How much should it cost to clean a lens?

[HomeschoolWinner]

Hello!

I went camping this weekend and totally wiped out on the beach at night...while holding my Nikon D80 I had my kit lens on (18-55mm) and later when I reviewed the damage I realized I got a lot of sand in the lens. The body is fine and I was able to carefully clean it out. But the lens seems to be totally busted...I think sand got into the inner mechanisms and it won't turn, it's stuck between 55-45.

I'm wondering what I can expect to pay to have it fixed, or does it just need to be cleaned? There are not a lot of companies nearby that do it, I'd have to send away to have it done and I don't have warranty information, as I bought it used. And I don't think it would be covered anyway because it was my own fault.

If it costs a lot, I may as well use it as an excuse to upgrade my kit lens to the Nikon 18-70mm.

What do you think?

[kirbinster]

This question was recently addressed, and it is most likely not worth it to spend any money on it. It will likely cost more than the value of the lens to ship it and pay for repairs. I have seen that lens sold on craigslist for under $75.

[Jim Bryant]

True........for what they will charge you in just looking at the lens to give an estimate and then clean, it'll be upgrade to a newer lens.

[HomeschoolWinner]

Originally Posted by kirbinster

This question was recently addressed, and it is most likely not worth it to spend any money on it. It will likely cost more than the value of the lens to ship it and pay for repairs. I have seen that lens sold on craigslist for under $75.

I apologize for double posting, I did a search before i started the thread and didn't find anything, but I probably missed it. Sorry :(

I was pretty much coming to that conclusion, and I think instead of dumping more money into it I may as well spend a little more and upgrade. Thanks for your reply :)

[luminescent]

Personally, it being such an economical lens, I would tear it apart, give all parts a few bursts of compressed air and reassemble it. You might want clean all parts with iso alcohol before reassembly (except for any greased parts, if any)

[HomeschoolWinner]

Originally Posted by luminescent

Personally, it being such an economical lens, I would tear it apart, give all parts a few bursts of compressed air and reassemble it. You might want clean all parts with iso alcohol before reassembly (except for any greased parts, if any)

I'll be honest, that thought did cross my mind. I don't really know how to take It apart but at this point, I guess it doesn't matter haha

[inkista]

If you're feeling brave, this blog says it has the PDFs for the repair manual and parts.

[HomeschoolWinner]

Originally Posted by inkista

If you're feeling brave, this blog says it has the PDFs for the repair manual and parts.

Woah mama, that is really awesome and really helpful. Thank you so much I'm gonna take a crack at this tonight...

[HomeschoolWinner]

Ok so, in conclustion, boys and girls...

I took this thing apart last night and after the first five minutes I was on eBay searching for my new lens. I purchased a Nikon AF-S DX 18-70mm. This is a focal range I absolutely cannot be without, otherwise I would be shooting with a 50mm 1.8 and 70-300mm. This is no good!

So unless you are a professional with taking apart photographic equipment or you are just really really good at tinkering with very technical, mechanical, computerized parts...don't bother. To a layperson like me it just made me want to curl up in a ball under the dining room table and cry. Even with the PDFs for the repair manual and parts it was a daunting task. I gave the lens to my boyfriend so he can play with it, he's good at that kind of thing, and even though he's never worked with lenses, I figured, I got nothing to lose anyway.

I was a little disappointed this happened because my next purchase was supposed to be an SB-600. So now I had to make this unnecessary purchase...but it did give me a nice excuse to upgrade anyway, so it's not so bad

Thanks for your help everyone! I look forward to getting my new lens