Hello,
The kit lens from my D50 suddenly stopped working for no reason at all. As far as I can tell, there is nothing wrong with the lens itself. In manual mode, the focus and zoom rings respond normally and operate smoothly. The AF-S mechanism feels as if it is jammed internally. It will only focus in one direction, and it sounds as if it is working very hard to do so. It will become "stuck" and I can still hear the motor in the lens grinding and trying to work (I had never heard it before this point). I'm not sure what's wrong, but I got a repair estimate off Nikon's website and it is significantly more than the price of a new lens. My other lens, which is body-driven, operates normally, so there is nothing wrong with the camera.
My instincts tell me to simply seek the purchase of a new lens. I was hoping someone could recommend a replacement. My first thought was to simply pick up an 18-55 DX VR AF-S as a pseudo-upgrade, but I don't want that one to burn out in another 5 years. Perhaps a body-driven lens would be more reliable. The range isn't especially important to me. As you know with the D50's sensor placement, my 18-55 mm is really more of a 27-83 mm and when I use it, I find myself shooting mainly with it bottomed out at 18 mm, and occasionally somewhere in the middle when shooting people. The 3.5 minimum aperture of my current lens is not ideal, but not crippling.
The kit lens from my D50 suddenly stopped working for no reason at all. As far as I can tell, there is nothing wrong with the lens itself. In manual mode, the focus and zoom rings respond normally and operate smoothly. The AF-S mechanism feels as if it is jammed internally. It will only focus in one direction, and it sounds as if it is working very hard to do so. It will become "stuck" and I can still hear the motor in the lens grinding and trying to work (I had never heard it before this point). I'm not sure what's wrong, but I got a repair estimate off Nikon's website and it is significantly more than the price of a new lens. My other lens, which is body-driven, operates normally, so there is nothing wrong with the camera.
My instincts tell me to simply seek the purchase of a new lens. I was hoping someone could recommend a replacement. My first thought was to simply pick up an 18-55 DX VR AF-S as a pseudo-upgrade, but I don't want that one to burn out in another 5 years. Perhaps a body-driven lens would be more reliable. The range isn't especially important to me. As you know with the D50's sensor placement, my 18-55 mm is really more of a 27-83 mm and when I use it, I find myself shooting mainly with it bottomed out at 18 mm, and occasionally somewhere in the middle when shooting people. The 3.5 minimum aperture of my current lens is not ideal, but not crippling.