It fosuses way beyond infinity on purpose, so that expansion and contaction of the lens at different temperatures can be compensated for. You just focus the lens visually - the lens does not have to be set at the marked infinity point.

You may also find marque mirror lenses of very nigh quality, even higher prices and so rare that you might not find them at all...

Pentax made 400-600mm zoom, 1000mm and 2000mm mirror lenses. The 2000mm weighed 8kg so it won't be in my camera bag.

Generally the cheaper ones are dreadful. They are also easily damaged, so second hand ones may be even more dreadful.

The Tamron has a good reputation, but I was not impressed with the one I tried.

To some degree it's a matter of expectations as well. A professional user might expect per return service, loan cameras, whatever, and an amateur may be in a long line of others waiting. Not all parts may be in stock, postal delays may occur and all sorts of things can and do happen.

Some repairs may be easy and quick, even extensive ones might just be a matter of replacing a module or two; some may be complex and require more adjustment and calibration.

When I have sent cameras away for repair, rarely it must be said, the fastest have been the independent ones such as Asahi Photo (per return of post), complex vintage repairs have taken 6 months (Voigtlander Bessamatic) and Pentax themselves around 2-3 weeks for MX/ME Super repairs.

I think the only sure answer is to have a back up. Fortunately we have that, but if it's the only camera then that's more of a problem. Not everyone can afford, or want to afford, the luxury of a spare.

As this is accidental damage and not a manufacturing fault, it won't be covered by warranty.

It might be covered by household insurance if you have an All Risks section to your policy. Iy might also be covered by some extended warranties. For example, the Jessops scheme covers accidental damage and maybe others do too.

Sorry to hear about the mishap - at least your daughter is OK and the camera can be repaired or replaced.

Hope that helps!

I think that's a fair comment - I notice that the original post does not have quotation marks either, so we don't know where the quote begins or ends. It also has "smiley" in it - is that in the original or is it added and hence not part of the original.

If it's not accurate I suppose the author might claim he or she was being misrepresented....

It's a tricky world and paying proper attention to copyright issues is definitely recommended. Especially when the whole world can read it...

Are you absolutely sure it is 51mm? This tends to be a push-on size for lens caps. It is almost unheard of for a manual focus 135mm lens to be anything other than a 49mm or 52mm fuilter thread. 51mm is sometimes the outside diameter and the inside filter thread would be 49mm.

The only thing you can do is ask him to return the goods for examination and repair/replacement/refund at your choice or just deduct the value of the lens and give a partial refund.

It's sensible to make sure you get the same lens back that you sent...

I know you may lose a little money on the deal, but good customer service will pay dividends in the end.

Well, sometimes inexperience of users can cause a problem and i would check one long shot first. And that is that he really does mean the focusing ring and not the aperture (f stop) ring. If the latter, and it happened to be an A series lens then it won't move off the A setting unless the small button on the ring is depressed.

I know it's a long shot indeed, but crazier things have been the cause of a problem.

If the lens has stopped working it's more likely due to physical damage than anything else. If the packaging was OK then the buyer might have done something that you are not aware of, but there's no way of knowing.

If the worst comes to the worst, I would ask for the lens or maybe the camera as well to be returned so I could have a look and either replace the lens or provide a refund.

There's a good point there. Too many lenses just gives rise to indecision and confusion.

It's refreshing to carry a simplified kit and rediscover the necessity to make do.

Very few images need an exotic array of lenses, although of course there are times when specific optics are necessary.