105mm Micro VR issues

<p>Oh Wise Ones, a moment of your valuable time, if you will.</p>

 

<p>This weekend past I picked up a new 105mm VR micro lens, a dream piece of glass for me for a while now. Unfortunately it's driving

me up the wall.</p>

 

<p>The problem is that the AF keeps hanging up. It hunts around, and then spins down to the nearest focus distance where it just sits,

refusing to budge until the focus is adjusted manually. Indoors, it refuses to lock onto the focus point at all unless the focus is manually

set close to the correct distance. Outdoors today, in bright sunlight it was only slightly better, but would periodically still hang up on the

close focus end (trying to shoot swooping frigate birds, and the focus was hanging every 10 seconds or so - incredibly frustrating). The

situation doesn't improve with the focus limiter switched on... it just locks at the new, longer close focus point.</p>

 

<p>I shoot with a D200, and have a fair selection of other lenses, both Nikon and Sigma, AF/S and screwdriver focus. The only focus

issue I have with any of these is a strong front focus issue with my month-old 50mm f/1.4. Aside from that they all seem fast and

accurate to lock their focus, even in relatively dim conditions.</p>

 

<p>Here's the really weird bit. Today I plugged the Micro into a friend's D300, and although it seemed a touch... hesitant... to lock focus,

it did so reliably, even in a dim inside room. Now I realise that the D300 has a significantly improved autofocus mechanism compared to

the D200. I've also noted Ken Rockwell's (and perhaps others?) complaints about my specific lens/body combination causing occasional

autofocus difficulties.</p>

 

<p>What I'd like opinions on is where the fault lies. Lens, body or user. Do I have a lemon lens on my hands? Does my camera need

servicing? Am I overlooking something obvious? I've had this lens on order for several months, so am loath to return it unless I'm fairly

certain it's a dud.</p>

 

<p>One last, slightly disappointing and probably unrelated observation, is that the 3 switches on the lens all have significant play in

them, nothing like the satisfyingly smooth action of the switches on my 70-200, 18-200 and even 18-70. The VR activation switch has a

real "CLUNK" to it also, as if it is physically engaging a mechanism inside the lens rather than just completing an electrical circuit</p

 

<p>Thanks for your assistance!</p>

 

<p>Chris Court</p>

the good news is this doesnt sound like user error. i was going to say focus limiter but you tried that.

 

perhaps cleaning the contacts on the d200 will help. always try that first before moving on to more extreme measures.

 

if the lens' AF worked on a d300 it may not be glass issues. but, just to be sure, maybe take it to a best buy and see how it does on a d60 or something. since you picked the lens up new, and are well within the warranty period, you could always try a different sample if possible. if the same thing happens again you'll know for sure it's a body issue.

I never used my 105VR on the D200, but experienced similar issues on later cameras.

 

I found that it is so difficult for any camera to lock on focus when this lens is far from the focus point... e.g.: If I try to

focus a small flower at 10 feet when the focus barrel is at 2 feet, there is a mere color patch in the viewfinder: the

system runs trying to find contrast, but after some attempts without success, gets hanged. I try to remember that it

gets worst if the camera is not firmly holded (slight movement of the focus sensor).

 

If your experience is as above, I think your lens is fine. You don`t need to focus manually. Just hold your camera

firmly, keep your finger pressing the shutter release (or where your AF is ON), and move the focus sensor (better if

the center cross sensor) like drawing little circles around the subject. The AF will "wake up" and will lock focus like

magic. That`s how it worked on my D300; as the D200 use a different MultiCam don`t know it will work too, I hope so.

 

The switchs in my sample are a bit more rude than other VR lenses, but not so different, thought. The VR

mechanism is really "clunky" when it engages. My 50/1.8AFD is one of the lenses that needed AF fine tuning on all

my

cameras.

I have already remember (when I had D200 and a loaned D300), comparing both camera focusing abilities, the D300

wins hands down in low contrast scenes. Situations where the D300 lock perfect focus on almost flat grey surfaces

under dim light were impossible for the D200 with continuous hanging. I have experienced the same for the F6 (same

as D2 series cameras). The D300 works better here.

"... with continuous hanging". I wanted to mean "continuous hunting..."

I would exchange the lens for another sample. My 105VR2.8 works fine on my D200, although AF isn't what I'd call particularly fast, nor always dead-on on low-contrast subjects in low light. On a borrowed D300, I found low-light performance was much improved - with my sample at least. A co-worker's 105VR was much more reluctant to achieve focus, both on the D200 and D300. There seems to be at least some variation between individual samples in this respect.

Micro-Nikkors have such a large range of distances and the depth of field at f/2.8 (where focusing takes place) is so shallow compared to the range of distances that focus acquisition is erratic. You basically need to point the lens at a target which has detail (such as a textured surface) and then you have hope. I don't think there is any fault in your equipment, but of course the Multi-CAM-3500 would work better than the module in the D200.

Definitely I want to speak english like a finnish. ;)

If your shooting macro, you need to use manual focus!

Jose, I am perfectly capable of writing incomprehensible English (as well as Finnish) when I don't proofread what I've

written, also my grammar is often quite sloppy. It got worse when I was in the USA because the two languages sort of

got messed up in my head and I started using word order from one in the other without realizing it - previously I was very

concious about those things. It's not as bad as accidentally speaking Finnish to an English cubiclemate - which also

happened.

 

Finns are taught to think that if you can't say something in perfect grammar then it's better not to say anything ;-) I think

that's quite bad.

 

Sometimes I do think it would be nice to have an edit option like there is on dpreview.

Ilkka, you can probably speak two languages better than I can speak one!

<p>Well, we have a variety of suggestions here ranging from "send the broken POS back, it's a lemon" to "stop your

moaning, there's nothing wrong with it." Perhaps what I should have asked was a) Is anyone out there using this lens on

a D200, and b) What issues, if any are you having with the combination.</p>

 

<p>Darr, you may well be right, but with respect this lens should also be capable of acting as a mid-range telephoto, and

there are many situations where AF will be useful or even necessary in that usage (my swooping frigate birds among

them). Besides, if I buy an AF/S lens, I want it to autofocus, damnit!!</p>

 

<p>Regards, Chris</p>

Chris, it is essentially impossible for anybody to remotely diagnose your lens without even seeing any images from it. If you have doubts, it is best to find another sample of that lens for comparison.

Hopefully a local store or someone in a local camera club may have another one.

 

To be blunt, we can spend another week and perhaps 50 more posts on this topic. It is all going to be a complete waste of time.

Shun, you're right, I can't expect a remote diagnosis. I would however appreciate feedback from anyone who's used a

105 VR on a D200 body, to give me some baseline for comparison with my experience here.

 

I live on a small Caribbean Island, and have been waiting for more than 2 months for the lens to arrive, so I think my

chances of finding another to test are remote. I will put the word out though.

 

Regards, Chris

Chris, unfortunately, I don't have that particular lens myself or I would be more than happy to provide you some information, but your description doesn't sound right at all.

 

You aren't going to get any sympathy from me for living in the Caribbeans. :-) That particular lens is not so rare. Therefore, hopefully you can find one locally for comparison. If not, I would send it back to Nikon for evaluation.

I have used the 105 VR with the D200 for close-up subjects (flowers), and in these situations I would usually

just set the approximate magnification manually and focus using a focusing rail. If I used AF, I made sure there

was good detail under the center sensor and then pressed AF-ON, then refined focus manually. At close-up

distances, the autofocus can move the focus so fast that it sometimes completely misses the distance where the

subject would have been in focus, just going past it at full speed. If you use autofocus with a lens like this,

make sure there is good detail under the sensor at the plane where you're focusing and also before and after it,

so that the in-focus plane doesn't come too quickly. Also that the distance is not too far off from your starting

point.

 

If you can't find another copy of the lens, test with other bodies to see if they behave differently. I think

it's just that autofocus doesn't work ideally for close-up photography. Despite this, I enjoy using the 105 VR.

I have used 105 VR 2.8 on D40x and i do have some focus problems. Remember, D40x has only THREE focus points. I also agree the switches on the lens are a little flimsy and feel like a cheap electronic toy switces.