Dropped 70-200 f/4L is lens

[stefos]

Hi, I dropped my lens from half open bag into trunk of the car,there is no physical exterior damage, it will focus but makes a cluncking sound and picture through view finder jumps up before focusing, photos still coming out clear and sharp,not sure if this has affected the image stabiliser or not, any ideas what could be the problem and ios it repairable, thanks, any help welcome, stefos

[jrhoffman75]

The IS does make noise, and image will jump as IS starts up and stabilizes.

Do you think it is different than before it dropped?

If images are sharp it is probably not a problem.

[stefos]

Hi,definiteley different to before it was dropped, powering on it makes a clunk, if I tilt the lens backwards and forwards I can hear something make a noise inside the lens as if something has come loose the focusing jump is intermittent with stabiliser on or off,thanks for your reply, stefos

[ebiggs1]

All white lenses are repairable.  One of the advantages of owning them.

My experience is a fall that short would not hurt the lens.  But that certainly is no clean bill of health.  Do you get the jumping when IS is off?  And is the image sharp with no IS?  Atually the IS is nearly silent and jump free on this lens but not totally.

If it is doing this after the fall and it did not before, you do have a problem and it will take Canon service to repair it.

If you could see how some of the guys I know treat their, or rented, equipment you would not have even noticed a minor fall like you described.  

[stefos]

See my previous reply, yes IS seems to work still, the image through viewfinder did not jump befroe it was dropped and is very disconcerting,I have an important wedding in a few months and wanted to be sure it didn't die on me, thanks for your reply,stefos

[ebiggs1]

Yup, sounds like it is time to get it serviced.

[jrhoffman75]

Send it to Canon. You don't want to ruin your reputation and someone's wedding memories.

[RobertTheFat]

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@jrhoffman75 wrote:
Send it to Canon. You don't want to ruin your reputation and someone's wedding memories.

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You don't want to ruin the lens! If there's something rattling around inside, it's only a matter of time until it jams, gets bent or broken, or scratches something.

Frankly, I don't see why this issue is even worthy of discussion. You drop an expensive lens; it starts behaving differently; you stop using it and get it fixed. Only if the lens is of throwaway quality is it a viable option to keep using it while you try to decide whether it still works well enough.