New Nikkor G lenses are very tough!

[BruceSD]

I guess that I'm pretty rough on my lenses.   Being a hiking and a climber, it seems like every once in a while I drop one of my lenses.

Last night when inside my home I dropped a Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 G lens.  It fell about 4 feet onto a hard wooden floor.

I cringed and thought, oh no, I just damaged that new lens!

Immediately I tested it out on my D7100.  No damage at all.

I've got mostly older manual focus Nikkors.  We all know how tough they are.   This was my first experience with dropping one of my three newer "G" lenses.  I was surprised to find that it would appear that these modern Nikkors seem to be as rugged as are the older Nikkors.

Have you also found that the newer Nikkors are tough and rugged?

P.S. I have not had such good luck with other lenses.  A few years back I dropped an expensive Sigma tele zoom about 2 feet onto a carpeted floor.   That little drop totally destroyed the lens.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Don't count on having such luck every time Much depends on how the impact occurs and what part of the lens is subjected to it. A zoom lens in general is much easier brought out of alignment by a drop or knock to the side.

[richardHaw]

metal will get bent while plastics would flex 

[Bjørn Rørslett]

... or crack. Been here too.

Sun shades and filter threads bend easily, metal lens barrels much less easily.

[simsurace]

My 60mm AF-S fell on a rock (I think it was granite) from about 1m height, bayonet frist. I haven't seen any effects. But I still try to avoid these accidents.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

It's a very good idea to have lens (and camera) checked for misalignment after major incidents.

[simsurace]

Yes that is true, I will have it checked the next time I stop by the service center.

[richardHaw]

sat on mmy 70-200VR2's hood and it cracked 

[Bjørn Rørslett]

From personal experience, I know only too well that various Nikkors are far tougher than my ribs ....

The weakest points are their front (hood, filter threads) and rear (bayonet mount).

[Peter Forsell]

A lot depends on the part tha gets the hit.

I dropped my AFS 17-35/2.8 about 20 cm (8 in.) from my hand to the table, bayonet mount first. The mount penetrated into the lens about half an inch (1 cm) and both zooming and focusing were stuck.

The repair was about EUR 400 IIRC, but I opted for new motor too which brought the total to EUR 550. Apparently the new motor was quite cheap when the lens already needed to be disassembled anyway. Luckily I have insurance with zero deductible.

[Ron Scubadiver]

A while back I fell on my 24-120 f/4.  The sunshade broke, but the lens and D800 were fine.  The most fragile piece of gear I have is my 70-300 VR.  It has been repaired twice for impact damage.  Primes lacking VR are the least complex mechanically and probably more likely to survive abuse.  Remember, these are precision instruments, not baseballs.

[Peter Connan]

A while ago I went on a 4x4 trip with some friends.

A lady fell while walking through one of the obstacles. One 70-200 f2.8 G II body broken...