Issue with my new lens...

[bluelemur01]

I was so thrilled to get my Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 lens last week!

HOWEVER...I've been having an interesting & disturbing issue with it on my D300 (which is a few years old and has been working perfectly up until now.)

Periodically, it just won't autofucs. It's like the lens loses electical connectivity with the camera body because when you push the shutter half-way, NOTHING. No whirring, no lens moving in and out, nothing. Just silence.

When I first put the lens on, it was fine, and I took a lot of test pictures which looked great and sharp on the computer. I used it for a few days. This issue only started during the middle of a photo shoot. One second I was taking pictures of my daughter & her friend, the next second, I wasn't.

During the middle of the "episode" I took the lens off the camera and put on a different lens, which auto-focused normally. I then put the 24-70 back and it still would not autofocus.

I was able to make it come back to life by doing a lot of "jiggling" -- I turned the camera off/on, then took the lens off/on, then turned the camera off/on again, then moved the focus button all around. Eventually it started autofocusing again although it wasn't clear why it stopped OR re-started.

I looked it up on-line and found just a few articles/comments about this kind of issue.

I'm going back to the camera store tomorrow with body & lens in tow...but has anyone expereinced this? Any comments?

[audrey77]

Do you get an error? I've read about the EE error... My camera occasionally does this.

[hguenthe]

Hope you get it sorted out and working consistently again!

Does it have a little button thing along the upper edge near where it attaches to the body for manually setting an f number or choosing A for auto? My 50mm 1.4 has a little button there and if it isn't fully clicked to the A, it seems to do a similar thing.

[Jen D]

I have the canon version but I haven't had any focusing issues. I think Sam has the Nikon version mabye she would know more? That is a bummer. I hope it is an easy fix!!!

[bluelemur01]

Heather, I checked that toggle switch and it was locked directly into place, but I did move it around to all the 3 positions to make sure it wasn't half-way in-between. That didn't make a difference, and it did look to be "normally" set when the issue was happening.

Nope...no error messages at all. When this happens, the top LCD screen still show battery life, aperture, shutter speed, etc. No indication of any issues except that it won't focus!

I even tried replacing the battery with a fully-charged one, just in case it was a battery life issue, but that didn't help.

The thread I found online indicated that some other D300 users had experienced issues like this with various lenses but it seemed to occur when the CAMERA was brand new & being used for the first few times, and they got the issue to go away by switching to Live View & then back again. And then they mostly sent their camera and/or lenses in to be serviced just in case. None of them had any idea what was causing the issue. Someone suggested firmware. However, I rented this exact lens and took it to Hawaii for 10 days and the rental lens was FINE, no issues whatsoever. I've never had this issue before with any other lens...just my new one! Weird, huh!

Well, the camera guy said they do have another one at the store so I think he can/may swap me out. He asked me to bring the camera body too so they can check it. I'll let you know!

J

[THAT-GIRL]

OMG Jennifer I just got same lens 3 days ago... don't scare me... so far mine was working fine I'm taking it to San Antonio... we got it from Amazon.com ... where did you get yours ???

[bluelemur01]

Originally Posted by THAT-GIRL

OMG Jennifer I just got same lens 3 days ago... don't scare me... so far mine was working fine I'm taking it to San Antonio... we got it from Amazon.com ... where did you get yours ???

Sorry, not trying to scare you! From what I've read, this kind of problem is not very common. At least, when I googled it, not that much came up. I'd guess that your lens will be just fine! This is really in general a fantastic well-build lens. I'm not even sure that my problem is 100% with the lens; it's still possible there is something wrong with the camera body, the firmware, etc. I'm leaning towards the lens b/c of my research & experiences so far. Good news is that the lens is under warranty so somehow, someway the issue WILL be resolved...just may take some time. But I wouldn't worry about yours!

It's a wonderful lens though...don't you love it?

[bluelemur01]

I bought my lens from an excellent local camera store, but if there is something wrong with the lens that wouldn't be due to the store anyway (b/c the lens is brand new), but rather to a glitch at Nikon itself. Amazon is a very reputable seller so I don't think you need to worry about them at all.

[THAT-GIRL]

Gee... Jennifer I hope you'll find the source of problem... wish you good luck... Thanks for reassurance...

[dugarner]

I don't know anything about lenses, cameras, or the mechanics of it all, but it sure sounds like a lens problem---something electrical isn't making the connection. I hope you get it fixed! There's nothing stinkier than getting a great new toy and having it not work right, it's so frustrating!

By the way, as I started scrapping last night, trying to catch up on my 365 pages (but I was SO distracted by one cute little girl eating lemons out in Arizona!), I opened iTunes and put it on shuffle. What comes up first??? Pachelbel's Canon! AARGH! I thought of you and laughed, and settled in to some layouts with selective color and slanty shots.

[bluelemur01]

Sarah, that's really funny! I started laughing when I read your post!

So I went to the camera store today, in 110 degree heat, and of course it was a bust. The salesman (who is also a photographer; they all are there) was nice but not very helpful. He examined my camera/lens and took some sample pictures, then said: "Well, it seems to be focusing just fine. I'm even trying to focus on sharp edges and things with low contrast and it is working perfectly."

"Yes," I agreed. "When it's focusing, it does autofocus perfectly. The problem is that sometimes it won't even try focus AT ALL. It's like the lens loses communication with the camera, even though it's attached normally and a second earlier it was communicating just fine. One second I was taking pictures; the next second I was not."

"Were you trying to focus in low light?" he asked.

"No," I said, feeling frustrated, "it's not a problem of the lens zooming in and out and not FINDING focus. It's a problem that every once in a while the lens doesn't even TRY to find focus. You push the button and -- nothing. You can focus manually, but the lens won't autofocus. And changing lighting, subjects, dials does not matter. It's like the lens fell asleep. And even when I took it off and on it still didn't focus. And I put on another lens, and that one DID focus. And finally I got the new lens to focus again by setting and resetting all kinds of options. But it took a good fifteen minutes, and in a photo shoot, that could be a disaster."

"Well," he said, taking the lens off and looking at it and putting it back on, "It seems to be fine. I've been taking pictures of difficult focus situations and it's focusing very normally."

"YES," I said, trying not to sound irritated. "It's not a problem of difficult or easy focusing situations. It's a problem of the lens seemingly losing contact with the camera."

so after a few more rounds of this, I gave up. "If it happens again, bring it into our repair department," he offered.

He was perfectly pleasant but I felt like I was talking in Sanskrit and he was talking in Portuguese. We were just not connecting. But apparently the lens LOOKS and SEEMS fine (which I knew!) Fun times.

And then when I got home, my DH got annoyed with ME for not insisting that I get a new lens immediately, and he started telling me how HE would have approached the discussion with the photo guy. aaaaiiiiieeeee.

The lens HAS been working just fine for me recently, but the fact that it did this twice is very concerning. I will have to keep watching it & see what happens! And if it does it again, I will have to insist on something.

So that's my lens update for now!