Leader4u - as for Italy, be prepared to bargain and remember that's not US - not all places accept credit/debit cards (usually they don't accept cc on transactions below 10-15 euro) and if they do they my ask You for id.

nikonian - the hood is a protection, also if You are really paranoid You can either buy or make Yourself a cookin style filter adapter, also I heard that Nikon US has something like that, if You are a NPS member.

i really love this lens but one thing that keep me away from it up to this point is because it cant take filters.

its very scary to spend 1700 bucks for a lens and there wont be any protection for it at all.

Thanx everyone. I appreciate all of the feedback. I think I'm going to do as I was thinking and as Henry stated above. Get an RMA and buy a new one as separate transactions. Again thanx. If I can ever help out here I will...

Leader, you're not from anywhere near NYC, are you? They have a store there in NYC. They might be able to do a swap for you in the store if you're nearby.

Nice call Leader... I didn't even think of ordering a second one. Just make sure you save plenty of credit limit for that sweet vacation :)

For that type of money I would also expect it to be perfect. I bought a AF-S 24-70mm from B&H and had problems with the zoom so I returned it for a new one. I was also going to leave for a trip in about a week. What I did was phone B&H and obtain a RMA from them over the phone. At the same time I then purchased another lens and had it shipped next day. This kept the transactions separate so I was able to get the new one as soon as possible.

Your credit card could be an issue, depending on your limit. If you use an American Express card this should not be an issue. A week or so went by where I had both charges on my account, but I then received the credit for the returned lens.

I have bought from both B&H and Adorama and would think that Adorama would do the same thing for you to acommodate your schedule.

Good luck!

Thanx for the feedback everyone. (And yes, going to Florence for 4 days and Venice for 4 days. Should be nice...) Ok, I can appreciate where everyone is coming from but... It is BRAND NEW... so an alternative would be to order a new one and send the first one back for a refund instead of getting a replacement. Yeh the credit card takes a hit but that's not a big problem if they process the refund in 7 to 10 days. I'm leaning toward doing that instead. Does anyone think I'm being overly anal about this?

Wait till you get back from your vacation then send it in.

Though I haven’t seen the pictures I suspect it is a tiny drop of lubricant rather than dust, and you will be able to take care of it in any Nikon service.

Leader4u - just check the pictures You take with this lens, as it's a really big piece of glass and one small dust shouldn't be a problem. Also I think that this is covered by Nikon warranty, so after coming back from Italy (BTW: go to see Verona and Firenze, as they are two most beautiful cities in Italy) just send it to them, and they should take care of it.

How much time do you have. Adorama does a great job of processing returns, but when I sent back my 24-70, it took it about 5 days to get there and another 10 days to be processed by the returns department. I wouldn't expect your new lens within 3 weeks.

That said, you might wind up paying more to have Nikon do it.

Just got a brand new 14-24 yesterday. Wanted it for a trip to Italy (barring Swine flu travel restrictions) in a few weeks. The lens has one small piece of dust (clearly visible - sorry no pic) that looks to be lodged between the edge of the front element and the second element right where the two would meet. I am going to test things out tonight but I am wondering if I should send it back to Adorama and hope for a 'perfect' replacement specimen (I know there is no such thing but) or just live with it. For what these things go for, and the fact that I am a perfectionist, I am tempted. But then again, maybe the next copy will be worse. Any thoughts? Anyone else seen this issue with their 14-24? Thanx...