My camera had its lens zoomed out a little when its tripod fell and now it is bent to one side and cannot zoom in or out. I have a Nikon D5300 with an AF-P DX Nikkor 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6G VR lens. Is there any way that I can fix it myself? I've tried moving it back into place--but to no avail. With the fear of breaking it, I didn't push too hard.
2 Answers
It's already broken, there's very little you can do to make it better or worse.
Time for a new lens. The cost of repair would be significantly higher than a replacement lens.
You can get those for $£€ 40 on eBay [even less if you're willing to wait out an auction], because so many people get them as part of the kit, then immediately want something better.
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\$\begingroup\$ I couldn't wait to get rid of this lens. A trader offered an exchange with a brand new 35mm f/1.8G and I took it. \$\endgroup\$ Jul 4, 2020 at 2:08
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2\$\begingroup\$ Yeah, tbh if the OP lives in or near London & fancies the drive, they can have mine for a token 'beer money' offer ;-) \$\endgroup\$– TetsujinJul 4, 2020 at 11:30
Something similar happened to me with my Canon DSLR. My camera bag only fell down from a few inches, but that was enough to bend the lens similarly to what was shown on the photo above. Auto-focus was struggling, lesn looked bent to one side, zooming in and out was difficult, feeling like something was out of position. At the time, I could not afford any expensive repair so searched online for any solutions. I did end up on this YouTube video where a guy "clicks" his zoom lens back into place: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4K1Ge5COW8
With nothing to lose (my lens was already unusable) and a lot a scepticism, I decided to give it a try...
And to my greatest surprise, CLICK, my lens fell back into its original position! After extensive testing, I cannot see any impact on the quality of my photos (no skewing for instance) so believe I am back in the game! This said, for a more serious fall, if pieces are damaged, this technique won't help. Still sharing however my experience, as it might help others that have nothing to lose and save the day.