Sounds good guys. Thanks for the heads up. You know, I did receive a quote for the repair from Eric pretty much the same day I send him a picture of the issue seen when looking through the lens. I had no clue what it was until he told me in his reply. On the other hand I send the same picture to a nearby official repair shop (
www.camerafix.com) and also to C.R.I.S. Camera Services (
criscam.com). Camerafix did reply fast however they stated not having a set price in their database for this lens an estimate could only be given by sending the lens in first. It took CRIS Camera (this is the repair center RICOH points to at their website
Product Repair & Service - RICOH Imaging) 10 days before replying: "I'm sorry; we are not able to provide estimates on this model without first evaluating the reparability. We have recently changed our process on lens estimating. Due to the complexity of repairs on this type of product we no longer provide estimates on lenses without first performing hands on inspection." When you read this, it gives you some ideas how it works these days and I must say, Eric shines out so far as being the only of the 3 that provided me with an estimate and could tell me what was wrong with the lens using the picture. Tells me he is exceptional... I attached the picture for reference.