PLEASE Help! My 16-85mm Lens Is Broken!

Hello,

I unmounted my Tamron 70-300mm from my Nikon D5100 DSLR to put on my 16-85mm (which I purchased used from cameraworld.co.uk a little over a year ago) and it appears broken. I do not know how this has happened, I always take good care of my gear and this has not been dropped. The two videos below show exactly what problem I have with this lens. Please help! When trying to autofocus, it just scrolls through the focal lengths. On manual focus, I cannot pass 30mm. When I shake the lens a bit, it rattles.

Sigma 28-200mm problem - YouTube

Sigma 24-70 f2.8 EX DG - oi sigma, look it is faulty!!! - YouTube

I think you need to take them back to where you got them...

Could have something to do with the camera though...

It's not my camera, other lenses work fine. If you look at the videos, you can see the fault is with the lens, a mechanical fault

gohan2091 said:

It's not my camera, other lenses work fine. If you look at the videos, you can see the fault is with the lens, a mechanical fault

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You say it's a mechanical fault,take it back...Your camera is a Canon, take it back as well...

pedroj said:

You say it's a mechanical fault,take it back...Your camera is a Canon, take it back as well...

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My camera and lens are Nikon (not sure why you think it's a Canon). I purchased my camera from Amazon.co.uk and this 16-85 lens is from cameraworld.co.uk. The lens had a one year warranty which has already passed. I do have camera insurance from Glover and Howe (I renewed the other day for year 2), do you think I can make a claim with them for mechanical fault? If not, what if I say it was dropped by myself and then the fault happened? then i would be covered? This lens cost me £350 used, I am gutted.

Neither of your videos show a 16-85! and the second shows a Canon. Check your vids!

gohan2091 said:

My camera and lens are Nikon (not sure why you think it's a Canon). I purchased my camera from Amazon.co.uk and this 16-85 lens is from cameraworld.co.uk. The lens had a one year warranty which has already passed. I do have camera insurance from Glover and Howe (I renewed the other day for year 2), do you think I can make a claim with them for mechanical fault? If not, what if I say it was dropped by myself and then the fault happened? then i would be covered? This lens cost me £350 used, I am gutted.

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I'm sure no one here is going to tell you to lie to an insurance company...

The camera in this vid is doing a good job of impersonating a Canon...Have another look OK

Sigma 24-70 f2.8 EX DG - oi sigma, look it is faulty!!! - YouTube

People, I couldn't find a video of a 16-85mm that has the same fault as mine so I linked to what I could find. The lens or camera on the video is not important, I linked the videos just to show the characteristics of the fault. It's possible that someone else in the house dropped my bag or the lens and that caused the damage, I don't really know what has happened. Does anyone know what the likely fault is?

Post a picture or video taken with the camera and lens that actually have the problem.

The problem in the second video is just an example of REALLY bad lens creep. My Nikon 28-300VR will do this, but not nearly as bad. If I don't lock it in the 28mm position while walking it will soon be at full extension. The problem here often is that if the manufacturer tightens it up enough that it doesn't creep then it becomes too difficult to manipulate with the ring and people complain about that.

As for the first video, it appears that something is broken within the lens and if yours is doing something similar then you should contact the manufacturer (Amazon will only support you for ~30 days). Sigma has a great warranty on at least some of their lenses (3 years on my 150-500mm - serviced once when the optical stabilization broke after 9 months). Nikon warranties their lenses for one year, so I would contact them.

You say it's never been dropped in your opening post then in your last post your saying someone else may have dropped it...

Just go and have it fixed...End of story...

I will try and get a video uploaded tonight. Amazon won't want to know since I didn't order the lens from them, I ordered from cameraworld.co.uk. I shall give them a call tomorrow and see what they say but this is out of warranty for sure. Just wondering if Glover and Howe insurance would help me here? I have paid them £34 for the first year and £49 for this year and never made a claim before.

@pedroj, yes it may be possible but unlikely. What I said originally and what I said later on in my post do not contradict.

Well, if it's broken then it's broken regardless how it occurred. Given that working lenses *never* rattle on the inside, I think it's safe to assume it's broken. The next thing is to determine is whether it's cost effective to repair the lens vs. buying a new one. Figure out where the nearest authorized repair shop is and have them give you an estimate. In my famous Book of Self Rationalizations it states that if the repair cost is anything greater than 50% the cost of a new lens you should buy a new lens and then sell this broken lens for parts. Surprisingly, a lens sold for parts does fetch a fairly decent return, nothing near a working lens but not a complete loss either.

Was going to upload a video tonight but didn't get round to it. I do want to make one to put on Youtube though. I have a few options which I will pursue and Dave_W, I was actually thinking of selling it for parts/repair if all my other options fail.

Is it common for lenses to do this?

gohan2091 said:

Was going to upload a video tonight but didn't get round to it. I do want to make one to put on Youtube though. I have a few options which I will pursue and Dave_W, I was actually thinking of selling it for parts/repair if all my other options fail.

Is it common for lenses to do this?

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Could it be that the lens is on auto-focus and you are forcing manual focus on a lens that is focusing through the body focus motor?

Marcel said:

Could it be that the lens is on auto-focus and you are forcing manual focus on a lens that is focusing through the body focus motor?

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As far as I am aware, the D5100 does not have it's own focus motor and relies on the lenses motor for auto focus. Also, the lens should not be getting stuck when I reach 30mm when it's unattached from the camera and it also should not rattle when I shake it (while it's upside down)

You're kicking a dead horse.It's broken. Either get it fixed or buy a new one. Lenses do not rattle if they're not broken.
This thread is closed.