Just wondering if anyone had a similar experience. I received back today my VS 28-85 from Oberkochen untouched. It was sent for calibration because it was producing soft images at infinity and some excessive CA. The report says: Lens opened by 3rd party, lens dropped, curve damaged, repair not possible.

This really sounds strange because the lens is cosmetically in mint condition so it couldn't have been dropped. Focusing and zooming action are smooth and no loose parts that can indicate that this lens has ever been dropped. Moreover the dust spots on the inside of the front element are still in exactly the same positions as when I sent the lens so I doubt that they have even opened it. And how come the damaged curve (whatever that means) cannot be replaced? Are they short on spare parts? To be fair, Zeiss didn't charge anything, even not the UPS shipment back to Thailand, but it did cost me 125$ in shipping costs and customs clearance. So it is a big disappointment for a non serviced lens.

What is even more strange, it's that the lens seems now to be focusing properly. I'll have to do some sharpness and CA tests in the daylight tomorrow. Could it be that Zeiss did some minor adjustments for free? I'll tell you about it tomorrow.

It can't hurt to call Oberkochen and ask the service people directly.

But I would say that just because it shows no cosmetic signs of the being dropped doesn't mean that it wasn't dropped sufficiently badly at some point to cause internal damage -- and it only takes a little bit of damage to cause the performance issues you are seeing.

edwardkaraa wrote:
What is even more strange, it's that the lens seems now to be focusing properly. I'll have to do some sharpness and CA tests in the daylight tomorrow. Could it be that Zeiss did some minor adjustments for free? I'll tell you about it tomorrow.


It could be just that they put the back together properly after they opened it up.

Lotusm50 wrote:
It can't hurt to call Oberkochen and ask the service people directly.

But I would say that just because it shows no cosmetic signs of the being dropped doesn't mean that it wasn't dropped sufficiently badly at some point to cause internal damage -- and it only takes a little bit of damage to cause the performance issues you are seeing.



Of course I am planning to enquire about this issue directly with Zeiss. What I don't understand is why they didn't repair it. In the past, guys on this forum have had the entire lens barrel replaced by Zeiss. I know it would have cost the price of a new lens, but honestly I was expecting a high repair cost and was willing to pay it, because I knew the lens will be back as good as new.

Also, I was expecting to be contacted by email for a cost estimate, so it was a surprise to receive the lens back without any contact whatsoever from Oberkochen. I would have been more than willing to pay for the lens at least to be cleaned, having incurred shipping and customs. Well.......

I hope Lotus is right and the lens works better now. Otherwise I would say their comment is not acceptable.

I'm only guessing here, but it might be that they had to write this because otherwise they would need to repair the lens, i.e. make it LN and that was not possible.

slungu wrote:
I'm only guessing here, but it might be that they had to write this because otherwise they would need to repair the lens, i.e. make it LN and that was not possible.

Isn't this the very purpose of sending a lens to Zeiss? In their website, they specifically say that they would send an email with the possible repairs and estimated costs. I never received anything like that. At least they should have informed me why they can't repair this lens. No spare parts, too expensive, whatever. Btw, the lens is LN. It is absolutely mint except for some moderate dust. If Zeiss can't adjust it to correct the softness at infinity and excessive CA, who can? I was willing to pay whatever they ask to fix it, but I don't believe they are unable to fix a mint lens with the above mentioned problems. All what it needs is calibration, and cleaning.

Update:

I checked the lens and it was effectively not repaired. The infinity seems to have been corrected however, but as Lotus said it is probably a matter of putting back the lens together correctly. The softeness as well as CA are still there. I sent an email to Zeiss asking about the reason why this lens could not be repaired and 6 days later I haven't received any reply whatsoever, which is very much unlike Zeiss. I will have to think twice before sending any further lenses to Oberkochen.

There must be something definitive they saw. It's too bad they didn't make it clear to you. Is it an MM lens? I've heard that Zeiss will no longer service AE lenses.

Your results combined with the Zeiss summary point to something being wrong. "Lens opened by third party" is pretty clear, as is there being something (impact) damaged. Perhaps some sly person took a damaged lens, replaced the cosmetically telling part, and then sold the lens as like new? If you bought the lens from a private source I would take it up with them. After a couple years of buying on ebay, I have seen all sorts of lenses that look cosmtically fine, but have real issues.

28-85 is a very new design. Only mm.

Edward,

They could be on vacation right now. A lot of departments in the EU effectively close down around this time of year for a month. So it may be a few weeks before you get a reply unfortunately.

Perhaps it was opened by customs and whatever was damaged is a part that is no longer available.

There are many possibilities, but if Zeiss doesn't tell me what exactly is wrong with the lens and why aren't they able to repair it, I guess this will remain a mystery