Nikon 1 J1 10-30mm lens error
I recently got a Nikon 1 J1 mirroless exchangable lens camera at a great price 🙂
Well actually the price was low because the kit lens (10-30mm) it came with were broken, displaying an error…
The annoying lens error “popup” won’t go away even if you switch to the manual mode. I guess one could remove the popup by covering the lens contacts with adhesive tape. And even without the lens error popup blocking the camera operation, the Nikon 1 10-30mm lens is probably pretty useless in manual mode as there is no manual focus ring…
I tested the camera body in manual mode and it seems work as it should. Unfortunately I only have a few Nikon F mount lenses and no proper adapter for Nikon 1 camera, so I could only test it with the broken lens. I ordered an adapter as soon as I got the camera, but it will take some time to get here from China 🙂
Nikon 1 line of mirrorles exchangable lens cameras seem to be somewhere between ordinary compact cameras and higher level DSLR cameras. Well, I guess you may get a bit more for the same price if you look at some higher end compact cameras, but this really depends on what you are trying to do with it… The main reason I was looking into Nikon 1 cameras is their 1200fps high speed video shooting mode.
After some surfing around the net I found out that with these lens the internal flex cables for the autofocus and/or antishake mechanism may break after extensive zoom operations. The flex cables seem to be available for a few dollars, but you still have to disassemble and assemble the lens yourself. Also a few electronic components need to be “transplanted” to the new cables.
I also found out the this type of defect seems to have been common enough that Nikon issued a recall and is offering free service for the lens regardless of the warranty. So I took the lens to the official service office where they will check if the lens error is in line with the recall… I’m keeping my fingers crossed that there is not anything else wrong with the lens. Well, and even if there is, I can still attempt the repair myself or make a manual lens out of it 🙂
Hi,
I didn’t know about the recall, so I opened the lens and the flex cable was broken/cut. As fixing it involved disassembly it completely, and some soldering I didn’t do it.
Do you know if what they fix/cover is exactly this? I ask because they told me that if I send it and it’s something different that what appears in the website I have to pay 45 dollars for the diagnostic.
With my lens it was the same, they wanted 40EUR for diagnostics or a full repair cost. Only after a bit of negotiation and an approval from Nikon they fixed it for free… Unfortunately I can’t tell if your lens will qualify for the recall (also you shouldn’t tell them you opened the lens and everything should be put together exactly as it was). If they are an official Nikon service center you could maybe try finding out beforehand if they will repair it for free. It also depends if this is a lens you are/will be using a lot, I would actually have the lens repaired even if it wasn’t for free, that was just a bonus 🙂