Repair : Nikkor 28-70/2.8D, stuck focus ring. [Fixed]

[TiN]

Hope all are well and happy in 2016. Let's do something new this time, instead of old rusty HP gear or leaky Keithley's...
Some might saw my used eBay DSLR shenanigans. Well, even though it's sorta offtopic for most folks here, let's take a look inside Nikkor 28-70/2.8D Pro-grade zoom.

I got it 2 years ago used from bay, and used almost daily since then. Last few months it got an issue with focusing, having focusing stuck at ~3m level. Even in manual, if I turn the focus ring it got stuck same place, producing scratching/squealing sounds. If try 5-10 times, it get past sticking point and I can set lens to infinity. But then going back - same issue. It was sorta okay before and was rather lazy to open it up, suspecting issue with SWM motor, which are expensive to replace (300$ for module, usually more). But yesterday I was trying to shoot starscape at night and it was really stuck, got me angry. That means unavoidable teardown, which is commited today.

Interested to see what makes this 1K$ lens tickle?

[SeanB]

Yes, with the high res shots as well. I am guessing a worn internal barrel as opposed to the motor being faulty.

[TiN]

Timelapse 4K:



Full article

Sorry, no full teardown, as repair was as simple, as adding few bits of dual-sided scotch tape to fix loose FPC board.

Easiest repair ever! 

[SeanB]

Nice that it was that easy, and the FPC itself was undamaged from the rubbing against the inner walls.