Nikon aknowledges F5's problem with 70-200/2.8 AF-S VR

[roto]

I've just come back from Nikon with some interesting news.

 

As you know, I discovered that my F5 + SB-28 cannot focus in the

darkness when used with a 70-200/2.8 AF-S VR. The combo focuses

correctly with screw-driven AF lenses and, according to Shun and now

Nikon, with the 80-200/2.8 AF-S.

 

This week Nikon decided to replace my camera's main board with the

latest revision and today I went to pick it up. A quick test showed

that the camera behaved exactly as before in darkness, although

focusing speed in normal light conditions seems to have improved after

the upgrade.

 

Completely puzzled, Nikon Switzerland's head of imaging services

decided to end this embarassing story once and for all and gave me a

brand new F5 (serial number 3210xxx). However, before leaving I wanted

to see if that at last worked. It didn't.

 

We tried two new F5's with two 70-200/2.8 AF-S VR, one SB-28 and one

SB-28DX and we were unable to get the F5 to focus correctly when the

focus assist light is in use.

 

The guy told me that this is the first time they see this specific

problem and that they will report it next Monday to Nikon's

headquarters in Japan. He also agrees that it is absolutely

unacceptable that this combination does not work as expected.

 

They will keep me informed.

 

I left quite p. off and with my old camera.

 

If you happen to own an F5, an SB-28 (or any other flash, I guess) and

a 70-200/2.8 VR AF-S, do the following: go to a dark room, set the

focal length on the zoom everywhere between 70 and 105 mm (officially

the AF assist light works with focal lengths < 105 mm), focus to

infinity, turn on flash and camera, turn off the lights in the room

and aim the camera at a white wall. Most likely the camera won't be

able to focus. Maybe it will manage at the second/third try (if you

don't reset the focus to infinity, that is).

 

I will let you know what happens.

[Jerry_]

Did you have VR "turned on" the lens when you were doing your 'test?'

[ShunCheung]

Interesting, but at least the 70-200mm/f2.8 VR is a fairly new lens (introduced early this year) so that people may be discovereing the more subtle problems.

[roto]

We tried first with VR on, then off. It doesn't make any difference.

 

Focal length also doesn't affect the outcome of the test.

[robert_smith3]

Have you tested this with an object instead of just a white wall? And if so, did it fail to focus as before? I don't have the 70-200 so I can't try it myself.

[roto]

We tried more or less everything. In my post I said "a white wall" because it's the most reproducible setup. With the AF assist light one should be able to focus even a whiteboard: the contrast is provided by the illumination pattern. And, as I said, it works with other lenses.

[mitz_molo1]

Nikon F5 ser 3109xxx, SB26 and 70-200 afs VR. Works perfect even to a white wall in complete darkness. 70 to 105 range focus at first go. At 200mm it takes about 3-5 times pressing the shutter button for it to focus spot on.

 

70-200 AFS VR G. Its not a D type lens which register distance to focus, this lens needs constant light source. The speedlight illuminator doesnt last long enough for the lens the focus and get a fixed. I found the with the D type lens the illuminator on the speedlight stays on until shutter is release. The other AFS lenses I know are all D types. I think that is the problem. For around 70-105 range it sees the light a lot faster.

 

Theres nothing wrong with your camera. Its the lens. Technology going backwards... wait for and 70-200 AFS IID VR G coming to a store near you.

Whats the trade in price???

[cham_saranasuriya]

Mitz,

 

My understanding is "G" lenses have the "D" feature inbuilt so saves from atleast one letter from an already mouthful of words (Nikkor 70-200mm 2.8G D AFS VR lens)!!!!!

 

I just checked according to the Nikkor lens manual (page 7) all "G" lenses have the subject-to-camera distance information ie "D" feature built in.

 

I would think the problem would be fixed with a sofware upgrade.

 

Cheers,

[roto]

Mitz,

 

I'm happy to hear your F5 works. Maybe I should have tried with an SB-26.

 

However, "G" lenses are also "D", and the "D" feature has nothing to do with the way the AF works: it only means they can tell the camera at which distance (more or less) they are focused.

 

Also, the AF assist light does *NOT* stay on until the shutter is released. It is turned off as soon as the AF action is finished or the flash capacitors are discharged, whichever comes first.

 

Finally, the lens and flash work perfectly with an F80. So, it's really the camera.

[spencer_hahn]

Yep, all G's are also D's...well, without the ring, of course.

 

And Mitz--you forgot "ED-IF"

[stanley_sizeler]

If NikonJP is informed that the combo works with F80 and not F5 it should be easy to remedy,new board or software. But what happens to the thousands of us with the old (current)F5's(out of warranty, but otherwise working well) which won't work as is with 70-200 AFS VR?

Stan

[roto]

In an attempt to solve the above mentioned problem, Nikon Switzerland replaced the main board of my F5 free of charge despite my camera being vastly out of warranty. They also replaced the front rubber cover, the AF-area selector, the flash socket, they re-calibrated it and something else which I forgot... So, if the problem is confirmed, there is hope.

 

I don't know if this is Nikon's or Nikon Switzerland's policy, though. I understand, for example, that Nikon USA give customers a longer warranty thank usual. YMMV.

[roto]

Maybe it was not clear: they did not think the AF area selector or the rubber cover or the flash socket were related to the focusing problem.

 

They replaced them because they needed to be replaced: the rubber handle was getting loose and the AF area selector sometimes needed a fairly strong pressure to work. Don't know about the flash socket. It looked ok to me and never had trouble with the flash. This one seems a slightly different design, but I'm not 100% sure: I never paid much attention to it.

 

I must say I was extremely pleased with the service.

[christopher_bluhm]

Well, it appears this problem is not limited to the F5. A PJ friend of mine says this lens does not focus properly on the D1H's they are using at the newspaper. They ordered 15 of these lenses and all the PJ's are clamoring for their 80-200 AF-S lenses back.

[ShunCheung]

The F5 and all D1 cameras (along with the F100) use the Multi-CAM1300 AF module. Therefore the problem could be a compatibility issue between the 1300 and the 70-200 VR. That is strange though as the 1300 has been around since 1996 and so have AF-S lenses. (I found out that AF-S was introduced also in 1996.) I wonder what the fix will be; it could potentially very costly if Nikon needs to recall a lot of D1 and F5's.

[Carl Stone]

" They ordered 15 of these lenses and all the PJ's are clamoring for their 80-200 AF-S

lenses back."

 

While this is a very interesting topic, it's even scarier than one my think at first

glance. For example, none of the usual suspects (B&H, KEH, or Adorama) has any NEW

80-200 AFS lenses in stock.They are gone, and now made of unobtanium. There may

be a few left in some stores, but basically, the 70-200 killed production on the 80-

200 AFS. Once news of the F5/70-200 compatibility becomes general knowledge, any

hope of getting a bargain price on a used 80-200 AFS looks to be unlikely until this

70-200 problem is resolved. And perhaps that will be the case for some time to

come, while folks decide if they want to risk the 70-200.