Help me diagnose this focusing motor problem on my 70-200

[fredathome]

My lens fell 😞

Something is wrong with the focusing motor. I'm looking for past similar experiences.

Glasses, mirrors still OK and I can take pictures, except that it has trouble focus and eventually if I do a burst, it shows Err 01 on the Camera. Turning off and on fixes it but then it comes back again.

I have a recording of the camera being turned on and the lens noise.

thank you!

[Tronhard · Accepted solution]

Hi Fred and welcome to the forum:

To be honest, the diagnosis seems simple enough to me.  When the lens fell it was damaged and needs a repair.  The fact that it is generating a rather generic error and not producing a clear image suggests some damage to the focusing system.   Below are the details for this error. Given the lens fell, cleaning contacts doesn't seem a likely solution.

Err 01 - Communications between the camera and the lens is faulty. Clean the lens contacts on the camera and lens.

1. Clean the electrical contacts on the camera and lens.
2. Ensure that the lens is mounted and locked in place.
3. Remove and re-install the battery.
4. If the problem persists, contact a Canon Service Center.

Your problem is that if the optics are damaged or even out of alignment it requires specialist gear to get the alignment to fix that - and that equipment is in the many thousands of dollars and usually only invested in by professional services companies, or the service departments of lens makers.

Any attempt to have a go at this yourself may further damage the lens and render it even less operational or cost more to fix.  I would suggest that if you live in the US that you contact 1-800-OK-CANON and talk to their technical support staff.  It will almost certainly need to be serviced, but they will likely give you an idea of the cost and then you can weigh the cost of repair vs the cost of replacement.

[fredathome]

Thank you! The body works perfectly. Outside of the focusing problem, the lens works as before -- pictures are sharp. I took several shots of the blue angels recently and pictures are great. The service option on Canon tells me ~$500. I guess I will go that route and get a better estimate once they have the lens at the repair center.

[Tronhard]

I think that is a wise decision. If this resolves your question, can you please mark my first post as a resolution, otherwise you will get lots of messages wanting to make further comments and suggestions.  It also helps others with similar issues get an answer quickly.

Good luck with that.