So i have the opportunity to purchase a 28-70 that he says has a light squeak to it. He says it still racks and focuses just fine but has a squeak occasionally. He also sent me a audio file of him manually racking the camera and it sounded like it was rubbing the barrel and also squeaking a bit. I can upload to youtube if anyone is curious. But he is wanting to sell it for $450. Does that sound like a good deal even if i need to get it repaired in the future?

He is also selling me a d700 with around 8000 shots for 1400.
How does this deal sound?

Sounds low for the 28-70, squeak or not...i'd be leary it's in rough cond otherwise...$1,400 sounds good for a barely used d700 ..although some here may think more than $1k is crazy for a d700...

LensRentals was selling very good condition 28-70's for around $1000 earlier this year, so that's a good upper bound for a good copy of that lens. $450 seems suspiciously low to me, reminds me of a post on CanonRumors of a guy asking if $1300 for a 300/2.8 IS was a good deal or not.

Condition wise the lens looks like its in great physical condition. He sent me some pics and its doesn't have a scratch on it. But i know what you mean. He initially wanted 850 but when i brought up the squeak issue he lowered it to 450. even if i got it repaired for the af motor i was hoping it would still come out under $1000.

BTW this is a CL deal, so i will be checking it out in person tomorrow.

I would jump on the lens and D700 if they look and work well.
I've had my 28-70 for twelve years and still near mint.
Some guys have lens that squeak for years before going bad.
I had two but they were not IF.
The 80-400 was cured by adding a little oil to the barrel.
The 18-200 fell apart. So beware fixing it yourself.

A new motor (which this lens will sooner or later need) is $200 on eBay. Not sure how much the labour would cost, but if you could find a good independent technician it might not be exorbitant.

My 28-70mm 2.8 squeaks at times. Its not constant and when it does squeak it occurs right at the first use of the lens. Once it focuses one time it goes away. I used it for a a whole day of shooting recently in the studio and it never squeaked. I have heard that the lens is prone to it and I guess my bears that out but so far its not a problem.

If the lens is in good shape otherwise, jump on the deal. Even in the day of the 24-70mm 2.8 (which I owned and sold) I like this 28-70mm Beast.

meawesome wrote:
He initially wanted 850 but when i brought up the squeak issue he lowered it to 450.

This would worry me. That's a huge drop in price. Was there any negotiating? Lopping $400 off the price seems a bit suspect to me.

Considering the potential for repair costs, I think it is still worth it so long as it is in good condition.

I would take it even if it didn't have the squeak No, seriously it's a very good deal!

It sounds like he knows the motor is going to die any day now and is just trying to dump it.

I have this lens and love it, but would be weary of the price drop over a squeak. I never noticed or heard mine squeak ... The focal ring feels a bit tight but nothing that has impacted performance.

I don't own a D700 but have been watching them over on EBay and one w/599 clicks is over $1800 ... $1400 sounds very good.

Good Luck,

Best,

Wendell

Great lens, but....

Mine needed the motor. The squeek soon turned into a bad motor and the repair an Nikon was $330.

I have this lens and like mentioned earlier it will squeak the first focuses or so then never comes back. Some time it never squeaks the more you use it the less it will squeak is what I've noticed.
I'd jump on both.

DTOB wrote:
This would worry me. That's a huge drop in price. Was there any negotiating? Lopping $400 off the price seems a bit suspect to me.

Yeah same here. But i think he was a guy who had to much money and just bought all this stuff not really knowing how to use it. He is basically selling all his camera gear and these were the two things that caught my eye. Anything in particular i should look out for when i look at it today? If it squeaks when manually focusing it, is that worse than if it was just the AF squeak. Like i said it sounded like it was the barrels rubbing against each other.

I don't own the lens, but trust your gut when it comes to the seller. $450, even if it needs a $300 repair, isn't so bad.

The AF squeak is normal for the 28-70 and 17-35, however you're saying it squeaks when he is doing it manually which is a big flag for me, also that he dropped the price off so quick.

Sounds like internal damage to me.

I'd lowball him to around $300, that covers you if you have to get it cleaned/repaired + motor replaced.

niXer wrote:
The AF squeak is normal for the 28-70 and 17-35, however you're saying it squeaks when he is doing it manually which is a big flag for me, also that he dropped the price off so quick.

Sounds like internal damage to me.

I'd lowball him to around $300, that covers you if you have to get it cleaned/repaired + motor replaced.
That's what im gonna do. If its not bad, 450 isnt bad even with a repair, but if its reallty bad internally, then yeah i might just pass on it completely.

Checked the lens out, and it was in immaculate condition. Clean everything, inside and outside, smooth focus and zoom, just a little noise when focused. The noise is still worrysome, but it is very silent and not piercing or anything, so i am just going to use it till it dies then send it in. Not worth sending it in now especially since i cant tell for certain its the motor.
The D700 was in even better condition, literally like new. Im pleased with my purchase.