cracked lens- please help

[G-BOAD]

ok, i will admit to being careless; i dropped my camera. The lens i had: Canon 28-105 1:3.5-4.5 II USM suffered a crack. Overall, the lens still seems rather usable, but it's hard to zoom in and out. Any suggestions on what to do? Could you recommend a photography store that does these repairs, or send it to canon, live with it, or any other ideas?
I have included pictures of the lens, pardon the quality, i had to use my laptop "web-cam"...
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l233/mateu21/182932.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l233/mateu21/183558.jpg
Thanks in advance for your help

[moose135]

If it's hard to zoom in and out, there is something that must be causing that - whether something is binding or rubbing. I don't know how much that lens costs, but if it were me, I would let Canon take a look and give me an estimate on repairs. Don't know that I would trust a third party shop on something like that.

[T-Bird76]

Matt send it to Canon hands down. They are in NJ, if you ship it to them you'll get an estimate quickly and they're repair turnaround is very fast.

[jerslice]

Agreed, send it to Canon in NJ.
I sent both a lens and a 40D body down there - it took a bit to mail down and fix but was worth it.

[G-BOAD]

Thanks for the advice!
I will do it as soon as I return.

[njgtr82]

You can drive there too, its right off of exit 8A on the turnpike. Very easy to find.