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Nikon lens focus problem
May 20, 2019 15:27:58   #
DMGill Loc: Colorado
 
I have a 17-35mm F2.8, a 28-300mm, and an 28-200mm Nikkor that stop focusing but only in single focus mode. This happens with multiple camera bodies, two D500 bodies and a D850. If you rack the Manuel focus ring back and forth it starts focusing again on single...for a while.

Is anyone else having a similar problem?

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May 20, 2019 16:44:09   #
DMGill Loc: Colorado
 
The third lens mentioned should have been an 18-200mm.

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May 20, 2019 18:06:49   #
CO
 
Is is subject low contrast? Cameras can have trouble focusing on low contrast subjects.

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May 22, 2019 08:29:26   #
DMGill Loc: Colorado
 
No, I can try to focus on a high contrast part of the subject and it still won’t focus. Cleaning the lens contacts doesn’t help. I have Nikon lenses from the 14-28mm to the 200-500mm and they all focus without a problem. It has me puzzled and frustrated.

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May 22, 2019 09:45:36   #
Bill_de Loc: US
 
I've had a few AF-s motors go over the years in everything from a 17-35 to an 800mm. The 17-35 would auto focus sometimes if you started manually. They all went to Nikon for repair.

The 800 was fairly new. The 17-35 and a 28-70 went bad while sitting idle for several years.

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May 26, 2019 05:11:46   #
DMGill Loc: Colorado
 
My 17-35 went back to Nikon, but they couldn’t make it misbehave. It worked for about a day after it came back, but started intermittent failure to focus on single after that. The curious part of it is none of the problem lenses have ever failed to focus on continuous.

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May 26, 2019 06:54:15   #
Bill_de Loc: US
 
DMGill wrote:
My 17-35 went back to Nikon, but they couldn’t make it misbehave. It worked for about a day after it came back, but started intermittent failure to focus on single after that. The curious part of it is none of the problem lenses have ever failed to focus on continuous.


Make sure you compose before touching the shutter release.

Other than that, contact Nikon and ask for a postage paid return label. My 800mm went back 3 times before they admitted there was a problem. They sent it to Nikon Labs in Japan (the only one authorized to work on the 800) who changed the AF-s motor. That problem went away but now I have to set the fine focus adjustment at +6. The process took 6 months.


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Jun 10, 2019 05:29:55   #
DMGill Loc: Colorado
 
Thank you all. It’s an annoying problem and particularly so when it effects a job and Nikon can’t seem to locate and repair the problem.

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