Is broken lens repairable?

A

Aidan Bell

New member
A tiny piece of plastic has broken off the bottom of my NIKKOR 18-105 lens, as indicated in the photo below. (The lens in the picture has a metal fitting, of course, but shows the piece that has broken on my plastic one.) The lens can still be fitted to the camera, but the fitting is loose, and autofocus intermittent. It absolutely needs repair, and this post is to ask whether that is something that can be done at all, or whether I have to bite the bullet and replace the lens?
With many thanks,
Aidan
5642.jpg
 
F

fotojack

Senior Member
Personally...I'd replace the whole lens. It will most likely be cheaper to do so anyway. The 18-105's go for around $200 where I live.
 
A

Aidan Bell

New member
Thanks. I'm in the UK and could get a second hand one for around £150. I just want to make sure that a fix wouldn't be cheaper/easier than that, as money's tight at the moment and if it would be possible to repair rather than replace I'd prefer to do that right now.
 
Fred Kingston

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
The simplest way to answer your question is, take the lens to a shop and get a quote to fix it. Yes, the lens can be fixed. Any lens can be fixed... The question is, how much, and then balance that against buying another one...
 
S

STM

Senior Member
I will never understand what in the world Nikon was thinking when they made plastic lens mounts. That is the kind of crap I would expect from Canon or Minolta, but not Nikon.

I mean, what would a metal mount cost over a plastic one, maybe $20? Would a $20 increase in price be a deal breaker on a lens? Get real!
 
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A

Aidan Bell

New member
Thanks Fred. That's actually the answer I was looking for. I was concerned that such a tiny part snapping off like that, and it's being a plastic mount, might have been the death knoll for the lens regardless of cost. Then again I guess they would replace the inner ring, the bit that actually "screws" into the camera body, which one can see is held in by five tiny screws.
I'll get a quote!

Marilynne, I'm not actually sure how it broke. It's one of those things; it was perfect during one shoot and then the next time I went to use it it was broken. The lens came with my D300, which I bought about four years aog, but second-hand, so warranty is out of the question unfortunately.

STM, I couldn't agree more! My 70-300 has a metal mount which is a whole other, so much better, ball game.

And thanks Tracsoft. I'm on it! :)

The reason for my minor lens-panic here btw is that I need a lens on Tuesday, so I'm trying to best decide whether to spend my time tomorrow trying to fix current lens or accepting fate and seeking out a good price new one. (Incidentally, this would be my purchase, which, for those in the UK, might be good to know. Digital Depot )
 
C

carguy

Senior Member
STM said:
I will never understand what in the world Nikon was thinking when they made plastic lens mounts. That is the kind of crap I would expect from Canon or Minolta, but not Nikon.
Click to expand...

They're all in the same boat :cool:

Tap'n on the Galaxy S3
 
A

Aidan Bell

New member
Decision! I'm gonna take the lens to Digital Depot (Stevenge, Hertfordshire, UK) tomorrow. They're good guys there - I bought my Sigma 150-500mm lens from them a while back - and I'll ask them if it's repairable for a comparable price to the very favourable GBP 169 (USD 258) that they're asking for a new one, and I'll make a decision on the spot. Thanks very much, guys, for all the thoughts and help. :)
 
W

WayneF

Senior Member
Replacing a plastic external piece surely must be the cheapest possible repair, however, Nikon does seems to have a minimum fee. I am speaking of NikonUSA, but you can always send the lens to them, and they will give you a repair quote by email. You can then either accept or reject it, and they return the item to you, repaired or not. There may also be third party shops locally that can do it too.
 
C

carguy

Senior Member
WayneF said:
Replacing a plastic external piece surely must be the cheapest possible repair, however, Nikon does seems to have a minimum fee. I am speaking of NikonUSA, but you can always send the lens to them, and they will give you a repair quote by email. You can then either accept or reject it, and they return the item to you, repaired or not. There may also be third party shops locally that can do it too.
Click to expand...

My plastic bayonet cost $125 for Nikon to repair (18-105). Sounds like their might be other issues however.

Tap'n on the Galaxy S3
 
A

Aidan Bell

New member
carguy said:
My plastic bayonet cost $125 for Nikon to repair (18-105). Sounds like their might be other issues however.
Click to expand...
$125 represents almost 50% of the price of a brand-new lens, so considering the age of the broken one and how much wear and tear it's had, the temptation is still very much to replace.
 
C

carguy

Senior Member
STM said:
That is absolutely outrageous!
Click to expand...
Agreed.
Bought a bayonet on ebay for $20 or so, turns out it was not compatible. Since Nikon pulled their parts from authorized retailers, the only choices are send it in or buy another. I bought my lens used and was still doing fine with the repair. There won't be a next time however LOL
 
C

carguy

Senior Member
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