Broken lens...not sure what to do with it.

[john_gallino]

I'm a student on a very tight budget, but also starting up an event photography business with upcoming weddings

on the way.

 

My Nikon 18-70 kit lens, which I was quite fond of, has begun to malfunction. The zoom ring is jammed somewhat

around the 35 mm mark and will only move a little bit each way. I can still use it, but not to its full potential.

 

So yeah, its a cheap lens. I could probably get it for a little over $200, but I'd like to avoid paying that much

if I can.

 

I did some googling and found some people with the same problem, and a guy that fixed it said its really due to

one loose screw inside, which is quite hard to reach and I'm not up to the task.

 

http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=281485

(scroll down to the pictures)

 

So I'm trying to find a repair shop in my area (northern NJ), or anywhere if its cheaper that'll do it for maybe

$100 or less. Seems a little ridiculous to pay someone more than $100 to tighten a screw.

 

I'm not sure what Nikon would charge. They told me most repairs are $200 (I just paid that to get my D70

repaired) but more minor things could be $120 or $150.

 

I tried finding the lens used but its surprisingly sparse on ebay, and I haven't found it for less than $200.

 

Any advice? I'm just looking for the cheapest, quickest solution.

[f stop]

Learn how to fix it yourself. Wow, what a concept!

[john_gallino]

Wow, what an attitude. Ever consider that I'm concerned about ruining it and having to throw the whole thing in the trash?

[mike_s10]

The first response is unjustified, I understand what you're saying, as a mechanic of longstanding I can say with certainty if you don't have (at least) the confidence in yourself and your skills don't touch it.

 

Do bear in mind you're paying someone with the experience to dissassemble a lens and tighten a screw then put it back together again so it looks fine and works, if it were simply tightening a screw that you could do yourself.

You're also guaranteeing you won't wind up with a piece of trash afterwards, if they damage it they repair or replace it.

 

Options as I see are

1. Take to a store and get a definitive quote or very near ballpark figure, decide if worth the fix or replace with another form Ebay or store bought?

2. is the unit still warrantied? if so problem solved, it gets fixed free, (in the UK we have a thing called the sale of goods act which covers your rights as a purchaser and seller and does not necessarily tie in the same as a 12 month warranty, I assume in the US you have something similar, seek advice and see if this can help)

3. Try to find a keen amateur or someone who has stripped a lens before to do it for you, prepare to wind up with a more useless lens than you already have or a pile of tubes, glass and electronics, if it happens you'll be less dissapointed.

 

Finally, if shooting something important look at hiring a decent quality equivalent spec lens and if you like it weigh up the cost of upgrading against the shoots and pay you're getting, (assuming this is a paid shoot?)

Hope this helps.

[don_cooper]

John, that lens might have come with Nikons 5 year lens warranty. You'd need the original sales receipt though.

[Ed_Ingold]

Send it to Nikon. Tightening the screw is free. Finding it then reassembling the lens will probably cost $100 (or less).

[jim_momary]

John -

... Did you look here on p-net? Typical entry - http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00Pegi ... maybe not for you, but an old hack like myself might just bite my lip and dive in. It really doesn't seem all that awful a basement repair, in the scope of camera stuff. No easy decison either way. I've had the luck to be able to repair numerous Yashicas and Canonets overtime, and I'd rate this 'not too complex', but it is risk, none the less. Apparently it's a common enough issue. Jim M.

[john_gallino]

wow Jim that link really simplifies things. I opened it up like Ken says in that thread, but I didn't realize I was probably looking at the same screws. Somehow I managed to get it back the way it was and gave up, thinking that the screw in question was inaccessible without dealing with all the electric junk.

 

But now that I read what Ken said, I'm gonna give it another try. wish me luck!

[john_gallino]

Managed to fix the lens with Ken's method. Took a looooong time to get everything aligned back together, but worth it to save $120 or more. Thanks for the link Jim!

[jcuknz]

Repairs do take a long time as you found out, which is why even when you know what you are doing the mechanic

needs to charge those hundreds of dollars. I remember once spending a whole afternoon and early evening working

out how something needed to work in a camera. Went out on a pair of jobs with the bottom of the camera left at

base and tripping a lever with my finger to re-set for the next shot. Next day I finally fixed it with a rubber band ...

it worked for the next three years of constant pro use until I finally sold it being interested in a different kind of

camera. Since then I have had the greatest respect for the camera mechanic having bumbled my way through by

sheer luck.