(Why “another” in the title ? Remember my Iphone4 battery problem ?)
In an adventureous maneuver I exchanged some lenses. I sold my 17-55mm f2.8 on eBay and bought a 24-70mm f2.8 lens instead.
I got the 24-70mm yesterday. It is only half a year old, came with original packing, all auxiliary items like lens hood, bag etc. and even the bill for claiming warranty. Everything seemed to be in mint condition.
Except the lens.
There are no signs of wear or use, but zooming is not really possible. The zoom ring can not be moved smoothly, and by that I mean you have to use force to move it. Reaching 24 mm is virtually not possible. Also the resistance the zoom ring gives is not distributed equally. Something must have happened, and I have a guess.
When I unpacked it, the lens hood was placed in a tilted manner on the top of the lens. Some scratches on the front ring show, that the hood sat there quite tight (the rest of the lens shows no sign of wear at all ! The seller claims the lens was only used two times).
I think the inner tube is bent. This would explain why the resistance for turning the zoom ring is very high in some areas and normal in another area.
IF the inner tube of the 24-70 is really bent, this is bad. I found a report from a guy with a similiar problem, and the repair cost was 880 €. Heureka (user Paddock, entry is in German).
Of course I contacted the seller immediately. But, guess what, he says the lens was perfectly good when he packed it, the damage must have happened during transport. So he contacts UPS to report the damage. The problem I see is, that UPS will refuse to acknowledge the damage since the box of the lens is unharmed. No sign of a fall or compression.
The seller refuses to take the lens back. Private auction. But he seems to take the problem seriously and that gives me hope:
- he will reimburse me 50 € for the trouble in a first step
- he will contact UPS and report the damage
- and he asked where the nearest Nikon Service Point is located, since he wants the thing to be handled there.
He promised to get back to me on Monday.
I really really really hope that the lens can be repaired or another solution can be found which leaves me either with a working 24-70 lens or getting my money back.
I bought nearly all my photo gear on the internet. Never had a serious problem. Even with other stuff I bought and sold on eBay I rarely had trouble (and if, only minor inconveniences). But if I end up with a very expensive damaged lens, this would be my first real eBay-disaster.
