Sticky zoom ring on 70-180

[Randy Stout]

Good day all:

I just acquired this lens, and it is in very nice shape, except for something I noticed yesterday on its first serious outing.  When zooming, if I held the ring too tight, it would bind and resist movement.  If I used a light touch, very slight resistance, but it moved pretty well
I found that when shooting, holding the camera with R1C1 on the front of the lens, I tended to squeeze a bit more than when just handling the lens itself, and ran into this 'sticking' issue.  I almost want to put a drop of armorall
 silicon lubricant under the ring, but of course won't, because of where it might end up. 

Thoughts and advice appreciated!

Randy

[David H. Hartman]

My AF 70-180/4.5-5.6D ED Micro-Nikkor does the same. I've thought of adding a tiny drop of pure Teflon lubricant. When dry only Teflon is left behind. I've worried about fogging the lens. I'm not sure about the vehicle use is and wonder when it might go before it dries.

I'd like to know how the lens is built. The ring deforms under far too light pressure and this is clearly a design defect. My similar vintage AF 80-200/2.8D ED (new) doesn't have this problem.

Dave Hartman

[Bruno Schroder]

I had not noticed it until now but checking, I notice the same behavior on the back up copy which I don't use often. The one I regularly use is normal. I'll start swapping them more often ...

[Randy Stout]

Thanks David and Bruno:

Sounds like it may be a fairly common issue, perhaps less so if used regularly.  I will just have to keep working with it!

Cheers

Randy

[David H. Hartman]

There  is possibily two issues with mine: one is pinching the zoom ring to tightly and some other plastic on plastic binding. I'm the original owner of this lens and it's always been this way. It's an annoyance but it hasn't stopped me from using the lens. I should have taken the lens in for service when it was new. I lived in driving distance of Nikon USA's west coast service center.

Dave

[richardHaw]

this is one of the reasons why I switched to manual lenses 

I am not sure but this maybe one of those cases wherein a ribbon is being impinged like the case for the 80-200 

let me ask a repairman friend, that is if I catch him on his break.

http://www.nodevice.com/manual/newmans/nikon/AFMCED70-180F45-56DPLpdf/get33298.html
check if this is still working...

[Bjørn Rørslett]

My specimen of the 70-180 also exhibits the sticky zoom ring syndrome. However as I rarely if ever operate the lens without tripod support, the symptoms are very mild at  most and don't bother me much. I am far more annoyed by the poor design of the tripod collar of this lens. As a matter of fact I delayed my purchase of this lens for years because of the tripod foot issue, until I could negotiate a heavily cut-down price setting of it from Nikon by showing them the bad design. They agreed and I got a very special deal on it. I then spent some time improving the tripod support to make it "passable". Adding a longer hood also helped improve quality under adverse light conditions.

For those unfamiliar with the 70-180 Micro, it is the only true zoom Micro-Nikkor in existence. That makes it very useful for close-up work as one can finely adjust the framing of the subject by a slight zoom change. It has some remarkable features amongst foremost of which is its effective aperture will not change with magnification. Its f/4.5-5.6 wide open figure might not seem special, but when the lens reaches its close limit (up to about 1:1.3X magnification), it is actually faster than many other competitors starting at f/2.8.

[Erik Lund]

Here are the sectional views, exploded.

http://allphotolenses.com/public/files/pdfs/3c6f3b03382e07453e7824d796ac953c.PDF

[Erik Lund]

It is fairly easy to disassemble, I was a bit disappointed by the internal build quality when I opened mine,,, most important take great care of the small guide shoes that transfer zoom and distance settings,,,
I sold it

[Randy Stout]

My specimen of the 70-180 also exhibits the sticky zoom ring syndrome. However as I rarely if ever operate the lens without tripod support, the symptoms are very mild at  most and don't bother me much. I am far more annoyed by the poor design of the tripod collar of this lens. As a matter of fact I delayed my purchase of this lens for years because of the tripod foot issue, until I could negotiate a heavily cut-down price setting of it from Nikon by showing them the bad design. They agreed and I got a very special deal on it. I then spent some time improving the tripod support to make it "passable". Adding a longer hood also helped improve quality under adverse light conditions.

For those unfamiliar with the 70-180 Micro, it is the only true zoom Micro-Nikkor in existence. That makes it very useful for close-up work as one can finely adjust the framing of the subject by a slight zoom change. It has some remarkable features amongst foremost of which is its effective aperture will not change with magnification. Its f/4.5-5.6 wide open figure might not seem special, but when the lens reaches its close limit (up to about 1:1.3X magnification), it is actually faster than many other competitors starting at f/2.8.

It was fascinating to look at the focal length data for my outing.  Shots from 70mm to 180mm , with most between 100-140, but some at all focal lengths.  What a liberating experience to be able to frame so easily without doing the foot zoom! 

Randy

[Randy Stout]

It is fairly easy to disassemble, I was a bit disappointed by the internal build quality when I opened mine,,, most important take great care of the small guide shoes that transfer zoom and distance settings,,,
I sold it

Eric: Do you think that the sticky zoom operation is from lack of lubrication of the ring, or perhaps another issue like Richard described?  Or is the ring just too flimsy, and when squeezing it, it collapses enough to drag?  Or all of the above!

Appreciate everyones input.


Randy

[CS]

Sounds like Dr. Lens doesn't think the build quality makes this lens worth his time and trouble.

[David H. Hartman]

The outright binding is the zoom ring itself is deforming under pressure. I can operate mine with just my thumb or very light two finger pressure to avoid that binding. The binding and releasing (slightly jerky zooming) may have something to do with a group that slides by cam action. It feels like two plastic items sliding against each other. If figured you just put up with the problem to enjoy the other features of the lens. The binding is a feature of the early plastic phantastic age or so I surmise.

I think I paid about $1,150.00 (USD) for my lens. I stood at the counter at Lee-Mac Camera holding the lens for about ten minutes before buy it. I didn't set it down for fear someone else would buy it. I'd have paid $200.00 more for better build quality.

Dave Hartman

I noted a similar binding in the AF 28-105/3.5-4.5D zoom at the wide end.

[Erik Lund]

I really can't say, unless it changes with where you position the fingers and pinch the focus barrel,,,

[Geert]

I just bought one in excellent condition, 2nd hand of course. It's perfect in all respects except for one thing; the focussing is sticky at the very short end, between 0.4 and 0.37 m. It's smooth for the whole upper range.
Procirep - the official repair service for Nikon in my part of the world (Belgium) says they stopped support for this lens, do not have parts anymore and thus can not fix this.
Erik Lund said that this lens is fairly easy to disassemble. What could be the reason for this sticky focussing at the short end, and could i fix it myself without access to any spare parts if needed?
Does anybody have any other suggestions?