Broken Nikkor 24mm f2.8 AIS lens on the A7?

[Paulo Bizarro]

Hello,

Just trying to gather some more information from the knowledge pool here, regarding something that happened yesterday with my A7 and mentioned lens.

The setup: received the 24mm lens (used) from a reputable dealer, to use with a Novoflex adapter on my A7.

Results: mounted the lens and everything correctly, but upon trying it out, noticed that the lens does not focus to infinity. When the infinity mark on the (hard stop) focusing ring is reached, the image is fuzzy. Also noticed that the focusing ring feels "loose", like there is no friction in the ring. It does stop hard slightly below the 0.3 mark, and at infinity.

Check: went to my usual shop to check with them. I know a fellow there. I mounted another Nikkor MF lens on the A7, and if focused correctly. Then, as a further check, I mounted my lens on a Nikon FM2 camera, and the lens is not able to focus properly on that camera too. It seems like there is not a proper connection between the focusing ring and the barrel?

So, any one here with more insights? I have left the lens for a repair quote on the store. I want to keep it, since the glass is in perfect condition.

Thanks.

[Borgefjell]

Seems like the lens has been disassembeled in the past and when reassembeling the wrong thread pitch has been used - mybe by accident (can happen quite easily if not marking everything carefully) or by incident to overcome the same issue you are facing (more the opposite, no close focus ability) now on a different mount. Shouldn't be too expensive

[Paulo Bizarro]

Thanks for the reply. I am no expert on lens repair, but indeed it feels to me that something is not connecting correctly between the focusing ring and the focusing "gears" inside.

Hope it is not too costly, as I am really looking forward to use this lens.

Regards.

[E.J. Peiker]

From what you have described, the lens is clearly not functioning properly and is in need of service.

[AFairley]

I have seen the infinity stop problem on two lenses, an Oly 35mm PC and a Nikkor 35mm f2 Ais, the Oly I could fix myself, the Nikkor I had the selling dealer fixed.  The interesting thing was you couldn't see the problem in the viewfinder when mounted on a film body (or for that matter on a DSLR body).  But put on a D800e with live view and it's a whole different story. As to the loose focus action, I have seen this on 3 of the 4 wide AIS Nikkors I have had in my hands.  I think it is the result of the lube in the focusing helicoid breaking down rather than just wear in the helicoid, but have not confirmed this.

At any rate, I think a clean, lube, adjust will fix the problem.

BTW, I am coming to think that unless you prize a certain lens's drawing characteristics, the minuses of using old film lenses on high resolution digital bodies outweigh the pluses.  I just replaced my trusty 35mm f2 Ais (a "good" copy) which I loved using on th D800e with the 35mm f1.8 G.  The G just smokes - smokes - the AIS in edge of frame resolution -- the AIS doesn't catch up until f11.  the G is a no brainer for me since corner sharpness is important in the types of images I make.  Add to that the difficulty of manual focus with a DSLR viewfinder, the hassle of manual stop-down (unless you are live view only) and no EXIF lens/exposure for an adapted lens (depending on the adapter, I guess) . . . .   But horses for courses, as they say.

[Paulo Bizarro]

I bought the lens used from a reputable dealer in the UK, have been doing business with those guys for 15 years, never had a problem. Perhaps it was damaged in transit, I don't know.

I want a 24mm manual focus lens for landscapes, and this lens will serve has a stop gap until Zeiss comes up with a similar wide angle in the Loxia line. If Zeiss takes too long, I will look into a used 25 f2 or 25 f2.8 ZF mount (I already have a NIK > NEX adapter).

I already contacted the dealer, and they promptly told me to return the lens for a full refund. They told me that they test all lenses before placing them for sale, as I said, they are a reputable store, no reason not to trust them.

Right now, rather than returning the lens to them (I live in Portugal), I am waiting for a quote for repair from a local store that I also trust, and will take it from there. I want to give the lens a try, since the glass is pristine.

Thanks all for the feedback.

[E.J. Peiker]

I want a 24mm manual focus lens for landscapes, and this lens will serve has a stop gap until Zeiss comes up with a similar wide angle in the Loxia line. If Zeiss takes too long, I will look into a used 25 f2 or 25 f2.8 ZF mount (I already have a NIK > NEX adapter).

Zeiss is openly promising a wide Loxia later this year.  Focal length has not been announced but speculation centers around 21, 24, or 25mm.

[culturalvisions]

I'm using a Nikkor 24mm f2.8 AIS on my Nikon D700 instead of my AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8G ED zoom. The 24 is equally as sharp and a pleasure to handle. I'd say your lens is well worth fixing.

[Telecaster]

Zeiss is openly promising a wide Loxia later this year. Focal length has not been announced but speculation centers around 21, 24, or 25mm.

I'd bet on the 21mm given Zeiss' history with this focal length. I do wish they'd also remember they have a superb 85/2 design sitting around collecting dust. Time to let it see some light again. A 21/35/50/85mm Loxia set…I'd go for it.

-Dave-

[Paulo Bizarro]

I'm using a Nikkor 24mm f2.8 AIS on my Nikon D700 instead of my AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8G ED zoom. The 24 is equally as sharp and a pleasure to handle. I'd say your lens is well worth fixing.

Thanks, that is very encouraging to know.

[Paulo Bizarro]

I'd bet on the 21mm given Zeiss' history with this focal length. I do wish they'd also remember they have a superb 85/2 design sitting around collecting dust. Time to let it see some light again. A 21/35/50/85mm Loxia set…I'd go for it.

-Dave-

Their other lens' lines show 18, 21, and 25 mm lenses. 18 and 21 would probably be more challenging in terms of design regarding the short distance to the Sony sensor, and potential problems of corner image degradation, as seen in wide angles from Leica and ZM lines. Especially of the Biogon family.

I would be really happy with a Loxia 21 Distagon, or a 25, let's wait.

[E.J. Peiker]

Their other lens' lines show 18, 21, and 25 mm lenses. 18 and 21 would probably be more challenging in terms of design regarding the short distance to the Sony sensor, and potential problems of corner image degradation, as seen in wide angles from Leica and ZM lines. Especially of the Biogon family.

I would be really happy with a Loxia 21 Distagon, or a 25, let's wait.

If they can make a decent 16-35, which they have, then they can make a good prime that falls in that range.  The problem with the leica and ZM primes is that they were never designed for a thick glass covered sensor stack like the A7 series has.

[Telecaster]

If they can make a decent 16-35, which they have, then they can make a good prime that falls in that range. The problem with the leica and ZM primes is that they were never designed for a thick glass covered sensor stack like the A7 series has.

Yep. The 35 & 50mm Loxias are basically the ZMs tweaked for Sony's sensor stack. Not sure if they can pull that off with a 21mm Biogon design and still maintain good corner performance, but a Distagon would be up to the task.

-Dave-

[Telecaster]

More on topic: I have a 1st gen. pre-AI 24/2.8 Nikkor that belonged to my dad. It performs well on my A7r in 16:9 format, which I use a lot with this camera. The far corners do get soft at full 3:2…but it's a 1960s design. And to be honest, the wide end of the Zeiss/Sony 24–70mm isn't much (if any) better.

-Dave-

[Telecaster]

Update to post immediately above this one. I've tried out a handful of different 24/25mm lenses on my A7r, including my old Nikkor, and find the Y/C mount Zeiss 25/2.8 to be overall the best of the lot. Sharper in the far corners in particular, and with less CA too. There isn't that much in it but at 36mp res these things are easier to see.

On a somewhat related note I was curious to see how Olympus' new E-M5ii + 12–40/2.8 lens measures up in multishot mode to the A7r + 24–70/4.0 with both lenses at their widest. These are two camera/lens combos I enjoy carrying around and thus often use. Diagonal fields of view (~84°) are equivalent, and I used equivalent apertures (DOF-wise) too: f/5.6 & f/11 respectively. Nothing comprehensive here, just some JPEGs (downsampled in-camera to 40mp in the Oly's case) and near-identical iPad processing. The two attached full-res JPEG crops show typical edge-of-frame results—in this case the left edge near the top-to-bottom center—the Sony first & then the Oly. It's clear to me whether viewing 16mp, 40mp JPEG multishot or full 64mp multishot files that the Oly lens is superior in across-the-frame performance to the Sony/Zeiss.

-Dave-

[Paulo Bizarro]

Just as a follow up, I heard yesterday from the repair tech. The lens needs repairing on the helicoid focusing block, plus the normal CLA.