HORROR of the Nikon 24-85 G ! ?

[Debby1]

Hi All,

If you look at my most recent post - The Good, the bad,
and the Ugly, in General forum.

you will see I'm having a horrible experience owning he S2.


I just noticed a post in here saying the 24-85 G, ED zoom changes FOCUS POINT WHEN you change Zoom? Huh?

tHIS IS MY LENS!

Is this the basis of my problem?????

Out of thousands of shots, I have a handful that are sharp.

I can only get sharp shots at the 2304 resolution setting, and
virtually none at 4200.

To make matters worse, I am mainly shooting self timer
shots, where things must be focused in advance.

How come no one else has posted this VERY PECULIAR
QUIRK of this lens. ( I even posted questions about it
months ago before i bought it)

I dont even remember any reviews mentioning this
potentially disastrous lens quirk.

How the heck can you auto focus if your Zoom is wide, or
even medium?




thanks for
help.

Deb

[cthornhill]

I don't own this lens, but I can suggest a test proceedure for you to try. It is pretty quick if you are connected via firewire and use the Fuji shooting software. If you are using a card you can still do the test, but it requires you to keep track of your steps.

First, set up a target to focus on that is well lit enough for you to see clearly through the finder and is perpendicular to the floor. If you choose a set of objects on a table you can check depth of field too. Be sure your target has some fine detail you will be able to use to verify focus.

Second, set up your camera at a distance greater than the minimum focus distance for your lens. Try a normal shooting distance for your work if you can in the space you have to work in. Set up the camera on the tripod so that it is at about the same heigth as the target, and is 'square' to the target.

Third, switch the camera into manual focus mode. You can use the green dot in the viewfinder to determine when the S2 feels you are in focus.

Now you can try a series of shots at several zoom settings. If you start zoomed in and get focus lock with the indicator in the viewfinder, then you can zoom out and see if the lock stays on.

I would suggest shooting several images and noting which are which for this test. Be sure to use a fast enough shutter speed to minimize camera shake. I recomend a cable release too. The S2 has no mirror up feature, so you just have to live with a little mirror slap. It should not be important anyway in this camera (it is there, but so small as to be no big deal for most people).

As I said, I don't own this lens, but I do know that lenses are mechanical and subject to build variation, and to wear and tear. Video and movie zooms can develop a wandering back focus after lots of location use, and that is one possible issue. A Nikon service center might be able to tell you more.

I would suggest testing with more than one lens if you can, since that helps eliminate the camera as a problem source.

The S2 is very sensitive and produces lots of very fine detail. If you are not getting this it could be lots of things, but you will have to test one at a time to find out what it is.

[pvalerio]

So you spent $2000+ on your camera and less that $200 on your lenses. Bad idea!

I own several nikon lenses, some good, some not so good. I don't have yours, but I discovered similar issues with the 28-80 3.5-5-6 D.

I also own a Nikon F-80 (N80), basic body of the S2. What you descrive is a problem of the lens, not the camera: I have the same result with the F-80.

I have a Tamrom 19-35 (I need it to get some WA on the S2) and works fine.

But the thing I noticed is the S2 sensibility about camera shake. Don't get me wrong, the resolution is great, but not only the crop ratio is 1.5x, the shake ratio is worst. So if you want a sharp picture let's say about 100mm, be sure to use 1/250 or faster if you're not using a tripod, and hold the camera very stable.

Also I noticed incredible image quality gains using fast lenses, like my Nikkor 85mm f/1.8.

[Lab Rat]

While I did not have the same zoom as you, it was about the same speed. I found that it "hunted" for focus (in S mode) and just wasn't sharp. I also notice that I was Zoomed all the way in or all the way out. Having notice this, and getting fed up with the soft focus, I changed to prime lenes. They are faster and do not "hunt" for focus in low light. Zooms are by design a compromise. They must try to focus at different focal lenghts and most can only do so (well?) at one, someplace around the middle of the zoom range. Zooms are one place that it does not pay to try to save money.

Ken

[quill]

I traded my AFS G 24-85 in for primes too. I added a couple of old MF nikkors to the deal and have ended up with:

28mm F2.8D
50mm F1.8D
85mm F1.8D

Reasons: Sharpness, speed, size, build, filter size (my whole Cokin kit is back online!), and full use on my FM2 when I need film.

I find that when I know what it is that I am trying to acheive that I don't do much lense changing anyways, and having soooo much more speed at 85 that there is no question for me which combo is better.

I agree that if you want a zoom, pay the full price.

I have never used zooms before the AFS G and I don't plan on going back for quite some time.

Q

[Debby1]

thanks for help all.

Yes, I bought the 50 mm 1.8 lens D . My initial results

( f 8, asa 400, onboard flash, and camera set 60 )

were very promising. Got real sharp photos at highest res.

Then I started having problems again. I really think I need a strobe flash asap. Was trying f 11 and results looked dark
and not so sharp.

( I have a real sturdy tripod. using on camera flash only )

But, A lot of people really like that G zoom.

Im afraid to put it back on, because someone said, its
real easy to get dust on the CCD when you change lenses.

Deb

[quill]

Well, it IS easy to get dust in there. But it will happen for sure.

So I would suggest changing lenses all the time and cleaning the lens more often! You'll get better pics.

You probably get the dark/bad shots at F11 because the onboard flash is at it's limit. Add a larger flash and you will be fine. Plus your CR batteries will last way longer.

Glad the 50 is working for you.

Q

[AnthonyH]

It's possible that you might have a faulty example Debby - did you check it at the store, before buying, shooting some frames, and trying other examples of the same lens too?
I must say, this lens is a lot better than its price bracket suggests. I didn't buy one myself, but my regular dealer loaned me one for a shoot: it was great to use, hardly "hunted" for focus even in the relatively dim tungsten lighting of a dance studio (I was actually shooting with two big flash heads through a diffusion panel), and the results were more than aceptable - some are with one of my agencies right now. I'd buy one myself, except I decided the 12-24 will go better with the 28-70 I mostly use.
It's a fact that the autofocus of the F80-based S2 is not in the same class as an F5, and requires more care and some practice to learn where the focus points actually are compared with the indices in the viewfinder. And focus shift when zooming is common to most zooms, IME - certainly with the 28-70 (a top class lens) it happens. Persevere, Debbie! Or swap the lens for a better example - Nikon's quality control isn't perfect.