VR is clunking and failing

When I originally purchased my Nikon 500 VR lens a little over 5 years ago, I sent it back to Nikon because the VR was clunking on occasion. They told me they could find nothing wrong or out of the ordinary and sent it back. It stopped doing it for the most part, until just recently. It is now clunking almost every time I hold the shutter button to focus. I clunks and jumps so bad that images that are taken in the middle of a clunk are moved out of the frame. I can even see the subject jumping up or down. The clunking sound is fairly loud too. Someone beside me can hear it. It is now at a point where I can't really use the VR in this lens anymore. The lens is past the 5 year warranty and I can't afford to send it to Nikon and pay them for repair. Has anyone else experienced this same problem? If yes, what did you do to deal with it? Lastly, does anyone have a rough idea what this could cost for Nikon to repair it? I feel now like I am stuck with a $9000 lens that does not have the VR function.

Thanks
Tim

Tim, I feel for you in this situation. I would keep my mind open to the possibility this isn't a VR problem per se, but a camera/lens issue (contacts?) with VR symptoms. Just saying. Does this occur with all bodies on the 500?  Using teleconverter? Good luck with Nikon, they are so much fun to deal with (sarcasm). Are you getting black frames? Uneven exposures when shooting a burst? Good luck. 

The VR unit has totally failed and needs replacing. Even with VR off, you are likely going to suffer image degradation since the VR lens element likely is not properly centered even with it off. It will likely cost somewhere between $700 and $1000 to fix.

Would have been nice if Nikon could have given Tim a heads up that the VR unit was faulty or about to fail on his then new lens when they had it in their hands for evaluation and repair, if the problems described are/were pathognomonic for VR problem.

Yes, it happens with all camera bodies, with and without the TC and I do occasionally get black frames.

EJ, your estimate of $700 to $1000 is presumably in US dollars, which translates to $925 to $1320 Cdn. Ouch . . . . . not a chance I can afford that kind of money right now. Might be best to sell this lens for around $1000 less than they go for and replace it with the new Sigma 150-600 Sport. Problem is finding someone who would buy it.

Tim Zurowski wrote:Yes, it happens with all camera bodies, with and without the TC and I do occasionally get black frames.

EJ, your estimate of $700 to $1000 is presumably in US dollars, which translates to $925 to $1320 Cdn. Ouch . . . . . not a chance I can afford that kind of money right now. Might be best to sell this lens for around $1000 less than they go for and replace it with the new Sigma 150-600 Sport. Problem is finding someone who would buy it.

Try $1,500 less.

Note to self : check VR when buying used

Tim I suggest that you contact Nikon and point out the history of complaints about this problem from early on while the lens was still in warranty. You tried to get Nikon's attention on it but they ignored it. Nikon should cover this problem under warranty IMO. Whether they do the right thing or not, I suppose may depend on whose attention in service you get. It's worth a try. Good luck, I hope you get it fixed by Nikon under the original warranty - that seems imminently fair to me.

I agree that you should try what Robert says.

Johan, how can Nikon give him a heads up about a failure in 2015 if it performed correctly when in their shop in 2010 or earlier?

E.J. Peiker wrote:I agree that you should try what Robert says.

Johan, how can Nikon give him a heads up about a failure in 2015 if it performed correctly when in their shop in 2010 or earlier?

I will give it a try, but Nikon Canada are about as careless and useless as it can possibly get.

Nikon's response was generally quite vague when I originally sent it in, but my impression from their response was that it probably did it intermittently, so they said it was within specs and sent it back. I suspected they just did not want to deal with it since back then it was not affecting the images and only happening very randomly. I should also note that it has always done this, but only very randomly. It may have gone a month or two without it ever happening and then may happen a few times the next month. It has only been within the past few months that it is now happening all the time and affecting files. I'll give it a try with Nikon Canada Service, but my (and many others) track record with them has been extremely poor.

If you meet with resistance from Nikon you might want to give them a link to this post. We would all like to hear how Nikon handles this. Good luck Tim.

EJ, you indicated that a clunky VR required that this part of the lens required replacement. If the lens was doing this when new (albeit intermittently), I think that this would be a "heads up" (advance warning) that something was amiss. If my new car transmission was clunking, I would be concerned that it would be subject to premature failure. Furthermore an argument could be made perhaps that since the owner had to pay to send the lens in and to insure it, it may be best practice to simply replace the VR unit. I'm agreeing with Robert and you that Nikon should bear some responsibility if view of the history. Do I think Nikon will honour the warranty at this point, in this case, NO!

An allegation without proof that one lens failed intermittently may be an advanced warning to you but not to Nikon. The history of one lens is not the history of all lenses. Nikon does not produce lenses with a life-time warranty. Even products with life-time warranty could and have failed and everybody know that. The difference between the manufacturers in the first group and those in second group is the second group fix it for you, free. Just because you have to pay for the shipment is no reason to give you a free repair (are you kidding me ).

That said, you could always try to get them do you a favor.

Hi Tim

Johan's comment is right on.  I believe there is a good chance that they will give you a break here.

Hope I am not late with this response.  Despite what some others have said regarding Nikon's "repair attitude", I can honestly say that they really did work with me.  It was not open and shut.  Jonathan B spent lots of time listening to me make valid complaints.

If your lens was clunking when new and you sent it back for that, there is a case number for it.  That gives your story much credibility when you complain.

As I said Tim, as I looked back on all the haggling and calls…..I really liked dealing with Joanathan B.  He listened and listened and listened to me complain.  Then, he honestly worked with me.  I recently read someone on NSN give a characterization of how they believed Nikon repairs worked (if you are not NPS).  I believe it was a pretty likely scenario.  I think that my man on the inside talked to the service people and that that helped me a great deal.

It ain't easy and it ain't fun.  Good luck and please let us know.

Robert

I've had my VR system worked on with both my 600 and my 200-400, but I think they were both under warranty. I dropped my 200-400 on pavement four years back and Nikon had to replace 10 different parts and it ran me $1150. I'd be surprised if a VR repair is above $500.

Thanks guys. I am leaving for central Oregon in a few days and will contact Nikon Service when I get back.

Robert, note that I am in Canada and from my experiences, Nikon Canada is a lot worse to deal with than Nikon USA.

Oh yuh Tim…forgot you were in Canada.

Okay just got back from a few days shoot in Oregon. Before I left the VR was clunking and failing non-stop. When I was down there, in three full days of shooting, it only happened for a short period of about 5 to 10 minutes. The rest of the time it worked flawlessly. So it will be nearly impossible for Nikon to determine a problem that is so intermittent. All of my images with the lens and the D7200 are RAZOR sharp, with both the VR on and off. I will probably not bother Nikon with it until it starts failing more often again.

If you made that report to nikon USA, they would replace the VR unit whether or not it was doing it when they tried it. In fact I would send it in telling them that the VR unit intermittently stops working and tell them to replace it, especially if you are paying for the repair. Are you saying Nikon Canada would not replace a VR unit even if you specifically tell them to and authorize the expense?

No, I am not saying that EJ. What I am saying is that I definitely cannot afford the replacement cost and was considering trying to get them to do it at their cost, as suggested above. I think there is a very slim chance of that happening, and even less of a chance of them doing it at their cost if they cannot get it to fail when it is in their hands.