Help - Nikon AF 80-200 f/2.8 D Manual Focus Ring Slipping

I have the same problem

You will nearly always get better / more responses starting a new thread with your problem rather than tagging onto an old one!

Thanks Sandy; however, when you do search of the internet for this issue, this thread comes up amongst the first hits (if not the first). I have found a solution so for the benefit of others I will post it here.

 

The issue is the metal spring tab does not properly engage with the slots on the manual focus ring. The slots are quite shallow, little more than a mm deep. A little pressure helps with the engagement yet it needs not be so much that it interferes with the spring action when in the AF position.

 

Solution, it had a small medium density piece of foam rubber which was previously an anti-vibration pad out of a piece of equipment. I taped this down into the recessed part of the spring using heavy duty 3M all weather tape (like very thick sticky tape) and then refitted the plastic dust strip and lens rubber. It works perfectly now.

 

Thanks for posting your diagnosis and repair tips, Bill. I had the same manual focus failure problem, and following your suggestion fixed it. I agree with your comments regarding the poor design. It's especially surprising to find such a careless design in an otherwise capable lens that's been in production for so long. I wonder if the spring tab attachment has been re-engineered in more recent samples. (Mine is about 10 years old).

Hi Bill, just fixed the same problem following your directions. Thanks a lot

Ed

Hello

 

These threads are indeed very old but they have been very useful to me. I just want to add a little bit of extra information from my own experience. The reason I am tagging on to an old thread is that this fix appears as one of the first things on google when you ty to search for what is wrong with this old lens.

 

Now for my own experience - which may or may not be helpful to others. This is a great lens but now too old to get repaired (even if there were Nikon parts available and I can't find any). I found the same problem with the broken tiny post for the T clip and glued everything back. The clutch began to work again, but only intermittently. I then followed other people's advice about putting a bit of foam on top of the clip, taping it down, to make sure it stays in place. This worked better but every few days of not using the lens, it started slipping again. I concluded that probably the glue I had used was too thick and that the clip was not quite seated flush with the base of the indent. I then recalled that there is another place for the clip to be placed further round the barrel (almost like a pre designed spare slot) and so I thought i would start from scratch, here. I prised the clip from its old seating, cleaned off all the glue, and fitted it onto the new tiny posts in the replacement slot. I decided not to use glue this time but placed some thin foam at each end of the T and in the middle of the T and secured it with tape. This time it works perfectly.

 

In retrospect, I think placing foam over the clip itself (rather than the seated T at the end) may in fact bend the middle of the spring and make it less effective as a clutch. If it is seated exactly flat at the T end , and secured, it should do what is was intended to do.

 

I am not sure if anyone will ever read this but I felt I owed it to the original poster to add something to the final 'fix' - from my own experience.

 

Gareth from France

I am not sure if anyone will ever read this but I felt I owed it to the original poster to add something to the final 'fix' - from my own experience.

 

I have read it, and i thank you for the tip, as it may be helpful to me in the future.

Well thank you chulster! Good that my post has been noted.

Hi everyone, I just got this lens and also no manual focus. I looked at the usual suspect but mine seems to be ok. I tried pressing in the indent but nothing changed. It doesn't seemed to be hooking into anything.

 

Any suggestions? Thank you!

 

Hi everyone, I just got this lens and also no manual focus. I looked at the usual suspect but mine seems to be ok. I tried pressing in the indent but nothing changed. It doesn't seemed to be hooking into anything.

 

Any suggestions? Thank you!

 

You can disassemble the lens from the front to the point where you can remove the focus ring and see what's going on. It's fairly easy to do, although there are a couple of tricky parts.

 

Here is a download link to a repair manual for the 80-200mm f/2.8D. This manual is actually for the second one-ring version, but the disassembly procedure for the front part of the lens, above the focus ring, is the same as for the two-ring version. The disassembly instructions begin on page 21 (as printed on the page itself; this is actually the 29th page of the PDF). Follow the steps on that page and the next one; do not proceed beyond these two pages.

 

Since the Nikon disassembly instructions use pictures only, like an Ikea assembly manual, here is a quick verbal description of the steps you need to do. Proceed only if you're willing to risk destroying the lens! Like President Trump, I take no responsibility for anything.

 

For tools, you will need:

• a blow dryer or heat gun
  
• a plastic spudger (a thin, narrow wedge, basically)
   
  
• a small, cross-type screwdriver (ideally JIS 00)
  
• a flat screwdriver with a 3mm-wide head for removing a cam roller (see step 5 below)
  
• a very small flat screwdriver for removing a tiny set-screw
  

Before starting, put the lens on the camera and focus in to the minimum focus distance. This will ease one of the steps of the disassembly. Take the lens off the camera before proceeding.

1. You'll need to remove the nameplate to gain access to a screw under it. In order to be able to remove the nameplate without bending it beyond repair, you will need to apply heat to soften the adhesive that holds it in place. A common blow dryer on the high-temp setting will do fine. Then insert the tip of a plastic spudger under the edge of the metal nameplate and lever it off. If it doesn't come off easily, apply heat longer and try again.
   
2. Once the nameplate is off, unscrew the small screw in the bottom right edge of the space where the nameplate was. Also unscrew the two identical, non-hidden screws that are located 120 degrees apart from this screw on the front barrel.
   
3. Now you will have to contend with the fact that the front barrel is screwed into the, um, step-up ring directly under it. You need to unscrew these two pieces apart. However, first you have to remove a set-screw located just above the step-up ring. Once that's gone, you should be able to unscrew the front barrel off the ring by grabbing the ring with one hand (you may need to wear a rubber glove to get enough friction) while you turn the front barrel with your other hand. Actually, if i remember correctly, it is not possible to turn the front barrel 360 degrees because of some obstruction. So once you've loosened the barrel from the ring, you'll have to finish by turning the ring (not the barrel) until the two things finally come apart. Then you can lift the front barrel up and off.
   
4. (This is potentially the most difficult step of the disassembly.) You will need to remove the front lens element. To do so, you first have to unscrew the cam roller (a screw with a white plastic collar, which appears under the infinity symbol in the repair manual pictures). You'll need a flat screwdriver that is thin enough to fit the slot on the cam roller's screw, but wide enough (about 3mm) to provide sufficient leverage to remove the screw without damaging the soft metal. If the head of the screwdriver is too thick to fit in the slot, file it down until it barely fits. Note: It is possible the screw will be on too tight to remove without destroying it. On one of the two lenses that I worked on, the screw was on too tight and I just couldn't get it off. Once it started to deform, I gave up.
   
5. If you manage to unscrew the cam roller, say a prayer of thanks and proceed with removing the front element. You will simply screw it off (I think it's counterclockwise if you're looking down at it). If the lens was focused to the MFD, it should be relatively easy to grab the edge of the element with your fingers and start turning it. Go very slowly, because you don't want the element to suddenly drop out and onto the floor. Take note of the exact position at which the element becomes fully unseated, and mark that position on the element's helicoidal thread and on the housing in which it sits. Later, when putting the front element back in, you will align the two marks to ensure the element screws in at the right orientation.
   
6. If the round brass washer under the element didn't come off with it, remove it now.
   
7. (This step is optional, but performing it will reduce the chances of damaging an important component.) If you look at the top picture on page 22 of the manual, you will see there is a part labeled B112. This is the "distance brush", which enables the lens to know roughly what distance it's focused at. Unscrew the two screws holding this part down, and remove the part.
   
8. Now unscrew the six screws depicted in the bottom image on page 22, and lift the front element housing assembly straight up and off, first noting its exact angular position so you can put it back correctly. If you didn't remove the distance brush in the previous step, be very careful while lifting the housing assembly up so you don't bend the brush bristles.
   
9. Now you can remove the step-up ring (the piece that the front barrel was screwed into), and, finally, remove the focus ring.
   

I don't really have any advice on what to do once you've removed the focus ring. Hopefully, by fiddling with the focus ring and the M-A switch ring, you'll be able to see why the focus ring is not engaging with the teeth of the focus "gear" underneath it.

 

Good luck.

You can disassemble the lens from the front to the point where you can remove the focus ring and see what's going on. It's fairly easy to do, although there are a couple of tricky parts.

 

--snip--

 

Good luck.

 

Thank you!

In retrospect, I think placing foam over the clip itself (rather than the seated T at the end) may in fact bend the middle of the spring and make it less effective as a clutch. If it is seated exactly flat at the T end , and secured, it should do what is was intended to do.

 

Hi Gareth

 

I haven't found that to be the case. It is 2 years since I did my repair. Other than needing to slightly reposition the pressure pad a little towards the staked end to make engagement more positive, it has been working fine. The pad itself is quite soft and applies just enough pressure to do the job. It doesn't deform the tab but just puts a tiny little bit of added pressure behind it.

 

I would be daunted by trying the disassembly process. I never felt I needed to do that as a little very light finger pressure when the focus band was removed was enough to verify how the clutch worked and I could also confirm the plastic part the tab engages with was not damaged (this was my initial fear).

 

It is interesting to see the photo above from the 7th of August which would now indicate Nikon is welded both the plastic stakes for the tab on some lenses. My two tabs only have one stake welded but only one was having problems. That photo is of the tab that isn't a problem on mine.

Here's a link to the repair manual for the 80-200mm two ring version if it will be helpful.

AF 80-200mm f2.8D N