worked great.
Viola, it works, this shot taken at 18mm with the Canon 18-55 IS. There is absolutely no interference, and the IS works with no issues.
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. Thanks!
