Incoming rant.
I bought my lens on October 27, 2023. About a month ago, I was shooting osprey and suddenly the lens started making an awful 'motor' running noise, and the error message indicated that the lens was not communicating with the camera. The message suggested turning it off and on again. I did this, and when I turned it off, the lens ran for another 5 seconds. It did this a few times. I removed it from my Z9 and put it on my other Z9, but the issue persisted. It was around 90 degrees outside, and I have a Lenscoat on my lens. I put the lens in my car and drove home, and by the time I arrived, it was working again - weird. Some forums mentioned dirty contacts, so I cleaned the contacts on the lens and cameras. A week later, it happened again. I was like 'WTF'... took it home, and it started working again. The third time it happened, I called Nikon support. The person on the phone asked standard questions, put me on hold to consult a tech, and then came back on to say I needed to send it in. I just spent $600 (thank goodness for NPS discount) to repair my less-than-2-year-old lens. This was a complete product failure, and I did nothing wrong. They replaced the main circuit board, lens bayonet mount, aperture operation, flexible circuit, and adjusted the VR system and autofocus system. This is the second time I've had issues with the focus on this lens. They also performed standard checks and cleaning. To say I'm disappointed in the build quality of this lens is an understatement. I expected a Nikon lens to last longer before requiring such a major repair. It seems like I got a lemon. Obviously, I paid for the repair because I need my lens functioning, but I believe Nikon should have covered the component failure.
End Rant.
tjbel05 wrote:
Incoming rant.
I bought my lens on October 27, 2023. About a month ago, I was shooting osprey and suddenly the lens started making an awful 'motor' running noise, and the error message indicated that the lens was not communicating with the camera. The message suggested turning it off and on again. I did this, and when I turned it off, the lens ran for another 5 seconds. It did this a few times. I removed it from my Z9 and put it on my other Z9, but the issue persisted. It was around 90 degrees outside, and I have a Lenscoat on my lens. I put the lens in my car and drove home, and by the time I arrived, it was working again - weird. Some forums mentioned dirty contacts, so I cleaned the contacts on the lens and cameras. A week later, it happened again. I was like 'WTF'... took it home, and it started working again. The third time it happened, I called Nikon support. The person on the phone asked standard questions, put me on hold to consult a tech, and then came back on to say I needed to send it in. I just spent $600 (thank goodness for NPS discount) to repair my less-than-2-year-old lens. This was a complete product failure, and I did nothing wrong. They replaced the main circuit board, lens bayonet mount, aperture operation, flexible circuit, and adjusted the VR system and autofocus system. This is the second time I've had issues with the focus on this lens. They also performed standard checks and cleaning. To say I'm disappointed in the build quality of this lens is an understatement. I expected a Nikon lens to last longer before requiring such a major repair. It seems like I got a lemon. Obviously, I paid for the repair because I need my lens functioning, but I believe Nikon should have covered the component failure.
End Rant....Show more →
Not to belittle your plight and frustration, this is the first time I've read or heard about the 800PF failing. They rarely show up as refurbished products and is not "one of those lenses" that always seems to be in for repair.
I hope that the issue is now resolved, as I am sure it is extremely frustrating.
Not to belittle your plight and frustration, this is the first time I've read or heard about the 800PF failing. They rarely show up as refurbished products and is not "one of those lenses" that always seems to be in for repair.
I hope that the issue is now resolved, as I am sure it is extremely frustrating.
bruce
Bruce,
I am sure it is a one off. In all the years I have been shooting Nikon, I have never experienced an issue like this. Most of my rant is frustration. I know if you mass produce enough of something, somehow, somewhere things like this happen. It's just my turn to be the (un)lucky person this time.
RoamingScott wrote:
A good reminder to buy your new lenses with a credit card that doubles the manufacturer's warranty
I live in Maine. There is something here called an implied warranty. Manufactures are supposed to warranty most (not all) products to perform as advertised for 4 years. In theory it sounds great. In reality it is almost impossible to get retailers/suppliers to live up to the program.
Perfectly understandable. Also it sounds like Nikon was not quite sure what was causing the problem so they just replaced all the parts that could potentially be the culprit. It would be very strange to
have all of those parts failed at the same time.
I similar was in similar situation. My Z9 was acting up with both 400/2.8s and 800PF on one trip where
the body would not recognize the lens. It happened on and off sporadically on my trip and I ended up sending Z9 and both lenses to Nikon. The lenses were working fine on my Z8 however. After a couple of weeks, they informed me that they could not duplicate the problem
Then I was too busy to go out on birding trips for awhile and Z9 was working perfectly fine with all the other lighter lenses. Then last month, I went out to shoot birds again and the same problem occurred all the time so I took a video of the problem just in case and sent Z9 back to Nikon. Now they told me they need to replace the mount on my Z9 and were waiting for parts. Considering that Z9 is now made about 100 km away from Nikon repair center, it is now a month and I still don't have my Z9 back
Sorry to learn of your difficulties and this is the first I've heard of an 800 PF failing like this. Agree that they were proactive in replacing multiple components so perhaps they haven't seen this type of failure before?
Although I’m a longtime Nikon user, I’ve had very bad luck with Nikon lenses. I’ve had issues with the 500/4, 300/2.8, and two 70–200/2.8 lenses. All the problems were related to the lens motors. I'm just a
weekend shooter, and I baby all my equipment.
tjbel05 wrote:
I bought my lens on October 27, 2023. About a month ago, I was shooting osprey and suddenly the lens started making an awful 'motor' running noise, and the error message indicated that the lens was not communicating with the camera. The message suggested turning it off and on again. I did this, and when I turned it off, the lens ran for another 5 seconds. It did this a few times.
Sounds exactly like what happened with my brand new OM System 150-400mm f4.5 lens on the very first day I used it... so it's not a problem unique to Nikon - although they do seem to have more than their fair share of problems.
tabishshaikh wrote:
My take is you need to use your equipment quite frequently to keep the af motors working smoothly.
My gear is used on a daily basis. I do not walk out of my house with out a camera in tow (even to the grocery store). I drive the coast/beach everyday with it as I only live 10 minutes from the ocean. I am not sure how I could use it more.
You just unfortunately got a lens that had a latent defect from manufacturing.
I don’t believe these stepper motors used in the Z lenses are susceptible to any ill effects from sitting unused.
The ultrasonic motors used in the F mount AF-S would get a bit squeaky after sitting. I think they would get some oxidation /corrosion in the plate stack used in the motor.
tjbel05 wrote:
My gear is used on a daily basis. I do not walk out of my house with out a camera in tow (even to the grocery store). I drive the coast/beach everyday with it as I only live 10 minutes from the ocean. I am not sure how I could use it more.
jpelt78 wrote:
You just unfortunately got a lens that had a latent defect from manufacturing.
I don’t believe these stepper motors used in the Z lenses are susceptible to any ill effects from sitting unused.
The ultrasonic motors used in the F mount AF-S would get a bit squeaky after sitting. I think they would get some oxidation /corrosion in the plate stack used in the motor.
I know the early S wave lenses had issues, but surely they fixed that later? I have Canon USM lenses from 20-30 years ago that still work fine. Unless they are stored in highly humid conditions motors should not need to be used regularly like an ICE.
The 800 failed after the warranty expired so one gets it fixed or maybe gets an extended warranty next time.
As agreed by many here, the most likely cause of motor failure is lack of use. But the OP has said she uses her equipment on a daily basis.
Two suspects I have in mind.
The first one ilkka has already mentioned.
1. Last year I posted a comment here about how damaging just a. *very small * splash of saltwater caused to my D850 at the time. In the wind, along the Maine coast, the small splash of saltwater came over the gunwale and onto my D850. " No problem “ I thouight. I just patted it down with the towel. A couple of days later the camera was frozen dead. I was shocked and remembered back to that small splash of saltwater. Sent it to Melville and just told them what happened. They did a great job of repairing it and also went through the entire camera…… which is routine for them.
I enjoy shooting loons in rain. Every day of their lives, from hatching to death, loons live in water…..regardless of the weather. My personal experience is that Niikon lenses and bodies take a lot of water with no negative effects, and that included my old 200-500. I carry a fluffy towel and try to absorb the beads of water during the shoot. I never had a water issue with that lens, and that meant pushing and pulling the zoom in and out. But that is freshwater. It is not the same with saltwater.
2. I wonder what others think about fine sand along the windy Maine coast. Do you think very fine sand can get into that 800 lens? I do not know. I DO know that the Maine coast is usually windy.
It could have been something as simple as a weak solder joint on the circuit board, that took a certain number of temperature cycles to lose contact intermittently or fail altogether - nothing the owner could have done to prevent it..
bs kite wrote:
As agreed by many here, the most likely cause of motor failure is lack of use. But the OP has said she uses her equipment on a daily basis.
I'd need to see the engineering data and accelerated aging results, but that would not be a good design practice. Consumer photo equipment is not like a device (e.g., motorized pump) that is designed for continuous usage. It might be in storage or in a limited environmentally controlled supply chain for many months of disuse at a time. If the product has a 2-year warranty in most countries they don't want failures because a box was sitting a long time on a store's stock room shelf.
ilkka_nissila wrote:
Salt water spray can damage electronics.
As a rule I generally stay in my car unless it's low tide. I am well aware of what salt spray and even the air can do. Fortunately that wasn't the issue.
bs kite wrote:
As agreed by many here, the most likely cause of motor failure is lack of use. But the OP has said she uses her equipment on a daily basis.
Two suspects I have in mind.
The first one ilkka has already mentioned.
1. Last year I posted a comment here about how damaging just a. *very small * splash of saltwater caused to my D850 at the time. In the wind, along the Maine coast, the small splash of saltwater came over the gunwale and onto my D850. " No problem “ I thouight. I just patted it down with the towel. A couple of days later the camera was frozen dead. I was shocked and remembered back to that small splash of saltwater. Sent it to Melville and just told them what happened. They did a great job of repairing it and also went through the entire camera…… which is routine for them.
I enjoy shooting loons in rain. Every day of their lives, from hatching to death, loons live in water…..regardless of the weather. My personal experience is that Niikon lenses and bodies take a lot of water with no negative effects, and that included my old 200-500. I carry a fluffy towel and try to absorb the beads of water during the shoot. I never had a water issue with that lens, and that meant pushing and pulling the zoom in and out. But that is freshwater. It is not the same with saltwater.
2. I wonder what others think about fine sand along the windy Maine coast. Do you think very fine sand can get into that 800 lens? I do not know. I DO know that the Maine coast is usually windy.
Cliff L. wrote:
It could have been something as simple as a weak solder joint on the circuit board, that took a certain number of temperature cycles to lose contact intermittently or fail altogether - nothing the owner could have done to prevent it..
Curious to know if the Lenscoat in the 90 degree weather could have affected the electronics. I know temperature flucuations can affect certain products.
