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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
OPINION PLEASE- Nikon 70-200 VR life expectancy
Ken Charnock, Photographer
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Mooresville | NC | United States | Posted: 2:05 PM on 01.21.09 |
->> Thanks for your opinion:
I'm a freelance photographer (I shoot every week - not every day). My 70-20 2.8 VR is now 6 years old. At 5 years old I sent it to NPS for the zoom sticking and focus problems (fixed, no charge). I just sent it back to NPS today for the same problem (zoom sticking and focus is slow and it is not focusing properly.
My question: it is typical to have to service a zoom lens this often (did I get lucky the first go around of 5 years)?
Thanks.
Ken Charnock |
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Jeff Mills, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Columbus | OH | USA | Posted: 4:56 PM on 01.21.09 |
->> I've had lens well over 10 years old used near daily that still work fine so I wouldnt say its typical to expect a lens not to work after 5 years. (knock on wood)
At the same time, its certainly not unheard of to have something break after 5 years either.
I suppose its akin to a new car, you certainly don't expect anything to go wrong with it in the first few years but that doesn't mean problems won't happen either.
There certainly a ton of variables at play as well, conditions you use it under, care you take of it and so forth. Some people are certainly harder on equipment than others and sometimes their gear doesn't hold up as well. HOWEVER, I've seen guys who treat their stuff pretty rough and its still going strong yet also some who baby their gear to the point of being absurd sometimes have stuff break.
I suppose overall it comes down to sometimes you just get a bit unlucky and something goes wrong, as in your case.
I wouldnt expect a high end Nikon lens to stop working after 5 or even 10 years though on the whole. |
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Andrew Craft, Photographer
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Fayetteville | NC | USA | Posted: 5:16 PM on 01.21.09 |
->> I just sent out my 70-200 VR for repair and I have only had it for a year. I was not too happy. The focus was sticking and sometimes getting stuck where I couldn't move it at all.
I'm not sure if it is a common problem or if I was just unlucky. |
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Stanley Leary, Photographer
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Roswell | GA | USA | Posted: 8:11 PM on 01.21.09 |
->> First of all the conditions you store your equipment alone can make it deteriorate quickly or make it last longer.
For example if you leave your equipment anywhere a candy bar would melt, then the grease in the lens can ooze around and do damage to other parts. One such example is your aperture sticking.
Another major concern is humidity. If you leave in a rain forest type of climate you would want to store the lens in a airtight case when not using with Silica to help dry out the lens and cut down on fungus growing inside the lens.
Another concern could be living in Hawaii where on the big island especially around Kona the hydrochloric acid and other gases from the volcano can do major damage to electronics which cameras and lenses have these days.
I have found many people are not aware that a lens sitting in the trunk of a car or say on a plane is getting a lot of vibration and can cause screws to come loose and other things to shift prematurely.
The point of all this is to say just saying you are experiencing difficulties with equipment does not in any way reflect on how well something is built always, but often on how well you take care of the equipment.
There are always a possible lemon, but frankly I am surprised at how people take care of their equipment.
I hope this sheds some light on possible problems you or others might experience over time with the equipment. By no means is this all that can affect your equipment, but merely hoping you realize a lot can impact the life expectancy of the gear. |
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Eric Canha, Photographer
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Brockton | MA | United States | Posted: 8:28 PM on 01.21.09 |
->> My 70-200 vr has been to NPS 2 or three times. The most recent time because the front of the lens simply came apart. Just minutes before the aperture got stuck, (screws fell out?). A few years back the VR motor went nuts and the image would jump up and down sharply. It also experienced poor focus and poor tracking.
I think that the VR may have a lot to do with this particular lens failing. Having a VR motor moving elements to compensate for motion has to put more on the table to fail.
Mine just turned 6 and pound for pound is still one of the best lenses in my bag. |
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Michael Moriatis, Photographer
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Santa Barbara | CA | USA | Posted: 1:23 AM on 01.22.09 |
| ->> I have had mine going on 5 years and even dropped it once and other than an occasional focus lag it has served me fine. |
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Adrian Gauthier, Photographer
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Mississauga | ON | Canada | Posted: 7:17 AM on 01.22.09 |
| ->> My AF-S motor just died on mine, after 2 years. |
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Walter Calahan, Photographer
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Westminster | MD | USA | Posted: 7:22 AM on 01.22.09 |
->> My AF-S motor sometime stops working. Very irregular problem 'cause most of the time it works fine. Had Nikon look at it in early January. They found nothing wrong, but then it was looked at during a local Nikon cleaning/ meet and greet, not an NPS inspection.
The AF has stopped working on many different cameras. The last time I put it on a friend's camera body to check it. Still didn't work. Then the next day the AF worked fine.
One of these days I need to send it to NPS. |
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Robert Hanashiro, Photographer
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Los Angeles | CA | | Posted: 8:51 AM on 01.22.09 |
| ->> This is something that the Equipment Q& A is perfect for. |
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Steve Ueckert, Photographer
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Houston | TX | USA | Posted: 8:53 AM on 01.22.09 |
->> AF-S lenses interact with the camera body via the contacts inside the top of the back of the lens. If these contacts are dirty, or broken, then the connect to the body will be interrupted. I have had a Nikon lens where a contact actually fell out.
If a lens is intermittent on several bodies, it could be these contacts. If several lenses are intermittent on a given body, it could be the corresponding contacts in said body. But the contacts in the body are fixed while those in the lens are spring loaded to make the contact.
Bottom line, check those contacts if the AF is not working right. The AF drive motor can also be faulty, but it isn't as exposed and thus prone to damage as those contacts. |
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Walter Calahan, Photographer
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Westminster | MD | USA | Posted: 11:31 AM on 01.22.09 |
| ->> The Nikon techs clean the lens contacts, and the autofocus has worked fine so far. |
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Ken Charnock, Photographer
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Mooresville | NC | United States | Posted: 2:08 PM on 01.22.09 |
->> Robert,
You are correct - I actually forgot all about that - sorry!
Ken
To all the responses, thank you -
I sent it into NPS (we'll see). Hopefully this helped someone else.
Ken |
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Landon Finch, Photographer
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Colorado Springs | CO | USA | Posted: 2:36 PM on 01.22.09 |
->> My 70-200 has been in once for backfocusing after I dropped it while attached to a D200. I've had it about 3.5 years.
OT Alert, but since Mr. Hanashiro brought it up...
While the Equipment Q&A is nice, it's cumbersome.
1. It sends out an email to 100s of people and then you (sometimes) get 10s or 100s of emails back...many times saying the same/similar thing. (I always feel like I need to reply to each of them to say thanks.)
2. The emails are not accessible by everyone so only one person, the originator, gets the benefit.
3. A thread/forum is searchable and would (in theory at least) reduce the number of people using the Equipment Q&A for the *same* issue/problem/question.
I would love to see a SS.com Wiki of some sort for FAQ (another forum I participate in has this and it's awesome): How do I set up a remote? What are some sites or software I can use for pricing work? What color space should I use? Why do my images look flat/desaturated when I upload them to a website? How do I register my images with the copyright office? Which is better, Nikon or Canon? ;-)
And yes, I've made this suggestion to the SS.com gods via the http://www.sportsshooter.com/contactus.html page. |
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Landon Finch, Photographer
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Colorado Springs | CO | USA | Posted: 2:41 PM on 01.22.09 |
| ->> Sorry...the Wiki could also be used to define common terms/phrases/abbreviations that relate to photography: fast lens, bokeh, f-stop, DOF, etc. |
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