I was out photographing some of the wildfowl at Figgate Park in Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago and while on the boardwalk, which was quite slimy, I suddenly lost my footing and fell backwards. My Canon 7D and 70-300L lens, which I was carrying on a Blackrapid strap, hit the deck hard and I feared the worst. It was a while though before I could check them as I fell backwards onto the edge of one of the wooden step/seat things and had the wind knocked out of me and was in severe pain due to a lacerated and badly bruised back for over a week. Back home, via the hospital (what a waste of time that was) and on checking my gear I was very happy to find that it was working ok. The lens hood took the brunt of the fall and split lengthways but saved the lens, which is worth about £1K, and other than a couple of small marks my 7D was fine. The memory card cover did snap open but the card didn't come out and the cover was fine. I continued to use the 7D/70-300L on each of the next three days with no issues, but on the fourth day, when I was walking back from taking some shots of Elie Ness lighthouse, I tried to lock the lens barrel but it wouldn't lock and then I noticed that the lens wouldn't retract fully back to 70mm. I tried it again later and noticed that when zooming out it was quite stiff at times and still wouldn't fully retract and then, when I tried to take some pics with it, it wouldn't focus at any focal length! So it didn't survive the fall after all although I was very surprised that it took 4 days of usage before the fault developed?! So I took it to a camera shop near Inverness, where I am currently staying, who sent it to a specialist repair shop in Glasgow, and 10 days later I received a repair estimate for £428, which together with the £25 repair estimate fee that I had already paid made £453! I love the 70-300L as it is a superb lens and I use it for almost all my zoo photos but have yet to decide if I want to spend £453 on a repair.
OUCH! That is a major bummer. Hopefully you are ok, which is the most important thing. It is an expensive repair, but still half the cost of buying the same lens again as a replacement, so probably worth it.
I just saw a guy with a Canon 500mm f4 L series, and he showed me where he had dropped it, and only the metal rim around the edge of the lens had dented - the lens was still intact, and the dent doesn't show up in photo's, so he is very happy (and very lucky). Hix
Accidents happen, usually at the very worst times. You get hurt, you have to pay out good money, you waste time and sometimes the worst part is that you feel so awfully stupid. I sympathise. Alan
You are correct AD and I expect I will end up repairing it. In the meantime though bought a Sigma 150-500, bought for more reach not as a replacement for 70-300. Will take some getting used to though if I hope to get same quality images as the Canon.
You will not get the same image quality, no matter how much time you spend getting used to it. Of course, it depends on your use. For online posting and small prints (up to normal paper size) there may not be a noticeable difference. I use pro series lenses because I blow photos up to 30x50 and 40x60 inches for my loft. For the reach, though, options are very limited. Any pro quality lens in the 500mm range would cost as much as compact car. As far as I can see, the only true pro quality long telephoto that is somewhat affordable is the Canon 400 f/5.6. Anyway, hope the Sigma works out for you and we look forward to seeing the images on ZooChat. Maybe you will prove me wrong about the lower quality?
I had a very similar experience in which someone elses cats pushed my camera bag out of a table and both the camera and the lens worked perfectly for the next 3 hours, which made me think nothing had happened, nut later that day I wanted to take some other pictures and found that 75% of the picture was black and had to pay about 200 dollars in repair... wildlife photography isn´t a cheap hobby!!
