chilly

I have 2 months left on an extended warranty so I decided to send my Nikkor 18-200 mm lens to the Nikon repair center to get a cleaning, replace the zoom ring and focus ring. I get an email back stating that the lens unit, filter ring and the 2nd group tube had an impact damage. I asked what is exactly wrong with the 2nd group tube and their response was, "impact damage was found to the lens unit, filter ring and the 2nd group tube." I had called them back and ask again what is wrong with my tube and they said they will contact the repair center and email me back with the info. The response was, "the 2nd group tube has an impact damage, if you have any more question please contact us again." Naturally I did. Their response was "it is not covered under the warranty, it will cost approx. $290. The focusing mechanism it tight and grinding, the zoom rubber grip is also loose, if you have any more questions please contact us."
Well, it isn't sitting right with me. What should I do?

Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.

I would ask WHY you sent it in to fix damage on the zoom ring and focus ring? Could it be they found additional damage inside that you were not aware of?

Leitz Loc: Solms

Since their first email told you what was wrong, what did you expect subsequent answers to the same question to be??

Jim Bob

First thing: review your warranty.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I doubt Nikon would try to cheat you on warranty work. With the symptoms mentioned above, "impact" sounds like a reasonable cause, and that's not covered.

That 18-200mm was a good lens in its day, but it's been surpassed by many others. It does not do well in comparisons. Apparently, it's still usable, so do the best you can with it and shop for another lens, maybe the 18-300mm or 28-300mm (my all-around lens).

You can find good, used lenses on ebay. I recently got a Nikon 35-70 F/2.8 for around $300, and I just bought an 85-200mm F/2.8 for $400. Compare that with the new Nikon lenses, which would cost about $3,800.