Sorry, a bit long...
So here I am basically in the middle of a week long vacation to the rural southern US and disaster has befallen my new-to-me (purchased used), EOS 28-300mm 3.5-5.6 L. The lens diaphragm no longer stops down.
I packed it for the trip in a well cushioned Pelican hard case and it along with all my other gear arrived safe and sound after a 16 hour road trip. Coincidentally we also had a 24 hour power outage due to a violent thunderstorm that swept through mid-afternoon Monday, so I had a lot of down time to evaluate what was going on with the lens.
On Monday, the first symptom was the push-pull zoom function didn't seem to want to fully settle back to the 28mm position, rather just a hair above the 28mm line inscribed on the barrel. Test photos indicated the lens was indeed at the 28mm position, according to data detail from my camera.
Tuesday morning and still without electricity here, I started toying with the lens again, this time noticing it was refusing to autofocus at any zoom position above about 150mm. What I believe had happened at some point is the diaphragm was stuck in a stopped down position because when I hit the camera depth of field preview, the diaphragm popped back open, but now the problem is it stays wide open and will no longer stop down. I can shoot fine as long as my lens aperture is the largest for that zoom position (f5.6 for the long end). If I stop down at all, the camera returns "Err 01 - There is a communication error with the lens. Clean your lens contacts" and no image is recorded.
I suspect the ribbon cable is kinked or broken. This cable has to extend or retract every time you change zoom settings and somehow mine had gotten out of position sufficient to get detached or is broken. There was no sudden blow, drop or bang that preceded this...it simply happened sometime between early Monday morning following our arrival, and later that afternoon.
So even though the lens is functional wide open, I've decided to return it to its case for the remainder of the trip and plan on returning it to a Canon authorized service center
when I get home. Bummer, but that's life (and according to some, the reason they avoid push-pull zooms!).
Hope everyone is well. I'll still be infrequently on board due to intermittent internet access for a while, but in the meantime if you have a story to share about your "good lens gone bad", feel free to share.
Have a great day
So here I am basically in the middle of a week long vacation to the rural southern US and disaster has befallen my new-to-me (purchased used), EOS 28-300mm 3.5-5.6 L. The lens diaphragm no longer stops down.
I packed it for the trip in a well cushioned Pelican hard case and it along with all my other gear arrived safe and sound after a 16 hour road trip. Coincidentally we also had a 24 hour power outage due to a violent thunderstorm that swept through mid-afternoon Monday, so I had a lot of down time to evaluate what was going on with the lens.
On Monday, the first symptom was the push-pull zoom function didn't seem to want to fully settle back to the 28mm position, rather just a hair above the 28mm line inscribed on the barrel. Test photos indicated the lens was indeed at the 28mm position, according to data detail from my camera.
Tuesday morning and still without electricity here, I started toying with the lens again, this time noticing it was refusing to autofocus at any zoom position above about 150mm. What I believe had happened at some point is the diaphragm was stuck in a stopped down position because when I hit the camera depth of field preview, the diaphragm popped back open, but now the problem is it stays wide open and will no longer stop down. I can shoot fine as long as my lens aperture is the largest for that zoom position (f5.6 for the long end). If I stop down at all, the camera returns "Err 01 - There is a communication error with the lens. Clean your lens contacts" and no image is recorded.
I suspect the ribbon cable is kinked or broken. This cable has to extend or retract every time you change zoom settings and somehow mine had gotten out of position sufficient to get detached or is broken. There was no sudden blow, drop or bang that preceded this...it simply happened sometime between early Monday morning following our arrival, and later that afternoon.
So even though the lens is functional wide open, I've decided to return it to its case for the remainder of the trip and plan on returning it to a Canon authorized service center
when I get home. Bummer, but that's life (and according to some, the reason they avoid push-pull zooms!).Hope everyone is well. I'll still be infrequently on board due to intermittent internet access for a while, but in the meantime if you have a story to share about your "good lens gone bad", feel free to share.
Have a great day
