Front focus issue on recent purchase of Micro 105mm, F/2.8: I bought this refurb directly from Nikon, a Christmas gift for my wife, and was a little surprised by how badly it front...

autofocus Loc: North Central Connecticut

I bought this refurb directly from Nikon, a Christmas gift for my wife, and was a little surprised by how badly it front focused on our D300. After dialing in +17 points of correction I think it's quite a bit better now. Still bothered by the fact that a factory certified, back to factory specs lens from Nikon would be this off. Below is an after correction shot, not too bad, but I have 90 days to think about this, keep it, or send it back??

Test 105mm, F/2.8 by VMontalbano (autofocus), on Flickr

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

If your other lenses are fine then this lens needs to back to Nikon and not the retailer. Be patient and let them sort it out. Again, I'd the camera is fine with your lenses, do not (or let them) touch the camera.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

+17 Points is a LOT of correction - as Gene says, if your other lenses are fine, back to Nikon.

autofocus Loc: North Central Connecticut

Gene51 wrote:

If your other lenses are fine then this lens needs to back to Nikon and not the retailer. Be patient and let them sort it out. Again, I'd the camera is fine with your lenses, do not (or let them) touch the camera.

Thanks Gene, I had a bit of a focusing problem once before with their 85mm, F/1.8, but all the rest of our lenses seemed perfect out of the box (five of them) I would feel a little better if it only took a small amount of correction, but +17 seemed high for me.

autofocus Loc: North Central Connecticut

TriX wrote:

+17 Points is a LOT of correction - as Gene says, if your other lenses are fine, back to Nikon.

thanks TriX, agree, and as I said to Gene, and concur with what you are saying, +17 does seem like a lot of correction

rdubreuil Loc: Dummer, NH USA

autofocus wrote:

I bought this refurb directly from Nikon, a Christ... (show quote)

It's not necessarily an issue with the lens but, rather the pairing of this particular lens and camera combination. Tolerance stack up... You may still opt to return it, the next one may pair better. Good luck and happy shooting...

autofocus Loc: North Central Connecticut

rdubreuil wrote:

It's not necessarily an issue with the lens but, rather the pairing of this particular lens and camera combination. Tolerance stack up... You may still opt to return it, the next one may pair better. Good luck and happy shooting...

Decisions decisions, I'm still a bit torn, but I have a little time (90 days) to wrestle over that decision. Thanks for commenting, appreciate that.

rdubreuil Loc: Dummer, NH USA

autofocus wrote:

Decisions decisions, I'm still a bit torn, but I have a little time (90 days) to wrestle over that decision. Thanks for commenting, appreciate that.

You can always look at it as the adjustment was within the parameters of both the camera and lens, seems pretty sharp to me. Looking at the EXIF and camera settings you shot this at 1/25th, and I'm guessing it was hand held. Like you said though you've got a 90 day window to decide. Run a few tests shoot a bunch of frames and see how it behaves, again good luck and happy new year to you.

autofocus Loc: North Central Connecticut

rdubreuil wrote:

You can always look at it as the adjustment was within the parameters of both the camera and lens, seems pretty sharp to me. Looking at the EXIF and camera settings you shot this at 1/25th, and I'm guessing it was hand held. Like you said though you've got a 90 day window to decide. Run a few tests shoot a bunch of frames and see how it behaves, again good luck and happy new year to you.

Thanks again, my wife and I are both photographers, and this will be our longest lens for our Nikon setup (we also own some Canon gear) We shoot a lot of different stuff, and a lot of portrait work and I thought this lens would be a good addition for our work in that area. And I'm sure you are aware that sharp focus in portrait work is critically important. We've done some closeup photography, but no real macro shooting, and this lens was well rated and will do 1:1 macro. And yes, this shot was hand held, so we can be sure the IS is working as advertised. And I agree that giving it some time, take a bunch of shots with it before even thinking about sending it back is probably the way to go. Thanks once more!

bpulv Loc: Buena Park, CA

autofocus wrote:

I bought this refurb directly from Nikon, a Christ... (show quote)

Contact Nikon USA now and let them know your problem. They will take care of the issue if it is still in warranty.

autofocus Loc: North Central Connecticut

bpulv wrote:

Contact Nikon USA now and let them know your problem. They will take care of the issue if it is still in warranty.

Thanks, I've already had two calls with Nikon, and I hope those will be on record when I make a final decision on whether to send it back or not. It comes with a 90 day warranty being a refurb directly purchased from Nikon, and I still have most of that time left before making a decision

Bill_de Loc: US

I wouldn't hesitate to send it back. It is not a factory new lens. You will be sending it back to the folks who already worked on it, even it that work was just checking and adjusting. If you don't send it back it wall haunt you forever.

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