Nikon D90 + Older Lens. R21 message?

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Jaz

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Hi everyone,

I have an older Nikon 70-210mm f4-5.6 lens that I wanted to try on a DSLR.

Today I went into Jessops and the helpful gent there mounted the lens on the Nikon D90. This lens has the aperture ring and auto focus, which I wanted to test were working.

When the lens was on, camera powered up - depressing the shutter button half way didn't do anything. The chap changed the shooting mode, and tried again. It didn't focus. He flipped the AF mode on the camera from auto to manual, and back. It wouldn't focus and the top panel was flashing 'r21'. (I can manually change the aperture opening on the lens).

Does anyone know what this means? Is it a camera error (such as no SD card inserted) or a lens compatibility error?

I will have to return the lens if it is fault so if anyone has any advice it would be much appreciated. Thank you. :)
 
R21 isn't an error code, it's an indication of the number of shots available in the camera's buffer.

The error that shows up with an incompatible lens (normally when the aperture ring isn't locked at it's smallest setting) is fEE
 
Thank you both for the help. : )

Oh yeah r = remaining.
I didn't ask if there was an SD card in the camera, though if it was showing r21 then there probably was?

If I remember rightly I think the aperture ring on the lens was latched on at f32, possibly during the mounting of the lens. Would this be the cause? Does it need to be set to f4?

The camera didn't attempt to focus though, was this because of the aperture setting?

Thanks again. :)
 
If the lens was locked into f/32 I doubt there would be enough light for the autofocus to work and even if there was, then the depth of field would probably be so large as to make it meaningless anyway. Is the lens in good condition?

I dont know the Nikon kit, but typically ising old manual lenses you focus wide open - partly because there is more light to see, but also the reduced DOF means that you can sensibly choose the point of focus.

Typically SLRs only close the aperture just before the shutter opens. When you alter the aperture ring does the aperture actually step down as you move the ring or is there a pin or lever which needs moving to close it down?

A nikonite will doubtless give you a better answer.
 
i'm no expert, but i imagine this is the same as the 50mm f1.8 lens with the manual aperture ring. you need it locked at the largest aperture before the camera can take over.
 
I'm sure on that lens it should be locked at F32, try cleaning the contacts and give it another go.
 
I have that lens and just tried it out on my D80 indoors and no problems with AF and no error messages. Just make sure it is locked at f32 when putting it on and as already stated contacts are clean.
 
I have that lens and it works perfectly on my D50. As has been said you need to make sure the aperture ring is locked at f/32. (y)
 
Thanks a lot for your help everyone, much appreciated. :)

I will clean the electronic contact points and test it again - with the aperture ring locked at f32. I'll also ask to use my own SD card.

Thanks again. :)
 
Update - today I tried the lens on the D90 again, locked the aperture at f32 and the lens autfocused and the camera fired perfect. :) (Love the D90 shutter sound). :p

Thanks again for all your help! :)
 
Jaz said:
Update - today I tried the lens on the D90 again, locked the aperture at f32 and the lens autfocused and the camera fired perfect. :) (Love the D90 shutter sound). :p

Thanks again for all your help! :)
Click to expand...

No problem, glad your sorted but I think Jessops really need to look into their staff training.
 
Thanks. Luckily, today the lady who served me was very helpful and friendly, and knew her stuff. :)

Cheers.
 
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