mysterious lens problem...

[Lisa Nikodym]

Hello all-

My Nikon 18-200 DX VR lens (a reasonably popular lens model) has developed a problem, and I wonder whether anyone here has seen anything like it and what they did about it.

The lens appears to work fine, *except* that it can't focus on moderate to far distances when zoomed to a focal length of about 100 mm or more.  Auto-focus fails, and, when I try manual focus, it seems to want the focus ring at something beyond inifinity (in other words, focus appears best at infinity, but is still not far enough to be in proper focus).  Focus works fine at shorter focal lengths, and fine at the longer focal lengths when pointed at something nearby.  This is a new behavior that just started today.

Has anyone here seen anything like this?  Any ideas what's going on?  Any suggestions on what to do about it?  Would it probably be cost-effective to send it to Nikon to fix it?

Any useful comments would be appreciated...

Lisa

[tompappas]

Hello all-

My Nikon 18-200 DX VR lens (a reasonably popular lens model) has developed a problem, and I wonder whether anyone here has seen anything like it and what they did about it.

The lens appears to work fine, *except* that it can't focus on moderate to far distances when zoomed to a focal length of about 100 mm or more.  Auto-focus fails, and, when I try manual focus, it seems to want the focus ring at something beyond inifinity (in other words, focus appears best at infinity, but is still not far enough to be in proper focus).  Focus works fine at shorter focal lengths, and fine at the longer focal lengths when pointed at something nearby.  This is a new behavior that just started today.

Has anyone here seen anything like this?  Any ideas what's going on?  Any suggestions on what to do about it?  Would it probably be cost-effective to send it to Nikon to fix it?

Any useful comments would be appreciated...

Lisa
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=201630\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Good Morning Lisa :

Seeing that you are in the US, Nikon USA has a five year warranty on their lenses - get a copy of your invoice and send it to Nikon for a warranty repair.


Hope this helps

tom

[Hank]

Hello all-

My Nikon 18-200 DX VR lens (a reasonably popular lens model) has developed a problem, and I wonder whether anyone here has seen anything like it and what they did about it.

The lens appears to work fine, *except* that it can't focus on moderate to far distances when zoomed to a focal length of about 100 mm or more.  Auto-focus fails, and, when I try manual focus, it seems to want the focus ring at something beyond inifinity (in other words, focus appears best at infinity, but is still not far enough to be in proper focus).  Focus works fine at shorter focal lengths, and fine at the longer focal lengths when pointed at something nearby.  This is a new behavior that just started today.

Has anyone here seen anything like this?  Any ideas what's going on?  Any suggestions on what to do about it?  Would it probably be cost-effective to send it to Nikon to fix it?

Any useful comments would be appreciated...

Lisa
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=201630\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

If it's had a lot of use Lisa, I'd try this before anything else:

Dismount the lens from the camera and use a pencil eraser to scrub all the brass contacts.  If you've never cleaned them, they can build up a fine film or something that intereferes with signals.  In the environments where we shoot, it's so likely a possibility that we scrub those contacts with an eraser every time we are setting up for a location shoot or trip into the field.

Hope this helps, cuzz it's the easiest fix around.

[Lisa Nikodym]

Tom, that helps a great deal!  Most things one buys these days have only a year warranty or less, so I assumed this lens was similar.  If it has a five year warranty (which I'll look up - I'm sure I have the invoice), I can send it in for a warranty repair.

And thanks, Hank, but I'm pretty sure it's not the contacts.  The contacts are quite clean, the problem occurs on two different bodies, and the problem is 100% reproducible at particular focal lengths, but 100% fine at others, which I wouldn't expect to be the case if it were poor contacts.  But the eraser trick is a useful one to know; thanks.

Lisa

[Hank]

Yup, sounds to me like a trip to the lens doctor is in order.  I'd call or email first, and ask if they can estimate turnaround time, if possible.