Nikon 70-300VR problem..Maybe. I dunno!

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Blacktop

Senior Member
My new used Nikon 70-300mm VR lens arrived yesterday afternoon from B&H. Flawless looking lens. It was advertised as in 9 condition, and it is every bit of that.

I am having somewhat of a problem. Pretty hard to mount it on my D7100. All my other lenses mount really smooth and without much effort. This one takes a bit of an effort to mount .

I line up the dot on the lens with the dot on the camera and it clicks in fine, is just when I turn it, it feels stiff and needs some effort. Almost to the point of having to force it to turn.
 
hark

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
I bought mine new, but it mounts and is removed with the same ease as all my lenses. Perhaps that one was dropped by the previous owner? Sorry I can't be of help. It is a standard mount so it should work just like any of your other lenses.
 
B

Blacktop

Senior Member
hark said:
I bought mine new, but it mounts and is removed with the same ease as all my lenses. Perhaps that one was dropped by the previous owner? Sorry I can't be of help. It is a standard mount so it should work just like any of your other lenses.
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Everything looks normal. No dents, scratches or anything.
Maybe it's a Canon mount Nikon lens.:cool:
 
B

Blacktop

Senior Member
Don Kuykendall said:
I have never noticed it mounting any different. Do you have a nikon friend in the area you could see how it fits in his/her camera?
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No, I don't have any friends. I may just buy a DF or a D750 to see if it's a problem on those cameras.;)

I've been playing with it tonight and it seems to be turning a little easier now. I noticed that I must be real careful to make sure I'm holding it straight when getting ready to mount.
I think it's fine, just a wee bit stiff is all.
 
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nickt

Senior Member
My old 50mm lens that I had since film days was very strangely tight on my d7100. It gave that bad feeling of aluminum to aluminum rubbing. I very carefully applied a TINY amount of vaseline with a pin point to various spots on the lens mount. I can't overemphasize TINY AMOUNT. You don't want lube getting in your camera or on the contacts. It made a huge difference. After a couple on/offs, I then carefully wiped lens and camera mounts with qtips to be extra sure there was not any accumulation of lube to migrate where it should not go. There was some black on the qtip after cleaning. It remains good for 2 years now.
If the idea of lube scares you, maybe just trying cleaning the mount with a pad very lightly moistened with alcohol. Very lightly moistened, you don't want any chance of a drip.
 
B

Blacktop

Senior Member
Don Kuykendall said:
Not sure what other lenses you have right now since I am on my phone but the 70-300 is a long heavy lens. So it may feel a little different.
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We have the same set up Don, except I don't have your 40mm, but I'm suspecting that this is the case. never had such a heavy lens before.
 
B

Blacktop

Senior Member
nickt said:
My old 50mm lens that I had since film days was very strangely tight on my d7100. It gave that bad feeling of aluminum to aluminum rubbing. I very carefully applied a TINY amount of vaseline with a pin point to various spots on the lens mount. I can't overemphasize TINY AMOUNT. You don't want lube getting in your camera or on the contacts. It made a huge difference. After a couple on/offs, I then carefully wiped lens and camera mounts with qtips to be extra sure there was not any accumulation of lube to migrate where it should not go. There was some black on the qtip after cleaning. It remains good for 2 years now.
If the idea of lube scares you, maybe just trying cleaning the mount with a pad very lightly moistened with alcohol. Very lightly moistened, you don't want any chance of a drip.
Click to expand...

I never use any lubricants when mounting stuff even when it feels real stiff.

However I may try the alcohol pad you're suggesting. Thank you.
 
E

Eyelight

Senior Member
Use a loupe to examine the surfaces. Take a q-tip or something similar and wipe it around the mount and see if it hangs on a little burr somewhere.
 
B

Blacktop

Senior Member
Eyelight said:
Use a loupe to examine the surfaces. Take a q-tip or something similar and wipe it around the mount and see if it hangs on a little burr somewhere.
Click to expand...

Thanks, but I got it now.

grinder.jpg
 
B

Blacktop

Senior Member
Just an update. The lens is now mounting smooth as any of my other lenses. I didn't do anything to it except switching it on and off the cam . now it's just fine. BTW I spilled some coffee on my 18-140 the other day. I can now attest that it is coffee and concrete proof.
 
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