Why is Nikon charging excessively for Lens Fungus Removal


earthling82

Member
Jan 5, 2009
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Hi everyone,

I like to highlight cases of excessive charging of lens fungus removal service by Nikon.

I have brought 2 lenses (17-55mm and 24-70mm) to NSC Singapore for fungus removal. The quote I got from the service counters was in excess of $800-$1000/- each time. The scope of work includes changing of barrel.

Does Fungus Removal warrant the changing of barrel?

Now all I needed was just fungus removal. Why can't nikon simply detach the lens element and clean it up for me.

End up I had to look for a third party to do the cleaning.

I feel nikon is ripping people off with such service. All I needed was a simple "Carbon Removal Service" for my "Car". Instead I was quoted for an entire "Engine Overhaul". :thumbsd:
 

Hi everyone,

I like to highlight cases of excessive charging of lens fungus removal service by Nikon.

I have brought 2 lenses (17-55mm and 24-70mm) to NSC Singapore for fungus removal. The quote I got from the service counters was in excess of $800-$1000/- each time. The scope of work includes changing of barrel.

Does Fungus Removal warrant the changing of barrel?

Now all I needed was just fungus removal. Why can't nikon simply detach the lens element and clean it up for me.

End up I had to look for a third party to do the cleaning.

I feel nikon is ripping people off with such service. All I needed was a simple "Carbon Removal Service" for my "Car". Instead I was quoted for an entire "Engine Overhaul". :thumbsd:


I have a 17-55 lens need to repair, according to our Bro Fatigue, the best place to do it is Nikon Service Center, as it need to replace the whole barrel and he has no tools to align the lens element if he dismantle it, yes, it cost that much of money if I send to Nikon Service Center.
So I bite the bullet and send to Nikon Service Center, and I very happy with the outcome as this is a wise decision I have made.

and please note, Pro grade lenses are very expensive, so are the repair cost for the pro grade lenses.
 

Hi everyone, I like to highlight cases of excessive charging of lens fungus removal service by Nikon. I have brought 2 lenses (17-55mm and 24-70mm) to NSC Singapore for fungus removal. The quote I got from the service counters was in excess of $800-$1000/- each time. The scope of work includes changing of barrel. Does Fungus Removal warrant the changing of barrel? Now all I needed was just fungus removal. Why can't nikon simply detach the lens element and clean it up for me. End up I had to look for a third party to do the cleaning. I feel nikon is ripping people off with such service. All I needed was a simple "Carbon Removal Service" for my "Car". Instead I was quoted for an entire "Engine Overhaul". :thumbsd:

Firstly, did you manage to get the cleaning done successfully by the third party service.

Assuming yea then continue to monitor the lens make sure the fungus does not come back. Not that it won't happen if Nikon does clean your lens but because they probably just swap out the whole lens barrel the chances of that happening are slimmer.

Assuming no, then you can either choose to go have said lens cleaned up at Nikon, or buy a new lens. Really not much you can do but just take note that changing the lens barrel with the elements inside isn't cheap.

Perhaps the guys at Nikon wanted to be sure there are no alignment issues so decided not to risk it.
 

don't just take my words, you can go and ask Bro fatigue about this.

bro fatique just cleaned my 17-55mm lens for me. On alignment, he had a nice workaround for it. This lens was my workhorse and now that it wasn't, I'm quite ok with letting him work on it. He did a fine job and no doubt it came back with dusts inside, its understandable as he's not working in a cleanroom environment.

As for my 24-70mm, I'm still thinking if there are other options. This is my workhorse lens now.
 

Because fungus removal isn't just about removing fungus. There are a lot more to that, and it requires specialized skills and machinery. Add in the bargaining power that the respective service centers command, the price you stated isn't all that surprising.
 

Congratulations.
Maybe you look prosperous to the NSC staff.

All Camera Manufacturer service centres have rental, staff, overheads, profits to consider.
Sometimes their charges are commands ordered by top management and the staff do not have any flexibility to charge you less.
 

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Tell ya something. Fungus does nasty things to lenses, including destruction of coatings and lens surface. So if you think it's going to be cheap, you are out of luck.

What Nikon probably plans to do is outright replace those elements affected by fungus directly, and then reassemble your lens. Just be happy that the entire lens wasn't affected and the lens declared unserviceable.
 

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Did you invest in a good dry cabinet for your lens?


The 24-70 is well known for faulty barrel but Nikon till now deny it flatly.
 

There are parts of 24-70 that cannot be aligned after dismantling. The machines needed to align the lens are not available in all nikon service centers. That is why they say may need to replace inner barrel. That is the worst case scenario.

Some lenses are like that, some have a sealed assembly that cannot be diaassembled. A very famous lens feom another brand is like that. So in the end it all depends where the fungus is and if it is possible to to get to it without total disassembly.
 

Did you invest in a good dry cabinet for your lens?

The 24-70 is well known for faulty barrel but Nikon till now deny it flatly.

My advice to reduce the possibilty of the problem is to keep your lens hood permanently mounted in the forward position.

Even Canon's mk1 had almost the same problem. Lensrental reported it once, with photos of the problem after disassembly of the lens. but for some reason that blog post has since disappeared...
 

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Some things are designed for easy and low cost maintenance. Some are not. Some cannot due to the nature of the design.
 

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For the price , i guess its fair for the pro grade and can last years too
 

Sometimes the fungus penetrate the optics nano coating thus cleaning won't help. Also, these are microscopic organism that might stay in the barrel which will reproduce like railway tracks, something like the horror movie. So changing lens barrel etc makes sense. You can try putting it under the sun but do it at your own risk.
 

My advice to reduce the possibilty of the problem is to keep your lens hood permanently mounted in the forward position..

I don't use hood with my lens, accept the 14-24. After barrel replacement of my 24-70 for the last 3 years it works fine without the hood.
 

I don't use hood with my lens, accept the 14-24. After barrel replacement of my 24-70 for the last 3 years it works fine without the hood.

why did you replace the barrel bro?
 

I don't use hood with my lens, accept the 14-24. After barrel replacement of my 24-70 for the last 3 years it works fine without the hood.

Then good for you. Good Luck. Try to keep the weight of the lens + camera off the front of the lens and you will be fine. Mine has been fine since day one and my hood is permanently on.
 

I know a guy from NTU who use their lab machinery, N2 gas and tools to well remove the fungus and dust from the lens and camera sensors. He is expert on surface chemistry and camera stuffs. Recently I got my sony camera sensor and lens with horrible fungus, and a friend introduced me to him. He did quite well. you may contact him. name: wang, camclsg@gmail.com
 

I know a guy from NTU who use their lab machinery, N2 gas and tools to well remove the fungus and dust from the lens and camera sensors.
How can I manage to get fungus on my sensor? I've tried hard but so far I didn't even manage to get fungus on a single lens. It's becoming annoying...
 

I moved to singapore without realizing this situation. That's why i need a dry cabinet.