Nikon 85 f/1.4G Dropped... and bounced

<p>The title of the thread sounds worse than things seem to be, but the fact remains that my mom wanted to be helpful and decided to carry my 85/1.4G up two flights of stairs and give it to me. En route, she dropped the lens on some wooden steps. The lens then decided to bounce down a few steps, tho I'm not sure how many. After telling me what happened, I examined the lens. It seems to be optically and cosmetically fine. I took some pictures with it and the focus still looks to be sharp.</p>

<p>I haven't done an extensive test yet, but is there anything I should be looking out for? Thankfully, I am covered by a 3-Year extended warranty from Mack Camera.</p>

<p>Had the steps been cement, this would probably had a different outcome. Good old Wood! How did the steps fare? </p>

<p>Sounds like you were lucky (if that's an appropriate word - I'm more lucky because my lens hasn't been dropped!). All I can think of is that you should check the focus accuracy at a variety of distances. If you can't see an impact mark then it probably wasn't dropped from any great height. It may well be fine.</p>

<p>Carrying <i>up</i> steps is probably better than carrying <i>down</i> steps - if dropped forward, any given drop may not have been that large. If she makes a habit of it, invest in carpet. :-)<br />

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I'm not sure the warranty is going to help you (though your household insurance might if there's an issue), but I'd see how I got on with it, then get a Nikon service centre or someone with competent facilities to check it out when you feel rich enough. I've had someone open an airline overhead bin and drop a Pentax 645 and - more importantly - a 14-24 (fortunately I think in its carry case) out. The good news was that my head broke the fall a bit; my 14-24 seems to have a bit of field curvature (Nikon UK says it's fine, though I did have to tell them that I wasn't talking about barrel distortion) which may or may not be normal for it, but there's no major sign of an issue. This stuff, especially if a plastic hood takes the impact, is stronger than you'd think. Though they were only in a position to fall out because Quantas made me take them out of my main carry-on camera bag and put them in a separate plastic bag...<br />

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Anyway. Using it is unlikely to do any harm, but in theory adjusting lenses on an optical bench is a "normal" service. If it seems to be behaving okay, servicing a lens <i>can</i> make things worse, so I might not risk it if everything seems fine. Good luck.</p>

<p>Thank you everyone for the input. The warranty states that it does cover against accidental damage and unintentional abuse, as well as normal and abnormal wear and tear, among others, so hopefully this would be covered if a servicing was needed. If not, my mom said she'd cover it, since she did drop it. The steps look ok, from what I can see - no chipped wood. I guess this lens is built very well! First time she dropped anything tho.</p>

<p>A few years ago, I was hiking and trying to get something out of my bag, while holding one of my cameras in the other hand... somehow I dropped my camera and it landed right on the lens. The back sprung open and my film was now ruined. Luckily, I'd only taken a few shots, so not much was lost. As for the camera body, it suffered no damage and neither did the lens. The UV filter absorbed the shock of the fall. It was cracked in a few places, but upon looking thru the viewfinder, none of the cracks were visible. The filter was also jammed on, so I used kept using the camera and when I got home, was able to get the filter off using some tools. None of the cracked glass marks appeared in any of my photos, so I got lucky on that one!</p>

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<p>John-Paul,<br>

I'm glad I'm not the one who dropped it.<br>

Jeff</p>

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<p>Did you have the hood mounted backwards around the lens? I found them to be quite good protectors when a lens is dropped as they absorb the impact.</p>

<p>i'd look out for front focus, back focus, decentering and focus accuracy in general. most common probability is that lens alignment might be off. the problem may not show up at first, especially if you tend to use the lens lightly. you might want to fire off a few fast fps bursts to see if it can withstand repeated mirror slap. would be better to know while it's still under warranty. </p>

<p>About 25 years ago I dropped my 24mm f/2.8 AIS Nikkor from about a height of 4 feet onto a concrete floor and although the lens appeared perfectly fine with no damage whatsoever, it would not focus to infinity. DRATS! It took a trip back to Nikon to get it fixed. I still use it and it is one of my favorite lenses.</p>

<p>It sounds like you lucked out dropping it onto a surface that gave a little on impact. </p>

<p>Thanks again to all for their input. Jeff, I'm glad it wasn't you too! Eric, I'll keep an eye out. I took a few test shots at f/2.8 and the focus was sharp, but I have yet to give it a rigorous test. Scott - I hope it's ok. If the warranty doesn't cover it, my mom said she'd pay for the repair.</p>

<p>Seems to me that one usual effect is a dent on the filter or filter mounting ring. <br>

A plastic lens cap will absorb more than if metal hits first.<br>

If the focus and aperture ring still turn smooth as new, and you don't notice any focus effect, my thought is that it is fine.</p>