New toy on its way

DJ_Switch · 10 Jun 2010 at 21:43

I'm not usually one for starting a new thread about such things however the last couple of months bargains have just been too good to keep to myself. Mpbphotographic has come through once again with a bargain and I now have a Nikkor 17-35mm f2.8 on its way.

This will join the SB600 and Nikkor 80-200mm f2.8 AF-D I recently got from him. The grand total for both lenses and the flash came to, and I kid you not, £280. :eek:

The catch is that the filter thread is broken on both lenses and the AF-S motor on the 17-35mm is broken and so manual focus only. The optics in both are luckily in good condition and no marks or scratches. The SB600 had a slight fault with the battery door although is fine and working now. I simply could not be happier with the service and cannot wait for the 17-35mm to arrive.

PaulStat · 11 Jun 2010 at 10:34

I keep hearing people say the 17-35 f2.8 is quite hard to get hold of, but I've found a few places that say they have them in stock, albeit for a lot more than you paid!

Derek W · 11 Jun 2010 at 13:26

I've never seen someone so happy to get broken lenses :eek:

pabloB · 11 Jun 2010 at 13:28

Think that's a pretty good deal for what you've got.

Gonna get the 17-35 Serviced - might not cost that much?!

DJ_Switch · 13 Jun 2010 at 15:19

pabloB said:
Think that's a pretty good deal for what you've got.

Gonna get the 17-35 Serviced - might not cost that much?!

I've no plans to have it serviced at the moment. Unfortunately the AF-S motor seems to be one of the more common things to fail on this lens, when something does go wrong, and from the reading I did before buying it it's an extremely expensive repair. I'm more than happy to use this in manual focus for a saving of more than £1100. I may get a quote in the future but I'm certainly in no rush to get it done. I'm just glad that the optics are in good nick. I might just slap it on my F401s for the time being to get a better feel for the range though.

DoubleCheese · 13 Jun 2010 at 19:57

Damn, manual focussing, wide angle, wide aperture....will be interesting. I guess if it was reasonable (cost and effort) to service/repair MPB would have done it themselves and whacked the price up?

What is it like focussing manually? Do you get many non keepers/ out of focus ones?

p0ss3s3d · 13 Jun 2010 at 20:01

I wouldn't imagine so. EVERYONE used to manual focus (albeit with split prism screens).

At 17mm almost everything is in focus. At 35mm most stuff is in focus.

DJ_Switch · 13 Jun 2010 at 21:08

DoubleCheese said:
What is it like focussing manually? Do you get many non keepers/ out of focus ones?

I think it arrives tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get a chance to pick it up from the depot in the next few days.

I've used manual focus quite a few times in the past with some mixed results however these were at longer focal lengths and with moving subjects. At such a wide angle and tripod mounted this will be a far easier affair. I'll let you know how that goes soon though.

p0ss3s3d said:
I wouldn't imagine so. EVERYONE used to manual focus (albeit with split prism screens).

At 17mm almost everything is in focus. At 35mm most stuff is in focus.

Exactly.

Re. the split prism...that's another reason I was thinking of putting it on my old F401s as it will be useful to have the split prism to get used to manual focus again. If it's something I think I'll use a lot then I'll probably invest in a Catz Eye for my next body.

It could turn out to be amazing or it may collect dust but for £99 it's well worth it imo for a professional quality piece of glass. Either way I'm still looking forward to giving it a blast.