80-400 VR wiggles in F100 mount

I just bought a new 80-400 VR lens, and I immediately noticed that

it doesn't lock completely in the F100 mount. Even after it clicks

in, it will twist very slightly to the right and left.

 

One part of me says ship it back right away, but another part says:

worry about it later. It has a 5-yr warranty. The pictures seem

unaffected.

 

Has anyone experienced this? Is it considered normal by Nikon

quality standards?

I do not have an 80-400 VR myself, but I do have the F100 and AF-S 80-200/2.8 zoom. That combination also "wiggles" a bit the way you describe it. I asked a technician at Inca, the Dutch Nikon representative, and he said it is normal for this lens. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

It's normal. Bigger lenses seem to have more play. Since lens is fully electronic, the aperture information is relayed through the contacts and so there should not be any exposure problems due to it either.

I'm a little surprised by this. Do all specimens of the heavy lenses do this? It feels especially flimsy when the lens is mounted on a tripod.

 

Is there no chance that focus will be affected?

For interchangable lenses to work, you have to design in some tolerances. Even if the tolerances are extremely tight (expensive), if the lens is +/- .01 inches and the body is +/- .01 inches, plus add .005 and you end up with .025 of slop on a nominal 2 inch diameter, this is about 1.5 degrees of rotation which is about the best that could be done.

My 80-400 VR wiggles slightly too. More of a problem is the tripod collar which is really flimsy for that size/weight lense. I bought an RRS knob kit that helps by providing the capability to tighten the collar tighter. I also fashioned a rubber mount to wedge between the lense barrel and the top of the tripod mount to add vibration dampening.

 

Jeff

Is it only the high end 80-400 VR and 80-200 AFS lenses that wiggles? I have a two ring 80-200 AF-D and I find that it doesn't wiggle.

 

Regards,

Aaron

I just purchased a D100 camera and a 80-400VR lense. My lense does the same thing. It bothers me when I'm shooting and the lense moves. My fear is the lense is not attached and may fall off the camera body. I also have a Nikon F with an 80-300 lense. I never had a wiggle problem with that setup.