I think my 200-500 may be biting the dust ideas welcome

[jeffnles1]

I was getting my gear ready for an outing tomorrow to shoot some sandhill cranes. I noticed my 200-500 is not closing all the way back to 200. It seems to zoom freely out to 500 and back but it stops short of 200 on the short end. I was out yesterday shooting some ducks and it was working perfectly then. It hasn't been dropped or badly handled especially sitting on my desk.

Any ideas of something I should look at or should I just bite the bullet and ship it back to Nikon? I'm pretty sure it's still under warranty.

Thanks,
Jeff S.

 

[Palouse]

Focus Limit button on the side?

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[jeffnles1]

Palouse, thanks. Unfortunately, it's not focusing that is the problem, it is physically zooming. Best way I can describe it is the zoom ring won't turn all the way back to 200. It will go to 500 just fine but when closing it back, it stops at about 250 (half way between 200 and 300).

 

[rangerrick]

I had the same problem a couple of years or so ago. Lens locked at 400mm near the end of a trip to Yellowstone. Apparently it was a common problem with some of early units. I sent it in to Nikon and they promptly repaired cleaned and adjusted the lens. No charge. Have had no problems since.

 

[Thern]

Send it in to Nikon. Something is kaputt.

 

[Warren D]

Agreed, send it in. I had a similar problem with my old 80-200 f 2.8 AFS. Focus seemed to hit a wall either manually or af. Someone from a different forum sent me a video he had done to fix it. Turns out one of the electrical ribbon cables comes unglued and when it pops up, creates a mechanical stop. Took me 6 minutes to take the lens apart and less than 30 seconds to stick it back down. Total of 10 minutes and it's fixed. Not saying the problem is the same and I never recommend do-it-yourself unless you are willing to take the chance you'll have nothing but a brick when done.
I'd send it in, not going to get any better.

 

[jeffnles1]

Thanks folks. It's on its way to Nikon. I dropped it off at UPS today. Hopefully it will make the round trip in one piece.

Jeff

 

[Enschnetz]

I just got my 200-500 returned from warranty work, same issue. It seems one of the bolts/screws controlling the zoom function backed out and caused a bind. Apparently it's a known issue with that model, how widespread I do not know. My lens is an import model, almost a year old so third party repair, no Nikon support. I was only without it for about 2 weeks, and the lens came back perfect. ( Thank goodness I sprung for an extended warranty!)

 

[jeffnles1]

I just got my 200-500 returned from warranty work, same issue. It seems one of the bolts/screws controlling the zoom function backed out and caused a bind. Apparently it's a known issue with that model, how widespread I do not know. My lens is an import model, almost a year old so third party repair, no Nikon support. I was only without it for about 2 weeks, and the lens came back perfect. ( Thank goodness I sprung for an extended warranty!)

Mine was a USA model so shouldn't be a repair problem. I sure do hope it is as easy to fix as yours. That would make me happy.