mizuho_saito

<p>Thank you for the recommendations. Are there any other recommendations out there?</p>

<p>I am interested in putting together a photo books for some events. I know one of my friends uses Finao for her wedding albums that she puts together, however they only cater to the professional photographer who is running a business/studio. So I'm looking for other options that are like Finao, but cater to the amateur. I believe AdoramaPix has photobooks, but was wondering what else was out there.</p>

<p>I see that B&H is offering the SageMax Protection Plan on various lenses, etc. But I can't find anything about anybody who has actually had to deal with exchanging/repairing their equipment through accidental damage, etc. Does anybody have "real world" experience with them?</p>

<p>Ted, the reason why I started this thread was because I wanted to get feed back from others about their experiences with this particular lens and since I could only find mostly negative reviews on other sites, I started this post. A lot of Nikon gear seems to be back ordered, they must be ramping down production or something. For the most part, most people here like Shun said have had no problems what-so-ever, and hearing that a majority of people have found this lens a wonderful piece of glass it has encouraged me to take the plunge as soon as they come back into stock. If you so happen to get a bad copy which I hope you don't it shouldn't be too much of a hassle to get it exchanged. </p>

<p>Bela, all I really wanted to know were users experiences in purchasing this particular $1700 lens. There have been reports of defective craftmanship (sticking zoom rings, metal shards inside the lens, etc.) and I was just curious how many people have had similar problems with this or how many people had an overall good experience. Only a few people have had issues and posted what issues they came across that they found important to them. From the looks of things most people don't seem to have a problem with these issues.</p>

<p>I have decided that this will be my next lens, I just have to wait for them to come back in stock. And yes Michael, I will most likely buy from a local retailer since it only costs a little extra, but they may price match to B&H, but then there's also tax if I buy at the store =(, and tax on a 1700 lens adds up. But the upsides would be that I would be able to handle the lens and try it out before I purchase. I hear B&H customer support is exceptional, I have bought an SB-900 from them recently, but I haven't had to return anything to them yet. It would just be more convienent to be able to drive 15-20 minutes to the local shop though if I wasn't satisfied.</p>

<p>Thank you everybody for all of your quick responses. Now I just have to wait until the 24-70 is back in stock. =( Then I can decide where to buy from.</p>

<p>Thank you so much Arash for the detailed information. I'm debating if I should order from B&H with extended warrenty or if I should buy from a local shop, which I can most likely check out more than one variation hopefully, but it would cost me maybe 150 more depending if they price match or not.</p>

<p>Thanks for the tip Tim, I'll look into that.</p>

<p>Oh if I could also ask where people bought their 24-70s from too. It could be possible the package could have been dropped in shipping, of course there is no way to tell if this is true or not. But maybe buying from a local store tends to lead to a more consistant result in the quaily of the lens.</p>

<p>Okay, thanks for the heads up! =D</p>

<p>Lex, is there any way the title? I basically wanted to see what owners thought about their 24-70's and if there is a relationship to serial number and quailty of the lenses, since there have been threads around of people complaining about inconsistencies with this particular lens. I also wanted to see if there is in fact a vast majority of people who have had no problems what so ever which is what I'm hoping to find out.</p>

<p>I guess you could define defective as having to bring the lens in for an exchange/repair for other reasons besides damage caused by the user.<br>

Sorry for the double post.<br /> http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=760033&page=4<br /> post #46 said they went through 5 copies of the lens to find a sharp one. He may be nitpicking, but I'm just curious on how many people here have had "good" lenses verses those who have had problems, even if they are/were minor problems. $1,700+ is a lot to spend on a lens, and I would expect if you spend such amount the workmanship and quailty control would be very high.</p>

<p>Well it's been reported around the internet that some people have had back/front focus issues, zoom ring getting stuck/grinding and such.</p>

<p>http://www.flickr.com/groups/nikkor_24_70/discuss/72157615300077438/<br>

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1030&message=32087958<br>

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=127172<br>

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=68189<br>

And there is another link which I can't seem to find at the moment.</p>

<b><i>Moderator's note: This is not a survey or a poll. Any opinions expressed in this discussion should not be interpreted to represent any statistically significant data. Otherwise, have fun. -- LJ</i></b><p>

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<p>I've been recently reading about all the "defective" Nikon 24-70's out there, but I was curious how many good copies are out there. If you have a 24-70 could you post approx how long, if it's a "good/defective" unit, and maybe the first 3 serial number digits if you feel like it.</p>