Is color fringing a known problem with the AF Nikkor 300/4 ED-IF ?

I recently acquired a used Nikkor 300/4 ED-IF (discontinued version)

at a bargain price, and with the last frame of velvia I had left in

my tripod mounted N80, I made a test shot. (f/8, 1/90s )

(Image scanned at 2900 DPI on a coolscan IV. Absolutely no post

processing.)<p>

 

What I found greatly troubled me. There was noticable

purple/green/yellow

color fringing along the high contrast border areas ( diagonal lines )

in the image. At wide open, I would have understood. But at two stops

down with a prime lens with 2 ED elements ?? This is my first real

telephoto,

others being cheap vari aperture zooms.So I am wondering if this a

common

problem with such lenses. Would this be acceptable on a 300/2.8 at

any aperture ?

And also how does this compare to the newer 300/4 AF-S.. is that

fully

corrected for chromatic aberration ? <br>

Thanks.

The slightly out of focus image of IF lenses typically show this.

You want good color in a white area in the shade?

 

That may be tough to do with any lens....

 

The lens looks like it gives straight lines, suggest you test it in the bright sunshine...then look for color fringing (?) in your quest.

Lateral color is not affected by stopping down, and most telephotos suffer at least a small amount of it, ED or not.

<i>

You want good color in a white area in the shade?

</i> <p>

 

If you look at the attached image in the original post, you will find spurious colors along the edges. This occurs wherever there is high

edge contrast - bright sunshine or not. And thats all I am talking about.

<br>

This is pretty common. I've seen it at some degree on just about every 300 f4 I've used.

Thanks for your responses. I am feeling better already !

Chromatic abberations(actually chromatic enlarging errors) are normal to tele lenses. A 'compact' telelens design increases the chromatic enlarging error. Thats why they have ED elements which correct the problem(only rarely the full 100%). Probably there are good and bad samples too. Ill put an example in here which i took with a non-ED 300/4.5 Nikkor. Keep in mind that chromatic abberations, or at least the amount in which they occur highly depend on what you shoot(contrast) and in which light.

<center> <img border=2 src="http://www.photo.net/photodb/image-display?photo_id=1478448&size=lg"> </center>

300/4.5 Nikkor

I notice that the Coolscan IV also has ED glass, but I wonder if its optics could contribute to the color fringing? While I have the same 300 f/4 lens I have not noticed the effect. (I'll have to look more closely at the slides on my light table.) Did you also examine your sldes visually?

Depending on the contrast, I see color fringing more or less in most of my lenses; wide angle and tele, including the Nikon AF 300/4 ED-IF (on tc-300 fringing becomes even more noticeable). Only lens I can not discern any fringing is my Fuji GSWIII's 65mm/5.6 lens.

Are you looking for color fringing in the slide with a loop or in the scanned image. I believe what you are seen is an anomaly of the scanner. I�ve seen very pronounced red/green fringing from three Nikon LS1000 scanners.

"are seen" SBH "are seeing"

 

Gone for coffee in the vain hope that it will improve my ability to proof read.

"SBH" SHB "SHB"

 

I give up!

"Are you looking for color fringing in the slide with a loop or in the scanned image. I believe what you are seen is an anomaly of the scanner. I�ve seen very pronounced red/green fringing from three Nikon LS1000 scanners."

 

If the fringing has rotational symmetry about the center of the image, then it cannot be due to the scanner lens. I would check for this to diagnose the problem. Any color fringing due to the scanner should have bilateral symmetry with respect to a line passing through the center of the frame parallel to the long side.

 

Brian

I am certain its not due to the scanner lens, which is actually

quite good. ( Although I am now less impressed with Nikon's "ED"

designation). <br>

It showed up under a loupe ( Rodenstock 4x , and a Zuiko 50mm/1.8 (5x))

. It also shows up when projected, but worse still its even faintly

visible through the camera's viewfinder. Again, it occurs only near

the periphery of the image so its probably secondary chromatic abrr.

<em>"I am certain its not due to the scanner lens, which is actually quite good." --Tim Chakravorty<br>

</em><br>

The red/green color fringing you show in your example is the same type Ive seen from three Nikon LS-1000 scanners. Its an artifact of one pass scanning. In the Polaroid scanners Ive used its a less objectionable blue/amber fringing. Try reading Brian Caldwells post again.<br>

<br>

If youve got some other examples of color fringing you might show them. Its an imperfect world and the scanner is the weakest link. Maybe you got lucky and have color fringing from both the 300mm lens and the scanner but I dont see it. Try feeding your lens something other than Velvia.

<em>"...but worse still its even faintly visible through

the camera's viewfinder." TC</em><br>

<br>

If you can see it the cameras viewfinder you're going to see it

whether its there or not. In extreme cases you might notice

low contrast but color fringing in the viewfinder? Does it look

like the lens was used to drive nails?<br>

<br>

Try this test. Put the slide in the scanner and scan it, pull it

out and rotated 180° and scan it again. Post both images.

Well any results?

 

---

 

The AF-S 300/4.0D ED-IF is reputed to be an excellent lens with a crappy tripod collar. Now that Kirkphoto.com has what appears to be a fine replacement collar I�d buy a AF-S 300/4.0 if I had the money.

 

Regards,