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Nikon 18-140 VR DX Lens Review by Ken Rockwell
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Jan 31, 2019 16:05:24   #
lamontcranston
 
I've been reading reviews of the Nikon 18-140 VR DX lens and most are fairly favorable about this lens. Except for Ken Rockwell's review. In it he writes of "eye blow" which is a condition of dust and dirt being sucked into the lens and camera when zooming in and out. I have not read of this condition anywhere else. Should I take this seriously?


Eyeblow

"As the 18-140mm VR DX is zoomed in and out, air pumps in and out, and you may have some air blow out of the eyepiece into your eye.

You won't usually care, but the design of the 18-140mm VR DX is such that air, and thus dirt, are pumped in and out into both your lens and your camera."


https://kenrockwell.com/nikon/18-140mm.htm

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Jan 31, 2019 16:11:30   #
coullone Loc: Paynesville, Victoria, Australia
 
Just bought this lens and have not noticed this. Had a Minolta 100-200 zoom about 30 years ago which was very noticeable.
Very satisfied with the lens but still to give it a serious work-out.

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Jan 31, 2019 16:31:24   #
Pegasus Loc: Texas Gulf Coast
 
I use the 18-140 VR DX on my D7500 as my standard lens. I've had the lens for several years, even before the D7500 and I've never been bothered by "eyeblow."

It's a great little lens.

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Jan 31, 2019 16:44:33   #
DWHart24 Loc: Central Florida
 
This lens came with my D7200. No problems here.

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Jan 31, 2019 16:48:32   #
kathiandkim
 
This is my travel lens and has been for the last three years. Never a problem

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Jan 31, 2019 16:51:11   #
mas24 Loc: Southern CA
 
I am a big fan of Ken Rockwell. And I usually like reading his reviews. That lens may very well suck in some dust, just as many zoom lenses do. Professional zoom, full frame lenses are manufactured better, with a tighter seal, to reduce the amount of dust sucked in. Prime lenses don't have this problem. My friends buy zoom, used lenses on eBay with dust in them. They work just fine. I recommend you buy a rocket blower, to blow dust off your sensor occasionally. The Nikon 18-140mm is a very popular wide to mid-range lens, for a crop sensor. Just like the Tamron 18-400mm. Keep using it. You'll like it.

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Jan 31, 2019 16:52:18   #
MauiMoto Loc: Hawaii
 
I think these newer better sealed cameras will prevent the air from coming out around the eye piece. But if you hold the lens in your hands you can feel the air being forced out.. It has to go somewhere.

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Jan 31, 2019 17:15:59   #
Strodav Loc: Houston, Tx
 
Mine came with a D7200 as well. Used it for a while until I could afford better glass. I pulled it out of the back of my storage cabinet, put the mount end next to my ear and played with the zoom. Sure enough you can feel the air coming out of the lens when going from 140mm to 18mm. So, tried it with some of my other zooms: Tamron 24-70mm G2 - no; Tamron 70-200 G2 - no; Tamron 18-400mm - yes; Tamron 150-600mm G2 - no; Nikon 55-300mm VR G - yes; Sigma 10-20mm f3.5 - no.

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Feb 1, 2019 07:21:25   #
Silverman Loc: Michigan
 
lamontcranston wrote:
I've been reading reviews of the Nikon 18-140 VR DX lens and most are fairly favorable about this lens. Except for Ken Rockwell's review. In it he writes of "eye blow" which is a condition of dust and dirt being sucked into the lens and camera when zooming in and out. I have not read of this condition anywhere else. Should I take this seriously?


Eyeblow

"As the 18-140mm VR DX is zoomed in and out, air pumps in and out, and you may have some air blow out of the eyepiece into your eye.

You won't usually care, but the design of the 18-140mm VR DX is such that air, and thus dirt, are pumped in and out into both your lens and your camera."


https://kenrockwell.com/nikon/18-140mm.htm
I've been reading reviews of the Nikon 18-140 VR D... (show quote)


I too am a new (2 months) owner of a used Nikon 18-140 VR DX lens and have not as yet experienced this issue mentioned by Ken Rockwell, my lens seems to have a "Clean" lens view, and hoping that I do not ever experience this issue that has been expressed here, on this site.

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Feb 1, 2019 07:24:40   #
Silverman Loc: Michigan
 
Strodav wrote:
Mine came with a D7200 as well. Used it for a while until I could afford better glass. I pulled it out of the back of my storage cabinet, put the mount end next to my ear and played with the zoom. Sure enough you can feel the air coming out of the lens when going from 140mm to 18mm. So, tried it with some of my other zooms: Tamron 24-70mm G2 - no; Tamron 70-200 G2 - no; Tamron 18-400mm - yes; Tamron 150-600mm G2 - no; Nikon 55-300mm VR G - yes; Sigma 10-20mm f3.5 - no.


Wow, this is very dissapointing news about the Nikon 18-140 lens.

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Feb 1, 2019 08:19:26   #
lamontcranston
 
Thanks to all for the comments. Seems like it may be a condition that affects several different lenses and it may or may not be a problem. The lens gets excellent reviews. I guess the best advice would be to avoid changing lenses in dusty conditions, be aware of any dust that might be building up in the interior of the camera, and use one of the rocket blowers to keep the interior dust/dirt free. And I would monitor the condition of the sensor and let the professionals clean it if any contaminants in that area were affecting my photos.

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Feb 1, 2019 08:45:01   #
Retina Loc: Near Charleston,SC
 
It sounds like he is only mentioning the potential risk for any lens that moves a lot of air where there is a lot of fine airborne dust rather than saying this is a problem especially for this particular model. Anyone else read it that way? [Sorry--this was started before seeing the last post.]

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Feb 1, 2019 08:48:57   #
DWHart24 Loc: Central Florida
 
I've heard mixed reviews about Ken Rockwell. :)

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Feb 1, 2019 10:18:55   #
Pegasus Loc: Texas Gulf Coast
 
Retina wrote:
It sounds like he is only mentioning the potential risk for any lens that moves a lot of air where there is a lot of fine airborne dust rather than saying this is a problem especially for this particular model. Anyone else read it that way? [Sorry--this was started before seeing the last post.]


Yes, that is correct. It's definitely not unique to this specific lens.

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Feb 1, 2019 10:19:03   #
CatMarley Loc: North Carolina
 
lamontcranston wrote:
I've been reading reviews of the Nikon 18-140 VR DX lens and most are fairly favorable about this lens. Except for Ken Rockwell's review. In it he writes of "eye blow" which is a condition of dust and dirt being sucked into the lens and camera when zooming in and out. I have not read of this condition anywhere else. Should I take this seriously?


Eyeblow

"As the 18-140mm VR DX is zoomed in and out, air pumps in and out, and you may have some air blow out of the eyepiece into your eye.

You won't usually care, but the design of the 18-140mm VR DX is such that air, and thus dirt, are pumped in and out into both your lens and your camera."


https://kenrockwell.com/nikon/18-140mm.htm
I've been reading reviews of the Nikon 18-140 VR D... (show quote)


Never had air blow in my eye, but obviously, zoom lenses suck in air and blow it out again, because the air volume inside the lens increases as the front element groups move out on zooming. The lens would not work unless air was admitted to the lens barrel - a vacuum would prevent zooming. So gunk inside your zoom lens is inevitable with use - particularly in environments that have fine particulate or oily matter in the air.

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