Please call Nikon-one-one

Went for a beautiful Hindu wedding this weekend! Congratulations Sasmita and Ryan! A very beautiful ceremony. Very beautiful day!

But unfortunately a moment of grief lives among my heart. My baby, strong, titan, severe used, there for every time, for the great shots lens, is hurt. A fatal drop cracked the mount and aluminum components on the bottom of the lens.
Very sad. “She” is on it’s way right now to Nikon Photo Service Center to be medicated. Hopefully they will be able to apply CPR procedures and revive my long lasting friend, the 80-200mm 2.8.

Jokes aside (and YES I have friends! I just care very much for my gear ) the baby is off to service. Long due now.
I want to express my feelings towards this beast thou. I have this lens for almost 5 years now. First DAY I used it felt on the floor cracked the filter but was ok. On this five years I’ve dropped it around 6 or 7 times and I have to say, what a STRONG lens! The front part of the casing was oval (filter would not come out anymore) it was all loose and you could feel it had a long history. But every 6 months I do a focusing test and calibration on all my lenses and this baby never had to be serviced. Amazing how it always absorbed its bumps and drops. I am very happy and very impressed with the quality this lens have and I wish to the Gods that Nikon keeps producing quality tools like this one. Specially for us who uses them on a daily basis. I mean, the 80-200mm is my work horse. I use it 80% of every wedding. No joke! And it never let me down.
Even after the whole bottom of the lens cracked, the interiors were perfect. Aperture ring, Diaphragm blades working, zoom, focusing everything was working perfectly. I could not mount to see the quality of the images (for obvious reasons) but I have to say I was impressed by the way it absorbed the impact. From what I felt It really was designed to take the punishment and protect the interior of the lens.
Nikon Pro Service was also of great help! They have telephone assistance 7 days a week from 8 am to 2 am EST. I just gave them a call, we filled a order form, send my lens this morning via UPS next day and depending on how bad is the damage it can come back to me in up to 10 days. Just astonishing.

Makes me sad, I really care for my gear, but them again, when you are in the field things happen and sometimes you have no time to deal with it. Basically that’s what I did, popped my 24-70mm and shot the whole wedding with it. Now it’s up to Nikon to come to me with a budget so I can decide to either service or buy a new one. And the truth is, between the 80-200mm or the new 70-200mm I would not think twice. the 80-200mm. Only if I could find a one in good condition AF-S. THAT would be a good treat. They don’t make the 80-200mm AF-S anymore thou.

Well, as time goes I will let you guys know how everything went.

Here is the images of my fallen baby.

- ” Wishing you all the best darling! Hope you get well very soon! ”

God Bless Guys!

Thank You!