Nikon 80-200 f2.8

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Hi folks

Not sure if this is the right section or not so apologies if I have posted incorrectly.

Long story short - I was in a local second hand shop yesterday and noticed they had a Nikon 80-200 f2.8 (1997 version) for £200. They claim it has a "broken focus element" hence the low price.

Is it worth a punt (with a view to getting it repaired, or if I am a very lucky person home repair as it could just be a broken focus clip thingy) or walk on by?

Seems like it could be the lens I am after for surf photography and even some nature work too.
 
Walk on by :exit:

The thing is i would ask myself if an easy or cheap repair,why didn't the shop get it done then sell it for a higher price ?
 
My concern would be how did it get broken?
If it has had a bad knock/drop etc, what else could be broken or damaged inside.

In this case, walk on by !!
 
Don't look at it, Its a old Nikon lens and not current iam sure it would be hard to get it fixed and come at a very expensive price, There mite be more damage aswell inside to it...
 
Old or not, there's certainly nothing wrong with the glass. :thumbs:

But you can always mail your local Nikon Service Center for a quote on a repair price.


Price on eBay is around £620 btw...
 
Some googling does reveal a common fault with the 80-200, the use of plastic clips in an outer part of the focus mechanism (under the rubber cover of the focus ring) but I doubt the shop is going to let me start peeling parts of the lens back to have a look!

Its certainly a fantastic lens despite its age (according to reviews I have read online). I might email Fixation on Monday and see what they say.
 
I have one of these, and I can tell you that it is a great lens (the only fault i could pick would be the slow focusing due to the old tech) and built like a tank. So I'd be asking what happened to it to have involved enough force to damage it, and what else could have been damaged/weakened.
 
Ok I went back to the shop today to have a closer look and to get more information.

It was sold as a fully working lens via the internet for £650. The customer who bought it sent it back saying it was not working properly. The shop seem to think that they have had the focus limiter on, forced the lens and knackered the focus system. When you manually focus the lens it feels rough and notchy and has slight play. Otherwise the lens is fine, clean optics and no signs of impact damage. The mount is in tact.

They have said they will give me a significant discount on it as they don't want the hassle of sending it off. I have spoken to Fixation who have said to send it in for a look.
 
If it can be fixed for less than £200, I'd say bargain. otherwise, you're paying £200 for a manual focus lens. Does that suit, if all else fails? End of the day, it's end result that matters most. But some don't have the patience for MF.

I had the older push-pull version that preceded that model. I thought it was a cracker, but sold it on to get the 70-200VR at the time [ended up selling that on too, I guess it's not my main range]
 
Sorry to dredge this one up from the past but there has been an update.

I was in town the other day and the lens was still for sale so I popped in, spoke to the manager and he said to make an offer. I told them £90 and they accepted.

I got it home, stuck it on my D300 and took some shots.

Interestingly it will focus in manual focus, its just rough in the mechanism. I havn't tried auto focus and don't really want to. The optics seem fine and produce some nice crisp images.

Annoyingly I have just been hit with a £500 car repair bill and a £250 bike repair bill so I can't get it fixed just yet. But so far it seems promising (well until Fixation say "we can fix it, for £1,000,000")
 
Another quick update.

Ive managed a couple of quick handheld shots with the lens in manual and it seems to focus fine:


Pi by LostInTheNorth, on Flickr

Obviously this isn't a high standard photo as is usually seen here (by this I mean on the forum, I myself have 0 ability!) but I'm pleased with it purely for the fact the lens is able to take decent images.

Today I have been playing a bit more and it will also work in autofocus too. Its rough in the mechanism still but it will work. I'm still sending it away to fixation as I don't know how much damage it will do running it in AF. So far all seems good.
 
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I have that lens. It's a great one. I bought mine new in 2000 (14 years ago!). Good luck with it. (Use duct tape to stop the lens hood falling off. Put a small piece over one of the grooves where the hood locks to the lens so it kind of just jams on as you twist it. I'm assuming the stupid flimsy clips things are broken or worn.)
 
I would say £90 for a decent MF lens in that range was a steal! :) Nice one
 
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