Anyone got any idea how much a lens would cost to repair? Im trying to decide whether in some cases its worth buying "good" 2nd hand lenses that are broken somehow (but the optics are fine) and paying for them to be repaired at a service centre. I mean, if a lens is £500 new, and you can get it broken for £100, and the repair costs £100, its still a massive saving.

Or is it like compact cameras, where it costs as much to repair them as it would to buy new? Ive seen quotes on the net from £35-£250 so far, and am left wondering where most repairs end up falling on that scale.

Kit lenses being kit lenses though, you can pick them up for £30-50 on ebay

The one in question had a duffed zoom (jammed) 17-85mm IS USM I think. Ended up going for £75 when theyre £300 new.

Normal lenses probably arent really worth having someone repair. If you have one you think is worth repairing then get a quote off someone before you have them do it.

It might also be worth looking up instructions on how to DIY a repair too, if you are so inclined.

Eddie Houston (a rather famous musician whos played in Thin Lizzie, Creed, John Coghlan, Status Quo, Pilot) fixes and sells lenses on fleabay. They tend to be a good bit more expensive than just bought lenses but you can reasonably guarantee they will be their best.

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/thelensdoctors__W0QQ_fsubZ1572432016

unless youre really good with mechanical and electronic stuff I wouldnt try DIY repairs unless its on an old lens, preferably one from East Germany or Russia.

The Japanese lenses (even old ones like 70s Pentax Takumars) tend to be complex and fiddly, while the Soviet block lenses tend to be modular and easyer to strip down and repair.

I got my Zeiss MC Flektogon cheap because it had a stuck iris, which I was able to free fairly easily. I tried the same thing on a Pentax Takumar 135 and failed horribly. Given that modern lenses (and particularly Canon EOS ones) are largely electrical I dread to think how hard it would be to strip down and rebuild one of those without the requisite specialist tools and expertise.