any way to safely tighten a loose focus ring?

[niccoury]

The focus ring on my 85 f/1.8D is loose when it's in my bag. When it's on the camera, there aren't any problems.

 

Is there any way to tighten it without damaging it?

 

I guess this is why pro build quality actually does matter for us professionals (I shoot for a newspaper and tend

to bang my stuff around while out on assignments.)

 

~ n

[todd peach seattle, washi]

I guess I'm wondering why that's a problem? Do you expect all your lenses to stay at infinity or something so you know how they're set when you pick them up?

 

Anyway, I think that's the nature of that lens. The focus train is extremely light and quick.

[aether]

Just checked my 85/1.8D and it's also "loose" when off-camera. Think it's normal.

[dcphotography]

"The focus ring on my 85 f/1.8D is loose when it's in my bag. When it's on the camera, there aren't any problems."

 

Anyone know how that works? Whats the reason for that?

[aether]

Just checked ALL my AF Nikkors and they all have "loose" focus rings when off-camera, except those that have AF/MF switches.

[mark_dalrymple1]

"Anyone know how that works? Whats the reason for that?"

 

There's a mechanical linkage between the lens and the camera body. The extra drag from the motor in the camera body is

what keeps the focus ring dampened.

[lex_jenkins]

Unlike manual focus lenses there's little or no grease damping the focus helicoid with AF Nikkors. Some AF Nikkors are floppier than others, tho'. My 50/1.8D AF spins freely. The 28-85/3.5-4.5 and 35-70/2.8D have a bit more damping, tho' they still spin more freely. There's probably a tiny bit of very light grease in the screwdriver focusing linkage, but not enough to dampen free movement during autofocusing.

 

For that matter my 50/2 AI appears to have been customized by the previous owner, a photojournalist (it came with a lovingly abused F3HP/MD-4). There's almost no damping on the focus ring, as if most of the grease was removed. It enables quick fingertip focusing, but not precision focusing.

 

Some AF-S Nikkors are "artificially" damped using a sorta textured surface between plastic mating rings (the 24-120 VR is like this); you can actually feel slight hesitations while spinning the focus ring manually. Others have a bit of friction between synthetic surfaces, but no grease, like the 18-70 DX.

[dcphotography]

Mark Dalrymple: So it would stay loose with the D40/x/60?

[scott_warn]

All of the screw driven AF Nikkors that do NOT have an AF/M switch will have very "loose" focusing rings. The reason for

this is quite simple, that low friction permits the use of a much less powerful focusing motor in the camera bocy. With those

lenses that have an AF/M switch, changing the lens to manual focus disengages the screw drive and also ENGAGES a

friction pad to add some damping to the focusing ring.

 

Now, in response to the original question, I would NOT recomend doing this. That added friction may cause the focusing

motor in some of Nikon's AF cameras to burn out. In addition, the added friction will also increase the rate of wear for hte

entire focusing gear train, both in the lens and the camera. So, it's a really bad idea. Instead, I would suggest that

you "overlap" your focusing finger(s) slightly with the fixed body of the lens so that the drag of your finger(s) adds a bit of

damping to the action. It may not be the most elegant solution but it does work if you do a bit of practice.