Nikon lens help...again

[nickchew]

Hi
I've not been able to access the forum for the last few days, there was a sign that said that we were moving servers.

Anyway, my previous post asking for help seems to be missing, so...

I dropped my nikkor 20mm 2.8 AFD :bang: and now the AF motor does not work anymore. I can still manually focus but turning the focusing rings is difficult.

Does anyone know how much it costs to repair the AF motor?
Should I just give up and sell it for parts?

Thanks

Nick

 

[Sonnar Brian]

I'm confused: On the 20mm F2.8 that I have, the motor is in the camera. A link on the body to lens drives the AF. I have opened up the back of the lens and have gotten that "Damn" shaft back into place. Is there a 20mm AF-I with internal motor? If not, look for the little gear shaft and see if you can turn it with a flat head screw driver.

Repair will not be cheap, ~$100 or so.

 

[nickchew]

I'm confused: On the 20mm F2.8 that I have, the motor is in the camera. A link on the body to lens drives the AF. I have opened up the back of the lens and have gotten that "Damn" shaft back into place. Is there a 20mm AF-I with internal motor? If not, look for the little gear shaft and see if you can turn it with a flat head screw driver.

Repair will not be cheap, ~$100 or so.

Brian

you are absolutely right.
The motor is in the camera and I found the interface that turns the focus at the back of the lens. I think that the problem may be that the turning threads for the lens may have been damaged by the drop. The lens focussing ring seems very tight and the AF motor is working but it is not able to turn the focussing ring.

If it's $100 to repair, I'd probably use it on a manual focus camera and get another used one. 🙁

Nick

 

[Sonnar Brian]

If the focus ring is hard to turn manually, it will probably get worse with use. If the shaft fell out of position, it mught be possible to move it back into place. Remove the bayonet mount, and see if it can be put back into position. Some fine tweezers are required. If the shaft is off, it would explain the problem. I had this happen on a 28~85 zoom.

 

[Theo-Prof]

It is very likely that some plastic parts like the focusing helicals have popped out of position and the binding you are experiencing is unrelated to the actual AF connection. This is a common problem with many modern lenses, especially autofocus lenses. However, it is sometimes possible to get the parts to pop back into position without disassembling the lens if you can determine what is out of alignment. I once bumped a tele-zoom lens such that the front lens tube was pointing in an unnatural direction. A sharp tap on my knee in the opposite direction corrected the problem.

Kevin,

 

[nickchew]

Kevin

Thanks for the suggestion! Now I have a bruised knee....but that @#$%@ thing is still not working.

It is considerably easier to turn the focusing ring in the mid range than at either ends (close focusing or infinity). Looks like I'm gonna have to take a screwdriver to it... hate to think what it will look like after that!

Nick

 

[Poptart]

I'm glad I have no AF lenses . . . I learned my lesson with cheapo AF P&Ses.

 

[nickchew]

heh...heh
Ouch...again...
; )

Nick