Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 lens(Possible Problem)

[derek_thornton]

Prior to buying this lens I heard it was great. I read that you could not even

purchase a bad unit, they are all flawless. I am pretty sure I read that here.

Anyway, for me only about 50% of my shots with this lens are good enough to

keep and only 25% are sharp. It seems to take decent landscapes on a tripod

with VR off. Hand held is quite a differant story. Hand held with VR on, I can

only get decent shots with lots of light and even then I will get blurred

shots. Also, it will not focus right at times or it will take the shot without

foucusing.

 

I am still learning this and have found that with this lens I will not get a

sharp shot hand held at a speed lower than 1/250 second. At that speed I

frequantly have to shot at f/2.8. I took some shots of a bear in the smokies

yesterday and all but 2 were blury. He was in the shade. The fastest speed I

could get was 1/15 at f/2.8. It was overcast, 4PM, and in the shade. However,

my wife got decent shots with her Panasonic. Her Pan. with Lieca lens will

reach out at 430mm at f/2.8-3.5. I still find it hard to believe that her

little camera will zoom twice what my huge lens will.

 

This shot was taken hand held at 200mm with VR on at 1/2000 of a sec f/2.8 and

100 ISO Obviously it is blured due to not focusing, even though I gave it

plenty of time. Many times it wont focus right so I will give it a hand and

then it will go back out of focus when I press the trigger.

 

Does it really take that much light to shoot at speeds faster than 1/250 of a

second?

[ilkka_nissila]

I bet it's not a lens problem but an issue with the way you use the camera.

 

Which focusing mode you use? I would recommend the following. Set the camera to focus only when the AF-ON button is pressed (it's the button under your thumb on most cameras, AF-L/AE-L on the D70). This can be done with a custom function.

 

Then you can focus either manually, or by pressing the AF-ON button, or any combination of these activities. When the main subject appers in focus in the viewfinder, you can recompose and take the picture.

 

In your example above it is evident that the camera has refocused with a central AF sensor. This will happen if your camera is in continuous AF mode and you use the shutter button to activate AF (which is the defaut mode).

 

Alternatively you can focus and press one of the many AF-L buttons available to force the camera to lock focus. Three are on the lens, and one is on the camera. Or you can use AF-S mode and wait long enough for the camera to lock the focus on the subject. This I find the least reliable.

 

By the way the lens is not very sharp at f/2.8 at 200mm. Stop down to at least f/4 at 200mm. At the short end f/2.8 should be very sharp though. You definitely don't need 1/1000 s to get sharp results with this lens hand-held.

[nickwhite]

Looks to me that there is a zone of sharp focus half way through the image - that would equate with the wide f2.8 aperture used.

You need to focus on the bird, recompose the shot, then fire - ie use focus lock.

[evan_goulet]

As for the Panasonic "reaching out", the lens is actually 7 - 89 mm, but with a really small sensor it equates to 430 mm (in 35-mm film terms). So yes, you get reach but there is a trade-off in sensor size/image quality.

[mark_chappell]

What Ilkka and Nick said. Very obviously, you did not have the AF sensor aimed at the bird

when you hit the shutter button. I'm guessing you probably had the focus system set to

continuous. As Nick and Ilkka suggested, place the AF sensor on your subject, focus, then

lock focus, recompose, and shoot. Or, if your camera has the option, select one of the AF

sensors that will be aimed at the target when the composition is correct.

 

The part of the image that's in focus looks pretty sharp to me. Hate to be blunt, but this

seems to be a user error, not an equipment problem.

[derek_thornton]

I want you to be blunt. The reason I said "possible problem" is because I had a feeling it was something I was doing wrong. I guess I felt like this was such a perfect lens that you could not have user problems.

 

Regardless, does it really take that much light to get speeds greater than 1/250 second?

[mark_chappell]

<I> 1/2000 of a sec f/2.8 and 100 ISO</i><P>

 

According to the 'sunny 16' rule, in full sunlight at ISO 100 and f2.8, the shutter speed

should be roughly 1/3200. Your shot of the laughing gull doesn't look like full sunlight, so

the exposure seems reasonable. Another analysis: at the same ISO and aperture, you

should be able to shoot at 1/250 at a light intensity of about 1/13 full sunlight.

[Matt Laur]

Derek: Don't be afraid to get yourself another stop or two of light by using ISO 200 or 400. There are so many great tools out there to deal with higher-ISO sensor noise, but not many tools that can make the clarity you'd expect from a higher shutter speed except... I higher shutter speed. I very happily used that exact same lens to get <a href="http://www.photo.net/photo/6197432"><b>this shot</b></a> the other evening in light that was very quickly fading. In order to get a higher shutter speed (1/800) and a deeper DoF (courtesy of f/8 or so), I cranked the ISO up to 800. The deal with the noise devil completely paid off, but the clarity of the shot and the responsiveness of the lens (focus-speed-wise) wouldn't have happened without the 70-200's performance and build. I'm a complete devotee of that lens at this point.

[hugo_vincent]

> I guess I felt like this was such a perfect lens that you could not have user problems.

> I read that you could not even purchase a bad unit, they are all flawless.

 

With expectations like these, you've set yourself up to be disappointed. Even if it was the best lens ever made, you'd still be disappointed because you were expected a flawless, perfect lens (which of course no lens ever is).

 

> and even then I will get blurred shots

 

Are all the problem's you're having due to out-of-focus? Or are some due to hand-shake blur too?

 

It sounds like you may have the camera set to continuous focus tracking (AF-C). Try setting it to AF-S (single focusing mode), frame the shot with the subject under the AF sensor, half-press the shutter or press the AF On button to focus, then recompose without taking your finger of the shutter (still half pressed), then take the shot.

 

If you're at 200 mm f/2.8 and can't get past 1/15, crank up the ISO rating until you get to at least 1/100 (with VR on), or 1/300-1/500 with it off. I presume you were shooting at ISO 100. A common mistake is when people hear that noise is a problem at higher ISOs, so never use them. But of course a blurry shot is generally much worse than a slightly noisey shot. Getting decent performance at higher ISOs is probably the main advantage of the larger sensors used in DSLRs (compared to compact cameras like your wife's Panasonic). With any current Nikon camera, you should get pretty clean results at ISO 800, and perfectly usable results at ISO 1600.

[andrew_cale]

Only thing I see wrong with this picture is your focus area was on the wrong subject. You have the lowest margin of error possible shooting at 2.8 (DOF-wise). What camera are you using?

[elliot1]

If you are sure that your focus point is correct and the focus is still not correct and your other lenses focus correctly, the problem is likely with the lens. My 70-200 had a major failure and needed by service by Nikon. It has performed perfectly ever since. Send it in and have it fixed.

[ronald_moravec1]

It is where you tell the lens to focus. With the button on the back, you can move the pocus point to any of the small rectangles in the finder. I believe there are 11. In any case, put the subject on the one in use, push AF lock next to main command dial or push shutter half way and recompose, then push down full. The camera can be set to flash the rectangle selected in red when you set it or fire.

 

Consult instruction book for details.

 

VR will not allow 1/15 at 200mm. 1/50 is best you can expect if you hold the camera properly ( standing rifle target position) and have VR on.

[tonybeach]

Take a photography class, you lack even basic skills.

[mtan]

Like others have mentioned here, it looks like a focusing problem, which may be either your choice of AF mode, AF sensor, or (less likely) an AF default in the lens itself.

 

On the bright side, the flotsam in the middle of the frame is quite sharp. ;)

[dice15]

My 70-200mm 2.8 is at a Nikon service center right now due to a back focus problem. It started giving trouble a few weeks ago. I hope they can get it corrected. It's one of my favorite lenses. You should send it in right away if you've determined that it IS focusing where you INTENDED it to focus.

[derek_thornton]

Anthony Beach, Jul 17, 2007; 08:44 p.m.

 

Take a photography class, you lack even basic skills.

 

You are taking blunt to a new level! I was expecting a comment like this. Always get them here. In the six months I have been into photography I have learned first, that photographers are the rudest, snobiest people walking this planet. I guess, for the stuck up type, it must suck to spend all that money and time only to have a kid with a point and shoot out do you.

 

Lighten up friend, I aint trying to steal your thunder, too myself this is just a hobby. I love the great outdoors and have thousands of great stories, all I want is pictures to go with those stories, decent pictures.

[derek_thornton]

I will figure it out on my own without a class, I have come a long way in six months. For every worthless comment there are several that are very helpfull. Thank you, Matt Laur and Hugo vincent you helped me a lot with the ISO thing. I have not moved the ISO yet due to what I have read about noise. I cant wait to get back out there and mess around with the ISO. Also, thanks to all those who helped me on the focus issue, it was set on "c" continuous.

[sam_thompson2]

More advanced equipment is more prone to user error because often more advanced equipment comes with more options for the user to mess up.

 

You will get more consistent results if you set your iso at 400 and aperture at f/8 and as you learn more then you can start shooting at open apertures.

[thierry nguyen cuu - nomad]

Remember to give VR some time to stabilise (it takes around half a second). If you release the shutter too fast, you can have blurry images.

 

However, not this (your bird shot) blurry.