Nikkor 300 AF-S behaviour

hyakuhei

hyakuhei

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Robert
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Well I finally got my 300 AF-S and I have to say the IQ is stunning, this is straight out of camera, from NEF no sharpening or PP applied:

cat_sharp.jpg


The focus in Single shot mode is superb and fast but I'm having some problems with continuous focus.

If the lens reaches its minimum focus distance on the focus ring it stops and won't AF again in 'C' unless I manually turn the focus back closer to the target distance, however this doesn't happen in 'S' where can focus from any initial focus position. At first I thought this might be due to one of my custom settings so I wiped them but still get the same problem. As I sit here at my desk I've done a little test:

Lens set to Full Focus Range and M/A focus mode. Camera focus mode set to Continuous, Dynamic Area AF (Center Switch, 9 points, Centered in the viewfinder).

If I dial the focus ring all the way out to the minimum focus distance of just under 1.45m and point it at a high contrast target some 30m away and depress the shutter button, or the AF-on button the lens just doesn't react. It doesn't hunt or try it just doesn't do anything at all. I noticed that the focus confirmation dot in the bottom right was flickering on and off.

Does this sound like normal behavior for this lens? Is it a known issue or perhaps a calibration issue? Should I send this to Nikon to be looked at?

Thanks for your input.

-Rob
 
Does this sound like normal behavior for this lens?

Definately not.

Added: Make sure the focus limiter isn't on though :)
 
Update:

I went outside and did a few more tests, the light is dropping now; my light meter reads F/2.8@125/iso100 - I don't know how that will effect the tests. The tests were as above - manually setting the lens to MFD and then picking targets between 5-30m away and trying to achieve focus using the AF-ON button.

I put the camera into full AF, where it uses all points and each time it would focus - there was a lag of 1 second each time before the lens started moving but after that it did a reasonably good job of focusing although it quite often needed a quick poke to get the focus spot on.

In single point AF the lens performed well, managing to focus quickly with little lag.

In dynamic area AF the lens just didn't move at all, this happened in 9pt and 21pt modes. I've also noticed that the lens is very jerky when it moves through the range in this focus mode too. Something very strange is going on here.

At this point I'd start to blame the camera but I almost always use dynamic area and I've not had any problems with the 100-300, 70-200 or 17-55 - all of which work fine in all focus modes.

I'll talk to the person I purchased from and ask what they think I should do about it.
 
hyakuhei said:
I'll talk to the person I purchased from and ask what they think I should do about it.
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Send it back and I`ll refund your money.
 
Ah! didn't see the dynamic thing - I hate those sort of things on cameras, I like to control AF selection myself, so I only shoot AF-S mode, single point.

Its probably dynamic related in all likelihood. Stand down from Red Alert :)

I'll nip out side and see if I can reproduce this...
 
OK, I've put my D700 into dynamic mode (AF lever upmost), and into AF-C mode, and I can't reproduce. Even in the fading light, AF lockon is instant...
 
Thanks for having a poke Andy, when I wrote dynamic I meant the middle selector on the back of the D300.
 
hyakuhei said:
Thanks for having a poke Andy, when I wrote dynamic I meant the middle selector on the back of the D300.
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Thats fine for me as well - I'd suggest not using 21 or 51pt as that will introduce a lag anyhow as the AF module needs to "think" about the AF target which introduces a noticeable lag on the D300 (not so much on the D700)

Its "only" an f/4 lens, and the AF-S motor isn't the quickest.

IMHO you don't have a problem, I'd just enjoy the lens :)
 
fracster said:
Send it back and I`ll refund your money.
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Thanks fracster - I can only imagine how crappy this must be for you, as Andy indicated earlier you might never notice it if you don't use dynamic area AF.

I borrowed a friends camera to show what is happening:

[YOUTUBE]guxzf2lt7RU[/YOUTUBE]

I've linked it here but you'll most likely need to watch the bigger version to see whats happening.

If your planning on taking it back and keeping it then thats fair enough but if your thinking of getting it repaired then perhaps we can arrange something at my end - I'm an NPU member (for whatever its worth) so should get a fast turn-around on the repair. Up to you though at the end of the day.

If it comes to it I'll put it in the post back to you - its a heavy lens so I'd appreciate it if we could go halves on the postage if you'd prefer a to just do a refund.

This all makes me very sad, I've been waiting for one of these for so long and the IQ is just amazing - AF in single point is also fantastic I'll give the contacts a wipe just in case but they look fine.
 
puddleduck said:
Thats fine for me as well - I'd suggest not using 21 or 51pt as that will introduce a lag anyhow as the AF module needs to "think" about the AF target which introduces a noticeable lag on the D300 (not so much on the D700)

Its "only" an f/4 lens, and the AF-S motor isn't the quickest.

IMHO you don't have a problem, I'd just enjoy the lens :)
Click to expand...

Yeah I know what your saying. Some lag is to be expected with full area AF but I've never had any issues with dynamic 9pt or 21pt (Indeed Xup uses 21pt to track jets doing lowfly stuff).

If was a lag issue I wouldn't mind too much either but in dynamic the lens steps down to the minimum FD and stops there. Its like it hunts really jerkily and gives up when it reaches the minimum. Compared to the single point at the end of the video there is a vast difference and while I appreciate the extra computation required with dynamic I have shot fast paced rugby using dynamic on a 70-200 and tracked birds in flight with dynamic on the 100-300 which wouldn't work if I tried with the 300 AF-S as it is at the moment.
 
I had a look at your video and I can't reproduce that behaviour - actually even though its getting dark, my lens still locks fine (on a D700).

I set the D700 to dynamic, AF-C and 21 point AF. (my D700 is on the original firmware A 1.0 B 1.0 if that matters)
 
Rob, ask MJ, he will know, as he used to use one as his main lens for LF, before he acquired the 300 2.8.

It should work the same no mater how many AF points you use in AFC.
 
Rob, stop right there mate.

Package it up and send it back.Do not send it anywhere else,send it back to me. When it arrives I wil refund your money by bank transfer.

It is not crappy for me at all, just do as advised above please.
 
fracster said:
Package it up and send it back.Do not send it anywhere else,send it back to me. When it arrives I wil refund your money by bank transfer.

It is not crappy for me at all, just do as advised above please.
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Ok mate that's fair enough. I've just dug the wrapping out of the recycling and apparently this beasty costs £24 odd to post. Will you split the shipping with me?

fracster said:
Rob, stop right there mate.
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Sorry if I've offended or antagonized you fracster - certainly wasn't my intention.
 
You have not offended me, we`ll split the shipping as we did on delivery........;)

Send it back, let me know your bank details and I shall reimburse you.
 
Rob,i`m away on Sunday for nigh on three weeks, so we need to get this sorted by Friday,for the best.......:thumbs:
 
I should be able to get it in the post tomorrow morning :thumbs:
 
This is quite possibly time for me to get some egg on my face.....

I just got the lens out for wrapping and decided to give the contacts a good wipe down, even though they looked fine. I decided to do the same for the contacts in the body as well - just in case.

I did this once and the performance in dynamic area AF improved, still had issues but was getting better. I repeated the process and took the lens outside now I'm sure its brighter outside than it was yesterday evening but I've not been able to make the lens misbehave.

I think the moral of the story here is that you should listen to fracster when he tells you to clean the contacts

It seems very strange to me that the other focus modes were ok but dynamic struggled down to bad contacts... Sadly I don't have time to do a full test this morning. I should be able to do some similar tests to yesterdays when I get home from work - the light will be similar and I'll be able to get the tripod out.

Sorry for all the faffage Fracster but if the lens behaves fine tonight I'd like to keep it and chalk this up to experience if that's alright with you?

...sooo much egg!
:coat: :thumbs:
 
Rob, there is another interested party.

If you are not completely satisfied with the lens, then please let me know by this evening mate.I really do not want you to keep it if you are less than 100% happy with it,are you sure you are not expecting too much of your D300 in dynamic range? I know mine is not brilliant with any lens.

As stated previously,I am away for three weeks as of Sunday,so I really need this to be sorted amicably by then,I won`t accept it to be returned after three weeks use Rob,I think that is fair.......:shrug:

If you decide that it is not for you,could I ask you to post it on to somebody else,who I will give you details for if you decide against the lens, to save time and faffing?

Cheers.
 
fracster said:
Rob, there is another interested party.

If you are not completely satisfied with the lens, then please let me know by this evening mate.I really do not want you to keep it if you are less than 100% happy with it,are you sure you are not expecting too much of your D300 in dynamic range? I know mine is not brilliant with any lens.

As stated previously,I am away for three weeks as of Sunday,so I really need this to be sorted amicably by then,I won`t accept it to be returned after three weeks use Rob,I think that is fair.......:shrug:

If you decide that it is not for you,could I ask you to post it on to somebody else,who I will give you details for if you decide against the lens, to save time and faffing?

Cheers.
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Yes mate thats all fine with me. I'll give it a thorough test this evening and let you know if I intend to keep it. If not I'm happy to forward it on to whomever you like.

fracster said:
are you sure you are not expecting too much of your D300 in dynamic range?
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Fairly sure, it works as expected with my other lenses and after a bit of cleaning - seems to work well with the 300 AF-S. As above, I'll give it a thorough shake down this evening and let you know :thumbs:
 
OK Rob,thanks.......:thumbs:
 
Lens is working fine now I guess it was just an issue with the contacts :shrug:

I'm very happy with the IQ from the lens. I shot some tests today with a TC and they just blew me away - this lens is superb and I'll be hanging onto it :thumbs:

Should this problem come up again I'll either send to Nikon or just lump it - either way its on my head from now on.

Fracster: Thanks for selling the lens and for being so helpful when this issue arose, sorry to the person next in line....

Now if only it would stop raining so I can get out for a proper play.

This thread is an example of what makes TP great - clear and helpful advice given with clear heads :thumbs: :thumbs: :thumbs:
 
Excellent news Rob,glad you are satisfied after such a long wait for one,I hope you enjoy the lens and use it it more than I did.

Rob,it did autofocus with my Nikon TC 1.7 II,not sure which TC you have,but that combo gave me 500 at F7.1.
 
The 300mm f/4 AF-S will AF with the TC-20E as well, even though Nikon denies it.

Reasonable IQ - better with the 1.7x. Even better with the 1.4.
 
Good stuff, I won't be going higher than the 1.7 I don't think.

It doesn't much like metering with my Sigma TC though the IQ is excellent I think I'll put up a trade thread, I'd like to try the Kenko at some point and the IQ on this sigma is superb, would be good for someone looking for a TC on a sigma lens.
 
All of that fuss :lol:

glad all is ok and your happy, the Kenko is a really good TC, used one on my 300 2.8 and it was great, you should get some decent results from it
 
whitey said:
All of that fuss :lol:
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I know :bonk: :coat:
whitey said:
glad all is ok and your happy, the Kenko is a really good TC, used one on my 300 2.8 and it was great, you should get some decent results from it
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Thanks Whitey - To be fair I was amazed by the IQ I got from the Sigma but it doesn't send the correct aperture info to the camera body when the 300 AF-S is attached so it's going to go for swappage.

Thanks for the advice on the Kenko, given that its 1/3 the price of the TC-14E I'll see how I get on with it. I won't be using it that often but I want the extra reach for the summer airshows :thumbs:
 
not sure how it will show exif for you mind, the 300 I had with TC on it still showed 300mm F2.8 even though it should have been 420mm F4, different lenses I know but worth checking
 
The Kenko will pass EXIF OK. Not sure about the Sigma... I've got a feeling it did actually, at least the 1.4x non DG.

Obvioulsy the Nikkor does.

Doesn't actually matter, metering all just works.
 
Time to start looking for the 300mm F/2.8 AF-S, Rob ;), you know you'll want one.

Were all out in the loop tomorrow, good day to try out your new Lens.:thumbs:
 
Martin - The plan is to upgrade by winter ;) depends on how job stuff goes at my end though.

The weather looks good for tomorrow but I'm wanted in Uni, thats my last engagement bar 1 so I'll be available next time you guys head up :thumbs:
 
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