[Willo]

I am afraid that this piece of advice may be too late for you Chris but I hope that it may help others who may find themselves in such a situation.

I am assuming that these lenses do contain their fair share of complex electronics and perhaps treating them like other complicated electronic items (phones etc) may help. I have learned that once dropped into a wet place puddle, beer glass etc you should not turn the item back on. Take it home and take it apart as best you can (probably not applicable with lenses) and leave it on a towel on a warm radiator for 24hrs before attempting to switch it back on. The theory is that if there is any moisture on the circuits when the gadget is switched a short could be caused which would irrevocably damage components.

A word of warning this has worked with my mobile phone but I have not tried it on lenses but it may explain what has happened. I haven't had any experience with dSLR lenses so I don't know if they should even go near heat sources like radiators. I'll stand corrected if somebody says this isn't a good idea for high quality optics.

Will