Breaking PointA little boy bought a 34k lens thinking it would be a good investment; good optics, rugged construction. He then bought a 4.5k RF flash trigger so he can be like
strobist.
The foolish little boy went and shot an
event for free, then
dropped his gear...
smashing a lot of it. Only the camera body survived.
Banpei: Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L
The Lens' front glass chipped and flew off.
The metal barrel holding the focusing group deformed and cracked. It rendered the lens unusable.
RF triggers Old and NewThe RF flash trigger shattered into a hundred pieces.
Asking for HelpI took my time and finally decided to bring the lens to Canon for repairs. The service person gave me a form stating "drop damaged" and had the number of the guy who will check it out. After a week, I called and they said the estimate cost...
33k!
WTF! I can buy another one at that price! On a whim, and as if to punish myself, I said to proceed with the repair.
After a month, they called me, said that the parts arrived then asked me if I wanted to go through with it. My head was clearer and I asked if it was reasonable to continue with the repair. After a few nudges, the girl admitted that they didn't feel hopeful nor agreeable with proceeding. I at last got the message that "
make us fix this mess you've made and we'll really make you pay for it". So I asked the girl if it's still possible to pull it out, to which she said it's okay up until they really start. Feeling both relieved and disappointed, I made the decision to pull out.
I claimed my lens a few days after and the service person even exclaimed "good choice" when he saw the estimate cost on the repair. Yet another indication of the "just buy a new one" message. I went home no closer to getting back a usable telephoto zoom lens.
With Canon throwing in the towel, it came time for
DIY Brymac to spring into action.
Mending A Broken HeartI started disassembly but got stuck at some point because I met screws that held together metal pieces. These were soft and flimsy screws and my current tools didn't provide enough rotational torque to unscrew them. With the risk of 'loose thread', I decided to reassemble and put off until i buy proper equipment.
I went to Raon (area in Quiapo with electronics/tools/parts galore). I first went to good old DEECO but was disappointed to find that the smallest philips they had was a #0, which didn't feel small enough for my needs. But I bought a Stanley Precision screw set anyway @180php. Also bought a small magnifying lens and ultra sharp tweezers. Walked a bit more and saw a plain set for 60php. My final stop was the goldmine, forgot the name of the shop but they had a Butterfly brand set@150php with a #00! I went home a happy shopper and got back to repair.
The first few screws were good boys and went out quietly. Two out of ten lost thread quickly, and I was stuck again. I was fuming at how flimsy they were, but suddenly had a brainwave. Since they were so flimsy, I
continued screwing (hahaha), saw that the screwdriver was intact and the screwhead was deteriorating. So after an hour of screwing, I got to
behead two screws and I was progressing in stripping the lens.
The focusing lenses were stuck not because of embedded glass shards, but because the barrel it moved in
cracked and got
deformed. It was like using a cylindrical piston in an elliptical pipe. I cleaned/lubed the barrel, and used a vice grip to reshape it.
I discovered that the manual mode of focusing wasn't really manual. Sensors detect how much you rotate the focusing ring and sends that information to the
UltraSonic Motor (USM) and it moves the focusing lenses for you. Seeing as the USM might be dead or doesn't have enough muscle to move the lenses thru the imperfect barrel, I planned to connect the external focusing ring directly to the internal mechanism. After studying the moving parts, I found the ones I needed and used
super glue to bind 2 rings. I left it a bit to dry then reassembled. I snapped a film circuit connector thingie, but I'll fix that some other day.
After all that trouble, I was rewarded because it
worked, according to plan. Yes, the focusing is manual now and like arm-wrestling a gorilla, but it works! I have a telephoto zoom again, with good glass XD.
Just in time too, the Cebu Bohol trip was around the corner. My family and myself too, was glad the telephoto zoom was back in action. I thus rename the reborn lens from Banpei to "
NOBLE SCARLET" after Skuld's angel.
Some pictures the revived lens were able to take:
