Help my lens fell apart! - DPChallenge Forums

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

12/26/2008 11:57:15 AM · #1

So I was out on the beach near my house this afternoon to get some sunset shots on my new tripod, I had my 18-55 kit lens on the camera at f/22 and 18mm, tried to zoom in slightly and the barrel wouldn't turn. I then looked through the viewfinder and the it had gone black. On returning home I removed the lens and it fell to bits - the rear element has come clean off the main body of the lens and is rattling around inside it.

I've had this lens since I bought the camera - about 18 months - does anyone know if this is covered by some kind of manufacturers' warranty? Is it repairable? Has this happened to anyone else?

Thanks!

J

MattO

Nikon D4

12/26/2008 12:09:57 PM · #2

The lens has a 12 month warranty, yes it is repairable. Not likely to be economical though. Most manufacturers have a min. labor charge when repairing lens or body. The cost is likely more then retail on the kit lens, and surely more then used value. Find a nice new or new to you lens on the Fred Miranda board and find something cool to make out of your old one.

Matt

Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro

12/26/2008 12:19:42 PM · #3

$@%Â£ this. This is SOOOOO annoying - I was planning on selling this kit in the next couple of weeks, I'm going to be upgrading very soon.

Would it be worth me trying to buy a second hand lens to sell with the body or should I cut my losses and get rid of the camera and get a d300 or d90 kit?

Ann

Olympus OM-D E-M1

12/26/2008 12:24:53 PM · #4

Check your warranty paperwork. In the US anyway, Nikon lens warranties are usually 5 years if you sent in the little warranty slip that came with the lens.

Otherwise, I'm sure it will be cheaper to buy a new one than to fix it. I have a brand new 18-55 (with VR) from a D60 kit for sale for $125 if you're interested.

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

12/26/2008 12:44:15 PM · #5

I would be interested but I have a feeling that with the strength of the dollar against the pound and the cost of postage it's not really going to be economical. Thanks for the offer though.

I going to have to resign myself to long focal lengths for the time being - don't have enough cash to upgrade yet and I won't for a while, especially lacking this kit lens. :-(

I wonder how much I'd get for a kidney... might put up another post on Buy/Sell.

TrollMan

Fujifilm X-T4

Fujifilm XF 35mm f/1.4

12/26/2008 01:16:19 PM · #6

Originally posted by JimiRose:

...I had my 18-55 kit lens on the camera. On returning home I removed the lens and it fell to bits - the rear element has come clean off the main body of the lens and is rattling around inside it.

That's why they call it a 'kit lens'. It becomes a kit and you'll have to build it :P

Sorry about your loss though. It's never nice when these things happens but in the case of this kit lens it's probably not worth the shipping costs (as have been mentioned already). One of the good things with more expensive lenses is clearly that they are built better.
You may be better off getting another second-hand kit lens if you're were happy with it. They are not hard to find used and are usually very cheap.

Best of luck! :)

MattO

Nikon D4

12/26/2008 01:58:15 PM · #7

Originally posted by Ann:

My understanding(and I could be wrong) is that the lens that is bundled with the cameras has a one year warranty those bought retail have the Nikon 5 year warranty. This is what I have been told in the past from our staff photographer who shoots Nikon, perhaps he misunderstood that.

Matt

Ann

Olympus OM-D E-M1

Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro

12/26/2008 02:02:13 PM · #8

Originally posted by MattO:

Originally posted by Ann:
Check your warranty paperwork. In the US anyway, Nikon lens warranties are usually 5 years if you sent in the little warranty slip that came with the lens.

Otherwise, I'm sure it will be cheaper to buy a new one than to fix it. I have a brand new 18-55 (with VR) from a D60 kit for sale for $125 if you're interested.

My understanding(and I could be wrong) is that the lens that is bundled with the cameras has a one year warranty those bought retail have the Nikon 5 year warranty. This is what I have been told in the past from our staff photographer who shoots Nikon, perhaps he misunderstood that.

Matt

Yep, you're correct. The warranty slip on the kit 18-55 that I just got is different than the retail warranty slip.

Prash

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

12/26/2008 02:02:43 PM · #9

Originally posted by JimiRose:

Sorry to hear about your lens. Abd the upgrade, go for the D90. You wont regret it. Of course if you can shell out a few extra hundred bucks, get the D300. But D90 has me in wonderland already.

12/26/2008 02:29:22 PM · #10

Originally posted by Prash:

Originally posted by JimiRose:
$@%Â£ this. This is SOOOOO annoying - I was planning on selling this kit in the next couple of weeks, I'm going to be upgrading very soon.

Would it be worth me trying to buy a second hand lens to sell with the body or should I cut my losses and get rid of the camera and get a d300 or d90 kit?

Sorry to hear about your lens. Abd the upgrade, go for the D90. You wont regret it. Of course if you can shell out a few extra hundred bucks, get the D300. But D90 has me in wonderland already.

Yeh I've been doing some research just now and found a really good deal on a D90 kit - a D300 would be nice but I am an impoverished student and might have to compromise. I hear that the D90 has comparable quality at high ISO to the D300 - anyone have any experience of this? That would be my main reason for going for spending the extra cash.

12/26/2008 05:08:05 PM · #11

Update :- After discussions with my lovely parents and fiscal arrangements planned I shall be getting a D90 + 18-105 VR in the first week of January! Yay! Much happier now.

If anyone would like to buy an 18 month old second hand D40X (body only!!) in very good condition let me know, I'm open to offers. I'll even throw in an attractive rattle shaped like an 18-55mm Nikkor lens - rare item!

Prash

Nikon AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D

12/26/2008 06:10:26 PM · #12

Originally posted by JimiRose:

Originally posted by Prash:

Originally posted by JimiRose:
$@%Â£ this. This is SOOOOO annoying - I was planning on selling this kit in the next couple of weeks, I'm going to be upgrading very soon.

Would it be worth me trying to buy a second hand lens to sell with the body or should I cut my losses and get rid of the camera and get a d300 or d90 kit?

Sorry to hear about your lens. Abd the upgrade, go for the D90. You wont regret it. Of course if you can shell out a few extra hundred bucks, get the D300. But D90 has me in wonderland already.

Yeh I've been doing some research just now and found a really good deal on a D90 kit - a D300 would be nice but I am an impoverished student and might have to compromise. I hear that the D90 has comparable quality at high ISO to the D300 - anyone have any experience of this? That would be my main reason for going for spending the extra cash.

Well I have read that the D90 shared the sensor with D300 body, so the ISO performance should be the same. However, the D90 provides only 12 bit RAW processing while the D300 provides a 14 bit processing.

I did notice that the D90 is useable all teh way upto ISO 800 + NoiseReduction if you are a pixel peeper, and upto ISO 1600 if you are happy with a screen resolution display. Of course that depends on teh available light.. and I am comparing it to the XSi I owned which was not as useful beyond 400ISO. But then again I am not a pro photog and may not need all that high performance.

I am posting a video review of the D90 and will share a link with you soon if you want.. please PM me.

ETA: P.S. Good decision with the D90. Good luck.. you will enjoy it!!

Message edited by author 2008-12-26 18:11:41.

MattO

Nikon D4

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

12/26/2008 06:38:46 PM · #13

Originally posted by Prash:

I did notice that the D90 is useable all teh way upto ISO 800 + NoiseReduction if you are a pixel peeper, and upto ISO 1600 if you are happy with a screen resolution display. Of course that depends on teh available light.. and I am comparing it to the XSi I owned which was not as useful beyond 400ISO. But then again I am not a pro photog and may not need all that high performance.

I am posting a video review of the D90 and will share a link with you soon if you want.. please PM me.

ETA: P.S. Good decision with the D90. Good luck.. you will enjoy it!!

I wonder about some of the statements you make here. The D90 has usable ISO performance beyond 800. The rebel XT also way beyond the 400 you posted. IMHO properly exposed shots from nearly all dSLR's put on the shelf today have usable ISO beyond what many people think is usable. If you are using an LCD perhaps you are being fooled by the amount of noise shown. Or if you are using noise reduction software and basing your information on what you are seeing while using that software. All noise reduction software will make the photo appear worse while in their software. I have borrowed my mom's Rebel XT and have printed 11x14's at 800 ISO and 1600ISO. I have printed 20x30's from 3200ISO files from a 1DMKII and 1DMKIII. And I can assure you I'm more of a pixel peeper then most. Or as a fellow photog friend tells me, I measurebate my files.

Matt

Prash