i pwned my 17-55mm 2.8 IS USM today walking to the bus stop in greece, my 30D and above lens slung over my shoulder. no case because i'll be using it all the time etc etc. No hood (forgot to buy before trip) but a CPL filter. went to cross road. greek pavements are notoriously slippery. especially the resident-modded cement kerb ramps. i slipped. i fell. smashed filter and it's jammed on, petrified to take off for fear of the glass (which had been pushed inwards) scratching the lens. found a fairly decent photo shop in city centre which helped me out with the filter removal, thank god the front element wasn't scratched, but there was some shards of glass inside the lens. by happenstance there was a canon service shop on the other side of the block and the man there gave it a once over, took it apart and cleaned it. semi-happy ending although i am worried about element alignment going all wack (haven't had a chance to check focus accuracy yet) if i had the lens hood on it it would have been fine moral: use a case, use a hood. (i today bought a crumpler pretty boy XL for camera + extra lens/flash now, which is what i carry around almost all the time anyway. no hood yet - i'll get that on ebay along with the replacement CPL. CANON YOU SHOULD SUPPLY THE HOOD WITH THE LENS I PAID FIVE HUNDRED BLOODY QUID FOR.)
I can't count the amount of times I've stressed to people that a filtered lens, if dropped, would likely cause more damage to the lens than one without...finally, at the expense of your travesty, I have a good example. I am sorry to hear...hope the lens is OK
Word. Filter only when needed, Hood all the time. If the canon guy took it apart and cleaned it, didn't he pop it on a test rig and make sure it was aligned properly? It seems to be a natural step in any lens maintenance.
i'm not sure, i didn't think to ask and left it there for a few hours. don't think so though - because when i got there to get it back he checked to make sure the aperture was closing up correctly on my camera body before handing it to me. it *seems* to be focussing just fine, though.
This is why I have a lens hood on order now. The shop I will get it from doesn't normally have them in stock. Apparently not many people buy them.. NOT when you buy them. They are bloody expensive for what they are!
I on the other hand always leave my filter on for a similar reason. In Portugal all the old parts of towns are cobbled in the local granite, which after years of use are slick almost to the point of glass. I was doing the same walking down the road and slipped my camera, in a similar state as Fod's, had just been used. It was in a small "camera only" style bag bit I hadnt zipped it up. As I went down the camera came out of the bag and shot down the road. The lense cap had been launched accros the pavement in the other direction. The filter (which was, in comparison a cheap sigma UV filter) was attached to my beloved Sigma 18-70 2.8 lens had several HUGE stratches in the surface, I whipped it off, turned the camera on and shot the nearest object. Pin Sharp (as always). I don't like hoods because they just add too much to the length of the camera, I usually end up just using my other hand if I need to shade it.
