UKH

I dropped my Panasonic/Leica 100-400mm lens.
Something's rattling inside, it won't focus, auto or manual.
I'm not covered on insurance, and initial enquiries suggest it would cost more to send it for repair. than its value.
Any suggestions please?
 

Looking on MPB it looks like a working version, 2nd hand, might sell for around £6-700? Who have you approached for repair quotes? It sounds like you currently have an expensive paperweight, so maybe worth paying for at least a detailed inspection to confirm if an actual repair would be economical.

t'interweb seems to suggest it has to be sent to Japan, and Panasonic don't provide spares.

There are people out there who can dismantle, mend and reassemble such lenses.  You might send an email to any local astronomical societies as there can be some overlap on skill and interests….

Its a kill or cure solution though.

Or a camera shop?!?! Literally 0.1 seconds on google: https://1staidrepairs.co.uk/video-and-camera-lens-repair. State they do Panasonic lens repairs.

Hmm... Sell as a spares/repair item ? Or before you bin it, get some tiny screw drivers and have a go yourself? If destined for the bin.anyway, you might have a fun couple of hours with it, learn something about lens construction and maybe even be able to fix it?

Could be as simple as something come adrift inside and just needs resetting?

Thanks for that. I have contacted them.

I've taken apart a good few lenses over the years and in my experience a sock-it-and-see attempt is VERY unlikely to work. In modern lenses there are just too may 'tricks' to get past the internal construction. Can be fun to try (if you're that way inclined), but I wouldn't expect a working lens at the end.

I'm sure there are many others, this is simply the first that popped up. So explicitly, this is not a recommendation - just a reminder that these services still exist

could be this? looks relatively easy to investigate..

youtube.com/watch?v=qZnl9rEu_l8&

No problem.

how much would you take for it? (ignore my previous post

I'll let you know...

https://www.harrisoncameras.co.uk/our-services/repairs/

Reputable shop (although I've never used their repair service) if the other link for repairs doesn't prove helpful.

the broken bayonet mounts would explain the rattling and no electrical contact with body? did it land on the mount? worth a look..

Look on the lensrentals.com website blog, they regularly do lens teardowns which would give you an idea of the difficulty, and possibly the likelihood of a particular component failure. However, if you can't get the spare part you're stuffed.

https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2022/03/disassembling-the-lumix-s-pro-r70-...

Have you tried calling into Harrison Cameras (Sheffield), they may be able to help

Landed on the substantial lens hood. Thought I'd got away with it until I tried to zoom. 

Michael at Clearer Images has repaired a number of my Panasonic camera bodies and lenses:

https://www.acecamerarepair.co.uk/

He specialises in Panny stuff and is very reasonable in terms of price.

You’d be surprised how much high value stuff goes for on eBay as spares or repairs in the hope it’s an easy fix. I had a very old Canon 300 2.8 stop focussing (even manually.. focus motor controlled it even on manual) that I bought for £1k and had three years of use out of.. sold it as spares or repairs for £600!  

First time out with my Sigma 600mm and I fell 20 feet down an embankment and knocked the lens hood off (and suffered grazings).  Thought nothing of it until I realised a small grub screw (that holds a ring in place at the front of the lens) had been prised out so I used a clever combo of masking andelectrical tape  to hold in place (nearly four years old).  The other month, the whole eyepiece of the camera fell off. A quick botch of duct and electrical tape didn’t really do the job, but sellotape really did do the job: My camera strap is made of some tape that fell of a lorry and an old strap. 

Proper camera that! One that’s lived a life 😄

My new-ish telescope is heading the same way, having blown over into a sand dune twice in ten minutes last October. And then blew over into a load of mud today. The eyepiece now makes a rather loud scrunchy noise when I zoom in and out. 

I thought I had knackered my bins similarly during an outing at West Sands in the high winds last year. Sand got everywhere and my bins were affected and sounded really bad when zooming. However, once home I decided to try a diy job. Used a small blower and very fine brush to work out the sand. Turned out to be quick and easy and they sounded like new afterwards.

Probably would work with mud if it is allowed to dry?

Funnily enough, it was East Sands dunes which my scope got embedded in. Will give it a clean as you suggest.