I brrooooke my... lens!!!

[molested_cow]

I was on a hiking trail in the mountains which I am familar with. I saw a muddy puddle beside the trail and immediately I though of crabs. Yes, crabs in the mountain. Sure enough, there was a crab hole right on the edge of the puddle and a crab was at the hole entrance. So I quickly set up my tripod and mounted my camera with the 70~300ED lens on, and..... snap! The clip that locks the mount onto the base completely broke off, and the camera went falling to the rock pavement. Luckly it was only about a ft off the ground, my camera survived, but the lens is damaged. The aparture doesn't work, and the crab went back to its hole laughing.

So I sent my lens for a fix quotation because if it costs too much, I may as well just get a new one(it's 3 yrs old and quite abused). Plus, I NEED it this weekend. However I realized that this lens is out of stock in most of the shops here and people are waiting for a new one, something VR. The lens will take about a week to be fixed and I won't know how much it will cost till later.

Anyway, while I know for sure I won't be able to take telephoto shots on the upcoming trip, what's this new VR lens about? I think the shop said it's also a 70~300mm lens but it's not released yet. I was thinking, maybe I should just upgrade to that if it fits the budget.

Oh, I did get myself a new tripod, a much better one this time. It's SLIK Pro330DX. It's sturdy but pretty light.

 

[ksmattfish]

So I quickly set up my tripod and mounted my camera with the 70~300ED lens on, and..... snap! The clip that locks the mount onto the base completely broke off, and the camera went falling to the rock pavement.

I hope the folks that were asking questions in the recent tripod threads see this. At least you'll now be checking the quick release for the rest of your life, and this hopefully won't happen to you again. I find that I only make camera damaging mistakes once.

 

[molested_cow]

I hope the folks that were asking questions in the recent tripod threads see this. At least you'll now be checking the quick release for the rest of your life, and this hopefully won't happen to you again. I find that I only make camera damaging mistakes once.

Oh no, I made sure that the mount was correctly mounted, but it BROKE off entirely! There was nothing that I could have done to prevent it. The plastic clip simply reached it's limit. But it was my fault to keep bashing this cheap tripod(plastic mounting base) for 5 years now. I have been thinking of getting a better tripod for some time but the money always went to something else instead, like more films.


BTW I checked Nikon's website and the one VR lens that is close to the 70~300mm range is the VR 80~400mm. It was released in 2000, so I don't think the "new" one is this guy here. However, any idea how much this particular one costs in US dollars?

 

[molested_cow]

Also, the shop I went to has been there for almost 38 years and the lady boss is obviously really experienced. She helped me picked out a tripod which I like a lot. Thick Al tubing and is pretty light. She also said that those levellers that are built onto the tripods are pointless as they are not accurate. The best is to mount one onto your camera directly.

She had a shock when I said my body is F-501, cus the year of release of this model was when I was 5 years old. She didn't expect people of my age to be using such obselete model. Hell, my dad gave it to me and it works fine.

 

[airgunr]

As far as I know in the Nikon lineup is the 70-200VR and the 80-400VR. Both are excellent lenses but the 70-200 is slightly sharper and quicker in focus. The 70-200 is a "G" lens so it does not have a apature ring on the lens and is controled strictly by the camera body. Therefor it only works with the newer bodies. The 80-400mm had the apature ring and therefor will work with older bodies like my FM2n as well as the new bodies.

 

[Big Mike]

I think Canon's 70-300 IS is fairly new...so Nikon may be following with their own 70-300 VR.

 

[molested_cow]

I think Canon's 70-300 IS is fairly new...so Nikon may be following with their own 70-300 VR.

Well, I think I'm just going to have my lens fixed no matter what. The VR sounds like it's going to be pricy.

 

[bigfatbadger]

It is.

An alternative is Sigma's 70-200 2.8. Supposed to be very good and a lot cheaper, but if you have a nikon one that needs repairing, that will probably be even cheaper