Lens repair question: am I being hoodwinked?

[asmodai]

CPS gold or platinum would help.
A CPS platinum member would only be paying $600. It would be worth buying the membership.

Ya know, in searching around for info on repairs and such, I've read a lot about how great CPS is. But I'm not an imaging professional, just a passionate hobbyist who takes the odd gigs when people ask real nice. {I know this is an imminently googlable question, but since your brought it up, I'll ask you =P} Isn't there a pretty strict requirement of proving yourself to be a pro to join CPS?

ditto, you can get them for $1800, probably even as low as $1500 second-hand, I wouldn't be paying that much to fix one.
(maybe even try getting another second-hand broken one, maybe with smashed elements but otherwise decent housing, for a few bucks and doing a lens-transplant?)

Yeah, I'm not dropping the $1,500, no question. I just want to know whether I'm being lied to about what needs replacing. I think they're tryin'a take me for a fool in replacing something that works fine, and which I am almost sure needn't be replaced.

[HDNitehawk]

Ya know, in searching around for info on repairs and such, I've read a lot about how great CPS is. But I'm not an imaging professional, just a passionate hobbyist who takes the odd gigs when people ask real nice. {I know this is an imminently googlable question, but since your brought it up, I'll ask you =P} Isn't there a pretty strict requirement of proving yourself to be a pro to join CPS?

To qualify for gold or plantinum you have to enter your equipment in the data base. With a certain amount of points you will qualify for one or the other.
This is the Canon's criteria for a pro;

"A full-time self-employed individual or an employee of a professional imaging business who plays a direct role in the creation of moving or still images."

This is probably why broken lenses have a good resale value. A platinum member could pick this lens up for cents on the dollar and have Canon fix it for $600, turn around and sell it for $1500-$1700 and make a nice profit.

[asmodai]

To qualify for gold or plantinum you have to enter your equipment in the data base. With a certain amount of points you will qualify for one or the other.
This is the Canon's criteria for a pro;

"A full-time self-employed individual or an employee of a professional imaging business who plays a direct role in the creation of moving or still images."

This is probably why broken lenses have a good resale value. A platinum member could pick this lens up for cents on the dollar and have Canon fix it for $600, turn around and sell it for $1500-$1700 and make a nice profit.

Yeah, that's what I suspected. That excludes me pretty unambiguously: I don't do this as a job. Thanks for the suggestion, though.


Clever trick with the lens-flipping. Maybe I can befriend a CPS member and get'em to send it of on my behalf.