olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

Check the screw/bushing under the zoom rubber, near the "made in xxxx" area of the lens....may just need a slight adjustment. It fixed my 18-270, (jammed zoom, and was creeping prior to jamming), and tightened it up a bit, no creep at all. Mine is B003 older model, yours may or may not have the screw/bushing, model dependent I think. Hope this is helpful,
olemikey

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

That's called "zoom creep" and is a common problem with a lot of zoom lenses. It may not be possible to fix. Or it might be possible to increase the drag in the zoom mechanism, but that will usually make the zooming action more difficult.

Some zoom lenses have a locking mechanism... simpler ones just lock the lens in the most retracted position, while other fancier ones have a variable tensioner that the user can adjust to lock the zoom at any focal length.

Lacking either of those, here's what you can do:

1. Just learn to live with it.
2. Get a "lens band": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCs91ofsj-s and http://lensband.com/
3. Go to the grocery store produce dept. and ask them for a couple of their wide rubber bands, which they'll likely give you for free, then use them the same way as the lens band.
4. Find a local camera repair tech who will partially disassemble the lens and make modifications to increase the tension of the zoom mechanism for you. It might be adjustable... or it may mean fitting some different parts such as thicker washers or brass instead of Delrin... But there will be some cost and be prepared for it to be more difficult to zoom, possibly slow you down while shooting.... you may not like it.
5. Send the lens to Tamron, though they might not do anything or fully correct the problem... and it will likely loosen and start "creeping" again after some additional use of the lens.

Jimmy T Loc: Virginia

Ken, my 24-70mm Canon has a lock and my 28-300mm has a friction adjustment for the amount of friction for the zoom. Just asking.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

If it was a Nikon lens, you should be blaming Nikon, not Rick.

Nikon USA suddenly changed their spare/replacement parts policy 2 or 3 years ago. Most parts they will no longer sell outside their "licensed network" of about 20 repair shops and their own "factory" facilities. As a result, repair parts are very difficult or impossible to get.

According to the memo that Nikon USA sent out about this policy change, it was being done to "assure quality repairs" (i.e., supposedly NOT in order to have monopolistic control over the cost of virtually any repair work).

If you have a Nikon item with USA warranty, or one that was "officially imported" and USA warranty has expired, send it to Nikon or one of the 20 licensed shop. If not a warranty repair, be prepared to spend 2X to 3X as much.

If you have a Nikon "gray market" item... good luck. Nikon won't work on gray market items. You might be able to get it repaired by Nikon Canada or some other international repairer.

AFAIK, Nikon USA is the only manufacturer who is doing these things.... outright refusing to repair gray market, even at the customer's expense, and not selling replacement parts to independent repairers.

Maybe your girlfriend's lens (and Rick) got caught up in the havoc that ensued in the camera repair indusctry in the months or year following Nikon USA's sudden change in policy. In which case, I wouldn't be too quick to blame the repairer who was trying to do the work.

rjriggins11 Loc: Colorado Springs, CO

I'm sorry. I don't know who you are or what your beef is but you aren't doing anyone any good with an outburst like that AND, you've never had a need to make any kind of threat, legal or otherwise. In fact, from a legal standpoint, your entire statement is baseless and hearsay to say the least. If you have a problem, take it up with me personally, not in forum. In fact, give me a call and explain what is bothering you.

IDguy Loc: Idaho

The Nikon 28-300 has a lock. Sure yours does not?

topcat Loc: Alameda, CA

These are pretty cheap on eBay.