Hi--

>David Having been delighted by some photos taken with a rented 80-200 f2.8,
>I bought a used one from KEH. I'm a little troubled by one aspect of it and
>want your advice.
>
>It sounds as if something is loose inside. If I hold it horizontal in normal
>picture taking position and raise it about 45 degrees, I can hear something
>moving around. There is a very clear "click." Returning it to the horizontal
>attitude gets a slightly different sound.
>
>KEH didn't have any technicians on duty this AM, but would accept it back
>either for repairs or refunds. They suggested contacting Nikon, which I will
>do on Monday, but your comments earlier would be helpful.
>
>Frankly, I have a hard time believing that an instrument of this quality would
>have anything loose inside, so suspect that I have a defective piece of
>merchandise.
>
>John Philbrick JohnP793@aol.com

Ummm, one of the "delights" of AF gear is that the focusing elements
are not in a heavy grease filled helical, and are quite loosely held.
The front element section of the 80-200 is large and heavy, and does
make a noise when it shifts when the lens is tilted. Grand, huh? ;-)
New AF lenses look/feel like MF lenses that have had many years of
hard use. (I complain bitterly about them, but does anyone listen?! ;-)
(You will read my references on the 'net to those "icky plastic rattly
pieces of AF junk", or things to that effect...;-) Only the truly IF
AF lenses (the 80-200 isn't one...) can avoid the rattle problem
(sometimes...), and offer an approximation of the nice focus feel
of MF lenses - though they still have those "icky plastic junky-feeling
aperture rings" (one would think Nikon would spring at least for
proper aperture rings on AF lenses, but no....! ;-) This lens is very
sharp (in a good sample...), so I put up with the "ickies" with
this one... (most of my other 25 or so lenses are MF...;-).