Help - AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED Smudge

[Nikola]

Hi all.

As novice user of camera equipment I have to ask every ones opinion on a lens I have just bought.

I purchased a `AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED` lens a few days ago and it arrived today.
When I removed the front lens cap I noticed a whitish smudge (or a spec of dust, I am not really sure) on outermost top left part of the glass. As it is located on the inner side of the glass it can't be cleaned, so that makes me a bit worried.

Having in mind that I am a novice user of camera equipment all help and advice on this matter would be much welcomed. Is it normal for a new lens to have smudges on the inner part of the outermost glass element or should I ask for a replacement?

I still haven't received the Nikon D3300 DSLR I ordered, so I can't check if the smudge shows in pictures. Tomorrow I will try to take a picture of the lens where you can clearly see what I am talking about and I will upload it to the thread as soon as I can.

I hope you forgive my ignorance.

Thank you.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Nikola,

A picture tomorrow would be useful because, although I appreciate English is probably not your first language and while the rest of the post is very good quality English, to me, "smudge" and "speck" are two completely different things.

To give you an idea;
a "smudge" could be a smeared fingerprint,
while a "speck" could be a very small, single flake of paint or piece of dust.

At a guess, it is the latter you have inside the lens.
It possibly got in to the lens during manufacture, packing or shipping.
It obviously shouldn't be there, and it is annoying when what should be perfect (assuming it was bought new, not second hand), but I suspect it may not be easy for you to arrange a replacement lens to be shipped. I don't know what consumer rights are like in Macedonia, but in the UK, you would probably be entitled to ask for a replacement.

Therefore it may be fortunate that it may not have any noticeable effect on pictures taken through the lens, but we'll know more when we have seen what you have.

I am not familiar with that lens, so I hesitate to suggest you try anything to see if it can be moved - it may end up somewhere worse, or you may damage the lens, making return/replacement impossible.

Welcome to the CiC forums, Dave

[Shadowman]

Hi all.

As novice user of camera equipment I have to ask every ones opinion on a lens I have just bought.

I purchased a `AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED` lens a few days ago and it arrived today.
When I removed the front lens cap I noticed a whitish smudge (or a spec of dust, I am not really sure) on outermost top left part of the glass. As it is located on the inner side of the glass it can't be cleaned, so that makes me a bit worried.

Having in mind that I am a novice user of camera equipment all help and advice on this matter would be much welcomed. Is it normal for a new lens to have smudges on the inner part of the outermost glass element or should I ask for a replacement?

I still haven't received the Nikon D3300 DSLR I ordered, so I can't check if the smudge shows in pictures. Tomorrow I will try to take a picture of the lens where you can clearly see what I am talking about and I will upload it to the thread as soon as I can.

I hope you forgive my ignorance.

Thank you.

There's nothing white on the inside of the lens barrel, any opaque obstruction will appear on your final image. If you can send it back now.

[Nikola]

Hi Nikola,

A picture tomorrow would be useful because, although I appreciate English is probably not your first language and while the rest of the post is very good quality English, to me, "smudge" and "speck" are two completely different things.

To give you an idea;
a "smudge" could be a smeared fingerprint,
while a "speck" could be a very small, single flake of paint or piece of dust.

At a guess, it is the latter you have inside the lens.
It possibly got in to the lens during manufacture, packing or shipping.
It obviously shouldn't be there, and it is annoying when what should be perfect (assuming it was bought new, not second hand), but I suspect it may not be easy for you to arrange a replacement lens to be shipped. I don't know what consumer rights are like in Macedonia, but in the UK, you would probably be entitled to ask for a replacement.

Therefore it may be fortunate that it may not have any noticeable effect on pictures taken through the lens, but we'll know more when we have seen what you have.

I am not familiar with that lens, so I hesitate to suggest you try anything to see if it can be moved - it may end up somewhere worse, or you may damage the lens, making return/replacement impossible.

Welcome to the CiC forums, Dave

Hi Dave,

Thank you for the detailed answer.
I didn't want to bore you with the details but actually the lens was bought from Mathers of Lancashire and it was shipped to my fiance who is currently in the UK.
She showed me the lens over Skype and I could identify what exactly was the whitish "smudge" (because of picture quality, lighting and all), that is why I expressed myself the way I did.

I have a few work meetings right now and as soon as I finish them I will have my fiance take a picture after which I will post it here.

As for the replacement do I contact Mathers of Lancashire or do I write to Nikon UK's service center?

Again I would like to thank you all for your much appreciated help.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Dave,

Thank you for the detailed answer.
I didn't want to bore you with the details but actually the lens was bought from Mathers of Lancashire and it was shipped to my fiance who is currently in the UK.
She showed me the lens over Skype and I could identify what exactly was the whitish "smudge" (because of picture quality, lighting and all), that is why I expressed myself the way I did.

I have a few work meetings right now and as soon as I finish them I will have my fiance take a picture after which I will post it here.

As for the replacement do I contact Mathers of Lancashire or do I write to Nikon UK's service center?

Again I would like to thank you all for your much appreciated help.

There I go, jumping to incorrect conclusions again
I hope no offence was taken, certainly none was intended.

As the lens was purchased from a UK supplier and delivered in the UK, whoever bought it (your fiancé, I hope - because resident in UK at the time) needs to go back to the retailer (Mathers of Lancashire), since, under UK consumer law, the contract exists between those two parties to have supplied the product that is "of merchantable quality" and "fit for purpose".

Disclaimer: I am not in the legal profession, and while I believe my advice to be correct, I cannot comment much further.

Good luck, Dave

[Nikola]

There I go, jumping to incorrect conclusions again
I hope no offence was taken, certainly none was intended.

As the lens was purchased from a UK supplier and delivered in the UK, whoever bought it (your fiancé, I hope - because resident in UK at the time) needs to go back to the retailer (Mathers of Lancashire), since, under UK consumer law, the contract exists between those two parties to have supplied the product that is "of merchantable quality" and "fit for purpose".

Disclaimer: I am not in the legal profession, and while I believe my advice to be correct, I cannot comment much further.

Good luck, Dave

There is no problem at all, no offence was taken what so ever.
Here is the photo of the lens (the bast that my fiance could take).
I hope you can see the white small dot on the top part of the front glass element.

I have contacted Mathers about this and as soon as they answer I will let you know.
Again thank you for everything.

[AlwaysOnAuto]

The white dot at the 12 o'clock position on the lens is not going to effect pictures at all in my opinion. If it was me, I wouldn't be worried at all about the performance of the lens.
YMMV.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Nikola,

It is actually a bit bigger than I expected, so I quite understand your dilemma describing it.

However, as AOA says, it is unlikely to be much of an issue right on the edge of field there, but see what the suppliers say, if they will swap, that would probably be worth doing, if you think ahead to the future; if/when you ever wanted to sell it, it might put some people off, or cause you to have to lower the price (not that it is a hugely expensive lens).

Good luck, hopefully, if you sent them this picture, it is big/obvious enough for them to want to rectify the situation.

Best regards, Dave

[Nikola]

Hi All.

I wanted to let you know about the outcome of the situation.
The people from Matters were very polite and agreed to replace the lens if I send it back.
On Thursday I received the replacement lens and now everything is OK.

I would like to thank you all for the help.

Best regards,
Nikola