brian_mchattie Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 <p>I had reason to visit my local Nikon dealer today and I mentioned the fact that I was still waiting for a message from them to say that my preordered lens had arrived. The dealer said that they only received 3 lenses last month and they were also preordered. However, he informed me that one of the lenses was returned to Nikon because it was faulty!! He also said that he thinks there is a possibility that Nikon may order a recall on their first produced batch and that could be a reason for the delay in him receiving his order...<br>Anybody out there heard about this??</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_brown4 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 <p>Have not heard of any recall, but this piques my interest as I have a first-run copy of this lens. And, I did notice some reduced VR effectiveness in the 1/60-1/180 shutter speed range in the D800.</p> <p>OTOH, Nikon doesn't tell the dealers a whole lot about subjects like this, so I would take that with a grain of salt.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShunCheung Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 <blockquote> <p>He also said that he thinks there is a possibility that Nikon may order a recall on their first produced batch and that could be a reason for the delay in him receiving his order...</p> </blockquote> <p>It sounds like it is completely speculation from his part, and that is exactly how rumors are started.</p> <p>However, this is the very first PF lens Nikon has ever produced. It wouldn't be all that surprising that the first batches are not totally perfect and the manufacturing process will be fine tuned. If you are not interested in being one of the pioneers, it maybe prudent to wait a few weeks before getting one.</p> <p>I have also seen some discussion about VR effectiveness Dan mentioned on the Fred Miranda forums.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian_mchattie Posted February 16, 2015 Author Share Posted February 16, 2015 <p>well Dan, as a matter of fact, my dealer did say the issue was with VR. And I just cannot help but wonder why I have not received my order from an extremely reliable dealer.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kari_oinonen Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 <p>Speculating: the new kind of de-centering could be the reason. Even if the lens element is perfectly centered the fresnel structure in a lens element may be off a tiny bit. That might create the situation what lensrentals tested and reported in their blog. "fresnel de-centering?"</p> <p>Actually we do not know anything sure execpt what lensrentals reported based on one sample only. They reported some de-centering on that one sample they tested.</p> <p>"Don't panic". A text on the cover of a known guide book.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShunCheung Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 <p>Out of curiosity, I just called my local dealer. They told me that they have a waiting list for the 300mm/f4 PF, and I can put down a 20% deposit ($400) and get in line. They wouldn't tell me approximately how long the wait is, though (or how long their waiting list is).</p> <p>Based on various web forum discussions, I tend to agree that not that many people seem to have this lens at this point (or they are busy capturing images with it rather than posting :-) ). Since I already have various ways to get to 300mm, I am going to wait a few weeks to get a clearer picture.</p> <p>For whatever it is worth, back in 2012, I put down a $500 deposit with that same dealer and had to wait two months for my D800E (ordered in mid April, delivered in mid June). The D800/D800E was extremely popular and was in short supply for about 4, 5 months.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_brown4 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 <p>It's not decentering. <br> The lens is marvelously sharp at f4.0 from close focus to infinity. There seems to be a bit of reduced effectiveness of the VR system in the 1/60 to 1/180 shutter speed range. Or, maybe the mirror action in the camera affects the VR system, I am not sure. However, this is a rather subtle degradation in the image sharpness, where you have to view at 1:1 and then look for it. In the vast majority of shooting and reproduction approaches, it would not be noticed at all.</p> <p>Of course, if Nikon comes up with a service advisory, I would send mine in.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdied Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 <p>I received mine on Feb 5th from Amazon. I have not experienced any of the issues with the VR. Agree with Dan that this is an incredibly sharp lens at f/4 . Also very sharp with the 1.4IIITC at 5.6 even better stopped down with the TC.<br> Birdie</p> <p> </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShunCheung Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 <p>Roberta must have been busy using her new lens. :-) I am glad that hers is fine.</p> <p>Roger Cicala of Lens Rental has posted two blog articles about the 300mm/f4 PF. Just like many other bloggers, Cicala likes to post "interesting" topics to draw attention to his web site and therefore his rental business. On one hand I appreciate Cicala's unique position to have access to many samples of each item. However, I probably wouldn't have heard of his camera rental company if not because of his blog. I still have never rented from that company, though.</p> <ol> <li>On February 5, he posted that their first 300mm/f4 PF maybe slightly decentered, although that doesn't seem to affect image quality much: http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2015/02/the-nikon-300mm-f4e-pf-ed-vr-test-or-why-i-dont-test-just-one-copy</li> <li>On February 11, he had received additional samples of that lens, and the new ones are fine: http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2015/02/addendum-to-the-nikon-300-f4e-pf-ed-vr-test</li> </ol> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_brown4 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 <p>I just did a few more test shots, and the VR-effectiveness thing doesn't seem to be repeatable. Some images look fine. So, I'm thinking it's my hand-holding technique that may be the culprit.</p> <p> </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_flood1 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 <p>I don't have a dog in this race (no 300 E or plans to get one), but I follow Brad Hill's blog and he had very interesting things to say about the VR issue today:</p> <p>http://www.naturalart.ca/voice/blog.html</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_brown4 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 <p>Bob, thanks for that.</p> <p>I called Nikon USA tech. support and 'discussed' the VR question with them. They asked me to send sample images for their review, and I'll try to get around to that soon. They told me that there were no known issues with the 300PF. But, I was clearly getting the 'party' line from Nikon, IYKWIM.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShunCheung Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 <p>If you actually read Brad Hill's blog: http://www.naturalart.ca/voice/blog.html, you quickly notice that he complains about Nikon's slow delivery of the 300mm/f4 PF as he has not received one yet. In other words, he is merely repeating other people's findings and has no personal experience with the VR issue.</p> <p>One of the sources Hill references is the not-yet-completed review (so far) by Camera Labs: http://cameralabs.com/reviews/Nikon_Nikkor_AF-S_300mm_f4E_PF_ED_VR/<br> They report that VR is not effective around 1/80 to 1/160 sec., and they have that problem with two samples of the 300mm/f4 PF.</p> <blockquote> <p>They told me that there were no known issues with the 300PF. But, I was clearly getting the 'party' line from Nikon</p> </blockquote> <p>Of course that is what Nikon reps are going to tell you, unless there is an official service advisory directly from Nikon. Otherwise, it would take no time before all sorts of "Nikon rep acknowledges major VR problems on the 300mm/f4 PF AF-S VR" posted to various forums.</p> <p>On this thread, the best of the internet as well as how all sorts of blogs and web sites are hungry to attract traffic are in full display. On one hand it is great that information is shared quickly, but at the same time various rumors and premature results are also repeated quickly.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_brown4 Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 <p>Yes Shun, the Internet magnifies everything, and it has to be tough to be a manufacturer these days.</p> <p>The 300 PF is an awesome product, not question about that. Super-glad I bought this lens, and I would do it again.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdied Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 <p><strong>"</strong>The 300 PF is an awesome product, no question about that. Super-glad I bought this lens, and I would do it again."</p> <p>I feel exactly the same as Dan. </p> <p><a name="pagebottom"></a></p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian_mchattie Posted February 18, 2015 Author Share Posted February 18, 2015 <p>well I did not mean to start any rumours or false stories. I only repeated what I was told and I have every intention of buying the lens I ordered when it arrives. My main subject is ice hockey and I look forward to posting some results from this lens.<br> p.s. My dealer<strong> never</strong> asks for a deposit on any preordered pieces of equipment or cameras.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregory_fischer Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 <p>Gordon Laing at Camera Lab just posted a review on that web site. He was generally quite favorable about the lens, but found that the VR essentially did not work in the 1/80 to 1/160 sec range on two separate copies. (It worked well at slower and faster exposures, but essentially not at all in that range. He got better results with VR turned off there.) He found the problems so severe that his overall evaluation was Not Recommended, which surprised me because he seems to be a competent but generally positive evaluator of cameras and lenses. I have money on one, so I hope this is an isolated problem (although he got the identical problem on two copies) or one that can be corrected in a camera firmware update. Everything else about the lens seems very good, especially the idea of a (relatively) light weight way to get good image quality with a 300 mm lens with VR. </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_brown4 Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 <p>Gregory: As I reported in the other PF thread, I just sent my PF into Nikon for service after they reviewed my test shots of the VR issue. It's real, and apparently Nikon believes they can repair it. I should know in a week or two.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShunCheung Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 <p>As Gregory points out, the Camera Labs review we discussed last week is now complete: http://cameralabs.com/reviews/Nikon_Nikkor_AF-S_300mm_f4E_PF_ED_VR/verdict.shtml</p> <p>A number of people have now identified the VR issue around 1/80 sec., including "our own" <a href="/photodb/user?user_id=189330">Dan Brown</a> here (see Dan's other thread: http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00d69h). At least to me, it is not clear how many or what percentage of this new lens is affected. Personally, I am not too concerned about VR performance since I mostly use fast shutter speeds along with these teles anyway, but it is not a negligible bug. I think it is wise to wait a bit to make sure that Nikon has resolved this issue.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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