70-300mm VR Shaking Violently

Hi All,

Ive owned a Nikon 70-300 VR for a couple of years now, but I think it has a problem.

The lens shakes violently at times, and is very noisy. The whole lens seems to move/shake, and when looking through the viewfinder you can see it jumping around as the lens shakes. There seems to be a pattern of it jumping low and to the left then up and to the right, then back down, up, etc

This can go on from anywhere from 1 second all the way up to 5 seconds.

The lens is not usable when it is doing this.

Has anyone ever heard of this problem?

It sounds similar to this : 70-300mm VR sometimes violently shakes ...: Nikon SLR Lens Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review
The lens has seen very little use, I'd guess a maximum of 1000 shots, and has been well looked after.

It is now out of its warranty, so I am worried that it will cost me a fortune to get it looked at and fixed.

Thanks!

James

If you turn the VR off does it still do this?

I will do some testing, but I'm quite confident it doesn't do this when VR is turned off.

Many Thanks!

James

Sounds to me like your VR has gone kaput. Any chance your lens is still under Nikon's 5 yr warranty?

Don't you only get a 1 year warranty with these lenses?

Thanks

Jimbob 2705 said:

Don't you only get a 1 year warranty with these lenses?

Thanks

Click to expand...

1 year unlimited, 5 yrs limited. Not sure what is or isn't covered but it's gotta be better than nothing....hopefully

Thanks Dave.

I'll get in touch with Nikon, as ive only had it for just over 2 years.

As I said its seen very little work and I wouldn't expect to of had any issues with it so soon!

Is the VR switch set to Normal or Active? Have you tried toggling that switch to see if it makes a difference? Maybe that switch isn't quite locked into one or the other.

VR Switch is set to Normal. I've also tried toggling all switches, with no effect.

Thanks

Dave_W said:

1 year unlimited, 5 yrs limited. Not sure what is or isn't covered but it's gotta be better than nothing....hopefully

Click to expand...

Just had a look Dave and it looks like you only get a 1 year warranty on lenses in the UK

Managed to get a video to show it, on these videos the camera was not moving at all, so all shake shown is by the lens.

1st video (300mm, VR on up until when you here a click and something moves past the lens). When VR is turned off you can see the big jumps :

70-300mm Lens Test 1 - YouTube

Currently uploading a second video...

2nd video (300mm, VR on up until when you here a click). When VR is turned off you can see the big jumps again. This time with VR on it shakes a lot more. I tried to autofocus during the video, but it wouldn't work, so you can see me manual focusing it at one point :

70-300mm Lens Test 2 - YouTube

I'm going to assume that you have the camera mounted on a tripod, is that correct? If so, you know, of course, that you should shut off VR while it's mounted on the tripod. Another thing: do you have a switch that has the letters C S and M? I should be on the front of the camera. If it's set to C, it's set for Constant Focus Mode. Reset it to S (Single Focus) and see what happens.

fotojack said:

I'm going to assume that you have the camera mounted on a tripod, is that correct? If so, you know, of course, that you should shut off VR while it's mounted on the tripod. Another thing: do you have a switch that has the letters C S and M? I should be on the front of the camera. If it's set to C, it's set for Constant Focus Mode. Reset it to S (Single Focus) and see what happens.

Click to expand...

The camera was intact just rested on a table.

I know you shouldn't have VR on when the camera is it, but it does the exact same thing when the camera is handheld.

I just simply rested it on the table so you could easily see it shaking/moving around, rather than me moving it.

Thanks!

Jamess

Looks like the VR is not working properly, possibly will need to be replaced.

James, it looks to me that you'll need to have your lens repaired if you want to use the VR. I suspect that something got loose in the VR system.

But, I have to admit that I'm not a repair person and I don't think any of us is on this forum. Nikonites is only a forum of Nikon users, not associated in any way, nor representing Nikon. So, advice published on this forum represents just the member's suggestions and in no way should be considered as the only truth.

Bring the lens in at a repair shop and see what they say. Then, please get back to us to inform us of what they found.

Thanks for sharing.

I'm pretty sure the gyro's in your lens are toast. Not long ago a buddy of mine had a broken VR and the cost to repair it came close enough to the cost of a new lens that he went ahead and junked the broken lens and bought a new one. The thin copper wire that makes up the VR is one of the weakest spots in a VR lens. Oddly, sometimes these lenses can withstand a heavy drop without a problem and other times a small little bump can destroy the VR. So I would suggest you get an estimate and see whether fixing it or buying a new one makes the most sense. And if you do choose to go with a new VR lens, purchase the extended warranty on it, if it's not too expensive.

Thanks Both.

That is terrible news Dave, if mine is the same!

It has had very little use, literally less than 1000 shots, and has been well looked after. To only come with a one year warranty is extremely poor in my opinion! Sigma offer a 3 year warranty, and Tamron offers a 5 year warranty.

The best way to find out is to get in touch with Nikon, which is what I will do.

Put it this way, if they want a lot of money to fix it, it's safe to say that I will not be buying any more Nikon Lenses for a while, and will be moving to Sigma or Tamron.

Thanks,

James

Just sent an email to Nikon, I'm guessing they'll reply saying to send it to one of their Repair Centres?

Then they'll let me know how much it will cost to fix?

Many Thanks,

James

Sucks that the EU warranty is so different from the US/Canada warranty. Hopefully the price of these lenses in the EU are concomitant with the reduced warranty coverage. But somehow I suspect they are not.

Also, I wouldn't jump off the Nikon bandwagon just yet. Their products are generally of a higher quality than 3rd party items. Hopefully the fix will inexpensive and you'll be happy with the lens. But truth be told, VR is really only good when you're shooting below 120/sec, anything faster tends to soften the shot compared to no VR. While I'm not trying to lessen your loss or anything but the truth is your lens is still a fine lens w/o the VR. Just be sure to buy it from a dealer who offers additional warranty coverage next time you buy a Nikkor lens.