my 16-35 took a nasty tumble. is it a total loss?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/memosto...re/7549547698/

This is a shot I wished I never could have taken. The lens, still attached to my 7D, fell off its tripod at night and landed on a solid slab of concrete. It split in two, parts of it staying attached to the camera. At first I thought I was looking at the insides of my camera but it turns out it's nearly unharmed (except a single scratch on the grip).

I'm about to jump into the whole insurance mess and was taking the attached photos for my claim when I noticed the glass seems dirty but unscratched. That got me thinking: could this be less than a total loss? Could it be fixable? If so, what costs are involved?

I really haven't a clue, but I was amused by the comment left on it.

Apologies for my unhelpful reply - at least you're smart enough to have insurance!

There is probably some more internal damage that you cannot see. My guess is it probably can be fixed but may cost almost as much as a new one.....does go to show how tough the canon lens mount is designed and built. Sorry about your mishap, hopefully your coverage will be good and it won't cost you much.

Send it to Canon to get an estimate for repair. If the repair cost is less than your deductible (which I'm guessing it's not), then have it fixed. Otherwise, collect the insurance money and sell the broken lens for parts on Ebay (off-setting the costs incurred while shipping to Canon's facility).

That is a common thing for that lens. I'd say it is a design flaw but maybe it is like having 5mph bumpers. I'm sure it can be fixed. I'd bet there is someone at Canon that can do it with his/her eyes shut. I can only speculate on the cost, by my latest experience with Canon service I'd say goes between $250-$350. I dropped my 5D3 with my 35 1.4 attached. The 5DIII had just cosmetic damage that required replacement parts and they wanted $350. The focusing motor on the lens was damaged and it was $250 for that. I was able to talk them down to $500 all together.

this sounds like I should give canons repair department at least a try.
I'm curious to see how the insurance shakes out. I could see them arguing that this not being a new lens means they will only cover a certain percentage but we all know how L lenses can be resold at pretty much face value and don't depreciate a lot. anyone of you ever argued something like that?

Insurance will probably give you a little bit of a hard time. They will badger you about it being repairable. If the glass isn't damaged, technically I don't think it is as bad as it looks. If you google 16-35 II damage/break etc., you will see it is not a rare occurrence. Maybe the lens is designed to be break away rather than damaging the mount.

EDIT NOTE:

Just realized this is a MkI. I say see what your insurance says/does. Depending on your deductible you may be able to get a new MkII out of it.

Our 16-35II took a tumble. It marked the filter ring and put a divot in the hood (which was in the storage position). Lens worked OK until I realized it was soft. A visit to Canon and the release of about $215 triggered a very nice repair, with a new front section or something like that.

I think it is repairable.
I got my 16-35 II fixed after it broke out a piece of an marmot table and hat a nearly fixed zoom ring.
They exchanges the part where yours is broke. The part was bent and zooming was possible but just with quite a bit off force and impossible with one finger like it should.
It costed me about 140€
For your repair there may be some more time and some more parts needed, so expect a higher price tag.