johnspierce

I talked with a rep in the Tokina repair department today. He did not sound surprised at my issue and seemed to know exactly what I was talking about. He assured me that they could get it repaired and back to me before the 16th so I could have it on my trip.  I am going to overnight it to them in the morning.  We had a short discussion how I use this lens, and he was very aware of the love underwater photographers have for this lens and completely got why I wanted this back for the trip.   At least I got hold of someone who understands a little bit. It makes it so much harder when a rep does not get it,   

 

Electrical tape is in my "tool kit/fix it" bag when I travel.  It is SO useful.   

 

Will update you when I get it back and let you know how it turns out.   I decided to have it repaired through Tokina since I have so many trips planned this year and do not want it giving out on me in the middle of a trip and no way to fix it. 

 

Happy diving - Pam

 

That sounds like a great deal Pam!  They fixed mine almost two years ago and it's been rock solid ever since...

 

safe diving,

John

Hi Pam,

 

The exact same thing happened to me two years ago on my first day in Isla Mujeres to shoot Whale Sharks.  I was freaking out.   I took it off and put it back on several times taking care to keep the black "tape" inside the zoom ring from crimping and I went ahead and used it.   It was a bit loose though and sometimes zooming it in and out was not very smooth, but it worked.  I tried to minimize the amount of zooming I did.  It got me through the sessions, but it was a bit touchy.  

 

So, you might pull it off and put it back on and just take care the black tape is not folding over or crimped in any way and then just use it.  I don't think you will have enough time to get it fixed before the trip, but you could send an email to Tokina and ask -- they might be able to do a rush job:

 

Send an email to:   repairs@thkphoto.com

 

When I got back to the states I sent it to them and they fixed it for $70 including return shipping.  Here's where I sent it:

 

THK Photo Products
7642 Woodwind Drive
Huntington Beach, CA 92647
ATTN: Repair Dept.

 

It took about two weeks, but I wasn't in a hurry.

 

Good luck!

John

It looks like a decent iteration.  It will undoubtedly have a higher quality sensor than the D7000 and the body is a bit more robust.  Better video.  It feels like Nikon just realized they needed to bump megapixel again but they are still ignoring the high-end DX user in my opinion.  Glad they finally added the weather resistant body.

 

It is *not* a full on replacement for the D300s. It's a shame that Nikon has still left off features I had on my 2007 D300.

 

- Same stupid left hand dial to let me select "landscape" or "portrait".  Really?  That's flagship?  I'd rather have the old WB/ISO buttons from the D300

- 51 autofocus points?  Yes, that's nice, but it's a shame the D7100 is essentially getting the same focus system I had on the D300 6 years ago - shouldn't it be even better?

- Dual SD cards?   Compact Flash is still faster.  I'm betting the D7100 will still have a small buffer and will stop shooting at the most inopportune time.

- Where's the DX primes?  Or anything cool and new in DX lenses?  

 

Please don't misunderstand; this is definitely a better body than the existing D7000 and a very nice evolution.  But it also shows me that Nikon wants to move the former D300 user off to FX just like I said in a thread about 3 months ago -- I predicted back then Nikon would never release a D400 but would instead make the next rev of the D7000 it's new top of the line DX.  

 

For an underwater photographer who currently has a D7000, does this make you want to iterate and buy yet another $2500, (sorry, $3000-$3300) housing for what is essentially a megapixel increase or does this make you want to jump to FX?  Is this a good enough iteration to keep people from jumping to Olympus OM-D which is much cheaper and has a better lens selection?

 

At least Nikon has finally told us the D400 is not to be...

 

Cheers,
JP

The 105 is of course 15mm more reach than the 60mm and TC combo, but the 105 hunts for focus more often and if you are fairly deep you will need a good focus light to get a lock with it.   For that matter, I've found the 60+TC and +5 diopter locks focus easier than the 105.

However, if you need max magnification, 105 plus diopter is the setup.

I started with the 60mm, then added the TC, then added a 105 to my kit, then went with +5 and +10 diopters.  They all have their legitimate uses, but the 60 is the most flexible since it is also great at midsize fish portraits.

For $900 more, the D800 just seems like so much more camera.

I would agree;  nothing has really changed in the Whale Shark migration, we just didn't know about it .  Apparently scientists have been studying the Holbox/Isla Mujeres migration for about 10 years, but Mexican fisherman have known about it for decades.  Since it's kind of out in the middle of nowhere, it's not surprising nobody knew it was an annual occurrence.

We went last year and it's one of the coolest things I've ever done.  Definitely a bucket list item.  Do it before the Mexican Government bans it or starts charging tax on each Whale Shark or something.

We should just be glad it's not in American waters, it would probably be a Disneyland ride by now and you would have to rent saddles. Heh....