Zoom locked on 3200 cannot unlock it?

My daughter has been taking photo's of strawberries in water for college and has been zoomed in for quite a while, some how she has locked the zoom into place and cannot unlock it. She informs me she has seen this before in class - with the tutors camera - and the tutor has just clicked a button and it unlocked but she cannot recall said button, it was a feature the tutor used so she didn't have to keep zooming in and out.

Does anyone know the steps to unlocking the zoom on the D3200 so she can continue with he college project of berries in water ?

Thank you

Zoom locks are a function of the lens, not the camera. There should be an obvious mechanical switch on the lens.

I can't see any lock on the lens I've even taken the lens off to see if that would work.

The lens is a

AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm 1:3.5.-5.6GII ED

It's currently on 55 and barely moves towards 45 and I really don't want to push any pressure upon it.

If the lens you are using is the 18-55DX with zoom lock, there's a button on the lens that needs to be pressed while turning the zoom ring.

It may be broken and not locked.

There's no button like that on the lens

Would a bit of force applied be recommended or would a call to Nikon be a better call?

It sounds to me like something is broken in the lens. You could check with Nikon, but my guess is that the cost of repair would far exceed the value of the lens. My old D5200 came with one of these lens, and last spring I sold it, virtually new, for $50.

I'll get to ringing them. We only bought it for her in September of this year so I'm hoping it stills falls under the guarantee.

Just checked it's open Monday to Friday so I'll give them a ring first thing Monday.

If it's not fixed under warranty, it probably would cost more to fix than just buying another.

I'll keep that in mind if they don't offer to fix it for free. Thank you

Villordsutch said:

I can't see any lock on the lens I've even taken the lens off to see if that would work.

The lens is a

AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm 1:3.5.-5.6GII ED

It's currently on 55 and barely moves towards 45 and I really don't want to push any pressure upon it.

Click to expand...

That is the 2nd generation of the non-VR lens. Should look like this:



It is an older lens and does not have a zoom lock. Probably has a bit of grit or something causing it to bind. Possibility you could gently work it while pointing the lens front down and may get it free. But, it may need cleaning or as mentioned could have a broken part.

If not covered by warranty, not much to lose if you get too rough with it.

If you do decide to buy another one, I hear good things about the new 18-55mm VRII lens. Although the first gen VR 18-55mm isn't too shabby either.

Eyelight it does look like the one you've shown, we tried to point it down as suggested however no luck so it's still a phone call Monday morning. Daughters not best pleased as she was midway through her assignment when it stopped playing ball; I'm sure her tutor will understand

Blacktop I'll keep the recommendation in mind, however the eldest has been told too buy no lenses at this time by her tutor, she doesn't want her to waste any money on something she doesn't need - or have an understanding of - until the time comes to when she needs it and she'll be taught the in's and out's of said lens.

That is unless of course the lens you're talking about is a near duplicate of the one she already has then I'll shush and go back to my corner

Thats good advice from the tutor.

Where did you buy the camera/lens? Some places like BestBuy have been known to swap out a faulty part. They did for me once.

Part of the package from Argos. I think it'll be a Nikon call that sorts it out to be honest.

Something else to try, and may give you more to tell the guy/gal on the phone, is remove the lens from the body. (Cap the body or bag it in a new plastic baggie to keep debris out of the body and away from the sensor). Take a quick look into the body and see if anything appears amiss.

Look at and into the back of the lens. See if anything appears out of place or obviously not right. Try holding it with the back of the lens down and gently wiggle the zoom and see if anything dislodges.

If the lens has ever been left in a bag without a cap, then it may be foreign object. If the lens has always been on the camera, points more to a malfunction.