Zoom barrel lens jammed - need advice on repairs

bbor005

Hi guys,

Yesterday evening a child knocked over my tripod, damaging my Nikon 18-200VR lens in the process While the camera works perfectly, and the glass itself is undamaged, the zoom barrel seems to be jammed and I can't zoom in or out any more.

I rang up the Nikon people in Co Meath, who told me that it's their policy to not provide any sort of price estimate whatsoever. They're basically asking me to post them my lens, get an estimate, and then if I find it exorbitant, pay 20 euro to have the damaged lens sent back to me.

Bearing in mind that I've been mugged by a PC repair company in the past in this exact way, I'm unwilling to simply place my faith in this outfit and send them my lens - there are far too many companies in this country who seem to make a living out of ripping people off.

I have 2 questions:

a) Is there anyone who can/is willing to venture a tentative estimate at how much this repair would probably cost?
b) Does anyone recommend a repair outfit in Dublin who I could simply show the lens to in person?

Thanks

pixbyjohn

Have you tried aligning the barrel yourself by gently nudging it sideways. Be very gentle but it may do the trick.

bbor005

pixbyjohn wrote: »

Have you tried aligning the barrel yourself by gently nudging it sideways. Be very gentle but it may do the trick.

Will give this a go once I get home - was afraid of touching anything for fear of aggravating the problem

magicbastarder

there is a chap called clive mcdonald who fixed a jammed barrel for me before, and gave a guide estimate of the cost when i brought the lens around. this was on a manual focus lens.

bbor005

magicbastarder wrote: »

there is a chap called clive mcdonald who fixed a jammed barrel for me before, and gave a guide estimate of the cost when i brought the lens around. this was on a manual focus lens.

Any idea of how I could contact him?

magicbastarder

see your PMs.