Nikkor AF 14mm 2.8 w/bent hood petal on ebay for $500 usd

[Tristin]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nikon-ED-AF-Nikkor-14mm-1-2-8-D-Lens-ED-RF-Aspherical-/301828697981?hash=item4646646f7d:g:0mQAAOSwHPlWcyJp

1.5 hours left, looks like a real steal for anyone willing to do some very minor repair work.  I would scoop it up myself if I were in a better place financially.  Could probably be flipped for profit at the least.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Probably an easy fix on its own. However, a dent like that could indicate impact-induced problems elsewhere in the alignment and optics. So I would thread carefully.

[bjornthun]

Decentering of lens elements is a very real option for the Nikon 14/2.8 that was sold in that eBay add. The lens hood looks to have taken a real beating. I once bought a used Zeiss 18/3.5, which looked like it had hardly been out of the box. It was decentered, but Zeiss could fix it, and in that case the repair bill was modest, luckily.

Testing for decentering and evaluating the images can be tricky.

[pluton]

Of the three Zeiss ZF/.2 18mm/3.5 lenses I have used, two had optical alignment issues.  Caution to all who may purchase this item used.

[Tristin]

I think this thread would be best served deleted.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Actually,  no. The warning is timeless and thus of intrinsic value to our members. Be aware of the inherent danger of lenses being flawed or misaligned after a drop or other sudden impact.

[Tristin]

True.

[David H. Hartman]

I have an ailing AF 35-70/2.8D Nikkor. I suspect that I set it down too hard or fumbled it while it was in a thinly padded bag. It's pretty good at f/5.6 and very good at f/6.3 but that defeats the purpose of an f/2.8 Zoom. Shots at f/4.0 and wider are for me unusable. There isn't a mark on it. I'll have to see what it cost to fix and what I can get for it sold as is. Decentered, tilted, bad spacing can happen. My guess is my 35-70/2.8 has a decentered element or group.

Dave