Nikkor 70-300mm 4-5.6 G Problems....

[leeblackman]

I've had this Nikon Nikkor 70-300mm G lens for about a year or so.

It had about three very bad drops. I had a bag with a padded pouch

that I would forget to zip up and it hit concrete all three times.

It still works ok, but ever since that last drop it kinda feels and

sounds funny. What I mean is, when I don't have it connected to any

camera body, I can turn the focus ring, and hear something turning in

it, which it didn't do before. And its a little harder to turn.

Also, I think its focusing a little slower.

 

I'm kinda wondering if I should just wait and see if its going to get

worse, or just send it off now. And who should I send it too. Its

the cheaper of their telephoto lenses. Do you think it will end up

costing so much to repair that I can buy a new one for a few bucks

more?

 

Just need some advice on the issue.

[chris_markiewicz]

i have one of these lenses - dirt cheap. i can't imagine that you could get it fixed for less than the price of a new one. (although i admit that i have had no experiences with lens repair).

[gary evans]

Toss it. I wouldn't try to autofocus with it again either! You said you hear and fell things inside the lens as you turn the focus ring. I'm sure those "things" are now or soon will be grinding along inside the lens, causing your camera body's AF motor to have to work harder. Keep doing that to your camera body and soon enough it won't work either.

[leeblackman]

Sounds feasbile. I'll probably just pass it on, I have a friend who has a nikon manual focus body, maybe he'll make use of it. They are about $100 at adorama I think. They'll probably want more than that to repair it.

[ShunCheung]

Unless it is a very simple repair, essentially any Nikon equipment that has a value less than $200 is disposible. I am afraid that Robert Lai's FG and this 70-300 G both fall in that category.

 

Unfortunately, since this is a G lens without an aperture ring, it is effectively not usable on any manual-focus Nikon body.

 

At least you are only losing $100 or so from three drops. It certainly could have been a lot worse, at least money-wise.

[leeblackman]

I had a friend once say "If you drop a camera in the water, the only reason to pick it up is to throw it in a deeper spot." I don't know if it was originally his saying, but it was the only person I ever heard say it. And even though I never dropped the lens in the water, it just seems so slightly relevant.