steven_gross3 Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 <p>Apologies for reviving an old thread, but I joined up because I just experienced this same problem.</p> <p>Mine had actually got to the stage where the troublesome screw was rattling around loose inside the lens. Following the lovely instructions I fished out the screw and tried to replace it but it didn't seem to be catching on anything, spinning loose in its hole. I tried leaving the screw out and closing it up but it didn't seem to like that either. Is it doomed?</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken_kartes Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 <p>Steven, no apology needed. The thread is public and here to help. <br> Im not sure why the screw isn't catching. You can inspect the threads on the screw and hole where it is supposed to be. If one or the other is damaged then replace the screw or correct the hole. The most common reason for the screw to come loose or fall out is due to the thread lock liquid not being applied or applied correctly. I have not heard of a screw or hole being stripped, anything is possible though. If you can or want please supply photos if possible.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven_gross3 Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 <p>I have just had another look, I could place the screw in its hole and it would just drop all the way in with the head sitting flush. I reassembled without the screw and fear that there is something else loose and rattling about inside that is causing the actual jamming of the zoom. I'd speculate the screw was holding it in place and once the screw fell out it either dropped away or broke off.<br> I have a cheap Tamron 28-80 on order, perhaps when it arrives I'll try and get some photos.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken_kartes Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 <p>The lens will not function properly without the screw in place. There is a shoulder on the screw that acts as a guide for the mechanism.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven_gross3 Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 <p>My new lens turned up today. Took the broken lens apart again and took couple of pictures. You can see by the magnified views the hole is not threaded and is slightly elongated. It is pretty clear to me from that and the rattling sound that the screw was previously attached to something that is now loose inside. It does seem to work with just the two screws though occasionally it catches, probably on the loose part inside.</p> <p><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/12820755-lg.jpg" alt="" /></p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary_yager Posted December 24, 2011 Share Posted December 24, 2011 <p>I just purchased a used Nikkor 18-70 lens. My zoom isn't stuck, but seems to grab several places between 18 mm and 50 mm, when zooming out. Zooming back in it seems much smoother, and if you zoom out quickly you don't notice the sticky zoom action. I don't know just how smooth the zoom should be if everything is working correctly, but assume that my lens is beginning to experience the problems that you all discuss here. I can still return the lens for a refund or exchange, and wonder if that would be the best option.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken_kartes Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 <p>Gary, I would return it if possible. The grabbing could be the beginnings of the cam bolts loosening.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary_yager Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 <p>Ken: I had two weeks to return the lens, and that time has just passed. They warranty the lens for 60 days, and told me if it really starts sticking that the warranty would cover it. I spoke with several others that noted their 18-70 lenses were always a little sticky, even new. The lens review by Thom Hogan noted the same thing about this lens. I'm just hoping that it doesn't get worse, as I'm very impressed with the results from this lens so far. If it does start locking up, and is out of warranty, I figured I could attempt the repair you describe here or try to get it repaired by a service shop. I contacted Nikon and they gave me figures of between $95 and $159, but stated they wouldn't know until they looked at it. If they did a complete cleaning and alignment of the lens it might be a good deal. I found the service manual for this lens online, and it's staggering just how much there is to taking the lens completely apart and the test equipment needed to do an alignment. I've already made a copy of the repair method here, and that would be my first choice, if it does get worse.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k_cable Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 <p>repaired the lens as stated in the forum, and the zoom works great! the focus does not work properly, bounces all over trying to find focus. seems like the focus was not aligned properly? anyone have this problem and how to fix?<br> thanks</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken_kartes Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 <p>K cable, did it focus beforehand? Can you focus the camera with the lens manually?</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathansanborn Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 Thank you everybody in this old thread. I was able to fix mine in under 15 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephen_mcdonald1 Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 <p>Another winner here. I was able to follow this and fix mine in 15 minutes as well!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim_hale2 Posted February 26, 2013 Share Posted February 26, 2013 Great information. I managed to get mine back working in about 30 mins. Thank you very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randy_roy Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 <p>Wow, I thought that my 18-70 was toast until I read this. It now zooms like new, but when I put it back together, the AF would hunt like crazy, and when it locked on it was out of focus. Opened the lens back up, and after about an hour or so of tinkering, fixed that, too!! 18-70 is good to go.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken_kartes Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 Glad to hear you fixed it Randy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mauricio_rodriguez3 Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 <p>Hi, my name is Mauricio and i would like to know if there is some way to fix my lens.<br> I got the lens on ebay, I'm from uruguay and these lenses (and all lenses) are very expensive, so i got one used from ebay, the thig looked good so i pulled the trigger. <br> The lens arrived this week, it had a massive amount of wobble in the front element and i followed your instructions to fix it. All went great, the wobble dissapeared!<br> What i found today is that the lens dont go all the way to 18mm, is like it stops a little before, at the mark it goes to 18mm but the fron element sticks out like 1 or 1.5 mm, it makes a gap between the zoom ring and the border of the fron element...<br> What i found too was that the focus is never "in focus" is like it wont focus right in the 18mm end, and until the 30-35mm it stays like this, like a wrong focus, i discovered this because was my birthday yesterday and i wanted to take some pics... And testing the camera flash i found this, i cant tell if it was like this when i got the lens, cause because of being slow i thought the out focus was because of camera shake...<br> I dont know what i could possibly have done wrong when i assembled it back together, but now i have this problem and is kind of annoying because i already sold my 18-55 lens. <br> Thanks, i would really appreciate some help!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luther_moore Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 <p>Thank you guys so much!!! I had the same problem, followed your steps and it led me to discover I had a loose screw that was jamming my lens. The night before I have to use the the lens and I discovered the problem, thanks to you guys it's all sorted. Had a hell of a time trying to line everything back up.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
altimageuk Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 <p>Hello..<br> I have a similar problem to <a href="/photodb/user?user_id=7779534">Mauricio Rodrigue</a>z in that the auto-focus doesnt seem to work between 18 to 30mm..<br /><br> Randy Roy - How did you 'tinker' to get your auto-focus to work ?<br> anybody any ideas.. Thanks</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rag_p Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 <p>Figured it out and thought this contribution might still help others coming across this issue.</p> <p>My girlfriend owns a D70S with the Nikkor 18-70mm and the zoom was getting stuck at the familiar positions. Opened it up in the suggested way by removing the rubber ring, and unscrewing the single locker screw. Surely, one of the screws on the inside had come almost completely loose and I even found a small piece of broken plastic inside (no idea where it came from though).</p> <p>Upon reassembly I also got the common 'will not focus' issue. After a bit of tinkering I found out that the problem is that the lens can be reassembled in several ways, of which only 1 is correct:</p> <p>On the inner zoom-ring, there is a special cut-out intended for the single locker screw. If this inner-zoom ring (the outer zoom-ring would be the one that has the rubber band around it) isn't oriented correctly, you can still tighten the screw, but when fully zooming out the inner-zoom ring will block against the screw. This prevents completely zooming out as well, leaving a small gap at the end of the lens. Only if the cut-out is aligned so that the locking screw fits between it will you be able to zoom fill out and will the AF function.</p> <p>Now the trick is to position the inner zoom-ring before reassembly so that the cut-out aligns with the metal bit that has the thread for the locking screw. Perhaps put a little mark on the inner zoom-ring and the lens body to see if they still align when continuing. After that, it's a matter of sliding the outer zoom-ring (it also has a screw hole) on the lens body, and let gravity + a bit of shaking do the work to make the inner-ring's grooves catch the diamond shaped bits of plastic on the front lens body.</p> <p>Lens now works like a charm!</p> <p>I can supply some pictures if needed, or just mail/reply if you have question.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken_kartes Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 <p>rP, I'm glad to hear the thread helped. Your additional info will helps others I'm sure. It would be great to see images that would show your repair. Thanks for posting and adding any other helpful information.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luther_moore Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 <p>If anyone has resembled the lens and has focusing problems then check that the magnetic sensor (little thing with gold ribbon cable next to the screw you have to unscrew to open the lens) hasn't been moved. I bumped it and it caused my auto focus to have massive problems. I bent it back out a little bit and my auto focus works again.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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