Lens death

My four year old EF-S 17-85 IS just died. At first it failed when trying to take shots with the drive set to continuos shooting and the A-EB at +/- 2. The normal 'please turn of the camera' message flashed up on the screen. Then about two minutes later, the zoom mechanism jammed between 50-70 mm! Please, please is there anybody who knows what the problem could be? Has my lens bitten the dust, or would it still be worthwhile sending it to canon to get it refurbished? Advice please, as I now only have my 50mm f/1.4 to keep my sanity intact.

It's only worthwhile sending it to Canon if you want to get it fixed [:)]

Contact Canon. They may be able to tell you an estimated repair cost, or at least a minimum repair cost. That'll help you decide whether to get it fixed.

If the cost to repair is higher then what a new lens cost I would opt to buy a new lens. Remember when sending a lens out for repair the turn around time does'nt usually include shipping time. For me this is a factor I also keep in mind when making a decesion of repair versus replacement.