How much do you think it will cost to fix my lens?

Question

My cat knocked over my tripod while I was shooting today. The camera landed lens first.

It wont focus now, manually or otherwise. It wont rotate at all. I hear a rattle that wasn't there (I'm not shaking it, merely turning it over).

Anyway...if I take it to a shop, about how much do you think it could cost?

Answer 1

Oh the joys of having a cat.  Was he on one of those "ripping butt through the house for no apparent reason" trips?

You should contact the camera repair shop you intend to take it to and they should be able to give you a general idea of how much it might cost if you give them as much details as possible.

Answer 2

HI Krikit.  Sorry to hear about your lens..Truth be known,  that same thing happened to me... except it was not a cat...  but a crazy little kid...  Anyway, what you are describing and the way the lens sounds..  mine did the same thing.. would not rotate, hearing some kind of noise.   Actually, I decided not to have it looked at, because it is such an ordeal for the repair tech to pull the lens completely apart.   But just for the labor, if it does not take more than one hour..the charge will be around $89.00... then the parts.  You might be looking somewhere over $150.00.   You should probably take your lens into a camera repair shop and ask the technician for an evaluation of the damage and an estimate of the repairs.  Don't bother calling and asking what he thinks it might cost...  he has no idea and cannot and will not speculate on the repair fee before he examines the lens.    You will have to leave it... but you should have your answer within a couple of days.    Hope it is not too serious of a repair for you.

Answer 3

Repair to a damaged lens can be quite costly...so, it really depends on what sort of camera you have and how old it is, as to whether it's worth getting repaired.

If it's a budget camera, no.

If it's more than 1 1/2 years old, probably not.

Buying a new camera is often the better and cheaper option...but, maybe you should try to get an estimate of possible repair to your camera first.