Nikon autofocus issue

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broomel

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Liam
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Hi all,
This is my first forum post so please take it easy on me.

I have a Nikon 55-300 that has been my go-to lens for the last 3 years and approx 10k photos. Recently I found the lens would auto focus to very near perfect and then stick whilst making a buzzing noise, it would remain in this state until you manually rotate either the focus or zoom rings ever so slightly to achieve a perfect focus.

I trusted this to a repair company with decent reviews who "replaced the focus motor and tested it extensively" however the lens have been returned in the exact same state with the same problem.

Has anyone else experienced this issue and can offer some advice?

Ignoring the fact I've already paid for it to be repaired once unsuccessfully, and further postage costs will now actually exceed the price of a serviceable second hand lens I'm wondering if I just accept my loses and replace it ?

Genuinely never dropped and kept in immaculate condition, tested on both a d500 and a d3400 with the same results.

Regards
 
If repair, did not solve the issue highlighted, then I would certainly be contacting the repair company.
 
Hi and welcome to TP

Firstly, i am not a Nikon user......bit would make these observations.

Please note this site is a UK based one though with a number of USA and other overseas members :)

Having looked up the lens it did/does get decent reviews for what is AFAIK a very budget lens.......I note it is being sold for approx £149 secondhand.

At such a second hand value I find it hard to believe that a repair company would be able to do an economic repair of the type you describe with secondhand parts let alone new parts, if they are still available???

Maybe time to cut your losses and look for another lens.

HTH maybe?
 
I would definitely return it to the repair company or ask for a full refund.

How much is the lens second hand compared to how much you paid for the repair?
 
Thanks,
That's correct second hand lenses in the region of £150, the postage to the repair company was £10 and the repair £80...

They were contacted 2 days after returning the lens and I received a generic returns email saying I would need to return it (at my cost) and if there was no issue I would be liable for their p&p again, another £15.
 
It sounds like a gear wheel has been stripped of a couple of teeth, hence turning a control ring moves the gear and makes it work. Replacing the motor was a lazy and careless option done without thinking.

The question is whether you now trust them enough to send it back again and get a correct diagnosis and fix. As said, it's probably better to just buy a used replacement and perhaps give them a bad review on trustpilot or similar.
 
the black fox said:
It might also help to name and shame the repair company . Might help if any one else has used them
Click to expand...
We do only have one side of the story.

As with anything in life there are two sides and what actually happened is always somewhere in the middle!
 
Thanks everyone, i will not be mentioning the company until they have had a chance to resolve the situation.
I appreciate your everyones help but i assume there is no home DIY repair for this type of problem?
 
broomel said:
Thanks everyone, i will not be mentioning the company until they have had a chance to resolve the situation.
I appreciate your everyones help but i assume there is no home DIY repair for this type of problem?
Click to expand...

If it's a stripped gear then it will require replacement parts from the maker. Lenses aren't the easiest things to reassemble either.
 
yeah my theory was i bought it new only 3 years ago and didnt want to throw it away for the sake of 80 quid. oh hindsight in a great thing but it looks like i will be better off just replacing it, i had been thinking of a sigma 18-300 anyway (i also feel my other sigma lens is of better quality than the nikon anyway)
 
I sometimes either repair things or have them repaired when it isn't really economic as I think I'm saving resources but really these days with many things it's better just to accept the fact that they're probably not worth fixing, especially when as in this case the fixing doesn't go well.

Good luck choosing a new one Liam and please come back and tell us all about it :D
 
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