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  #1  
Old 12th January 2016, 08:10 PM
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paddy paddy is offline
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Default Nikon 50mm ais out of focus on digi camera

Hi peeps
I recently sold a nikon 50mm f1.8 ais pancake lens
The guy i sold it to says when it is manually focused in the veiw finder on his nikon digi slr, it is out of focus when he veiws it on the computer screen
He tried his other lens he owns and they are 100% in focus
The lens is absolutely mint and has never been dropped or mistreated
I have never used it on a digi slr (swear word), but i will try it on a d40 i required recently to see whats going on (used as a polaroid back for studio flash heads)
Out of curiosity i tried my nikkor 28, 35 and 85mm manual focus lens on the d40, and they seem ok and in focus in the veiwfinder and on the screen on the back
It was wrapped up in loads of bubblewrap so i cant see it being mr postie damaging it
I thought nikon manual primes were bombproof when it comes to ruggedness
Anyone else had a problem like this
Paddy
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Old 12th January 2016, 08:44 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Paddy, I take it this was an e-bay or otherwise distance sale so you can't go to him and check things. If it was e-bay how is his buyer feedback? How quickly did he tell you of the problem?

I know how this sounds but I can't think of an explanation that is reconcilable with all the info in your post.

Just thoughts on my part and in an open forum your answers or thoughts along the lines of the above may not be appropriate.

I hope you can get to the bottom of it to both parties' satisfaction

Mike
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Old 12th January 2016, 09:29 PM
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paddy paddy is offline
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Hi Mike
It was through preloved i sold it
He comes across as a genuine guy and does not seem to be pulling a fast one, he told me today as i posted it yesterday, i know what you mean about ebay though
When i get it back i will test it out
Paddy
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Old 12th January 2016, 09:36 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Best of luck, Paddy. Could the other explanation be that he hasn't fully understood how an AIS is attached or has somehow made a mistake when fitting.

Doesn't sound likely from what you say but might be a possibility?

Mike
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Old 13th January 2016, 07:35 AM
DaveP DaveP is offline
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Sounds like he's not very good at manual focusing. The focussing screens on DSLRs are not really geared up for manual focussing, its actually quite hard to nail critical focus on them with a fast lens, especially if he's shooting close up and wide open. They don't have a the same kind of matte screen that manual focus 35mm bodies have. Also on a modern body with a huge megapixel count the focus will need to be absolutely bang on to not look soft when viewed at 100% on a monitor. It can be far more demanding on lens sharpness and focus than 35mm film.

Get him to set the lens at infinity, shoot a shot of the distant horizon, and send you that. If that is sharp then there's nothing wrong with it.
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Old 13th January 2016, 07:55 AM
John King John King is offline
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Perhaps a visit to Specsavers would help!
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Old 14th January 2016, 02:11 AM
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MKCarberry MKCarberry is offline
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My 50 f1.4 AiS got a bit stiff so I disassembled it for a CLA. They're a bear to reassemble and I had a rough time getting infinity back but I did. If you find it out of whack PM me and I'll try to walk you through it.

I'd just refund him minus shipping and move on if you cannot find a problem.
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Old 14th January 2016, 09:27 AM
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Thanks for the replys guys
He tried it again yesterday without any luck, i cant understand this happening as the lens looks brand new and i have never dropped it or mistreated it
I should get it back today or tomorrow, i will give it the infinity test on one of my nikon 35mm cameras
This is the pancake version (the last version of this lens)
Paddy
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Old 14th January 2016, 05:28 PM
Mike O'Pray Mike O'Pray is offline
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Let us know your findings, Paddy. I take it that the buyer's statement that when he says his other lenses are in focus he is basing this on his vision and not some signal of "in-focus" that his other lenses give him which the Ais does not?

For instance my manually focused Pentax A lenses light a green hexagonal in the view finder of my Pentax auto-focus camera when focused whereas the M lenses do no such thing even when they are in focus.

I still wonder if he understands manually-focused lenses when he owns a digi camera. Maybe he has never owned manually focused lenses?

I might be a little jaundiced here, having read umpteen threads on other forums when someone reports a fault in chemicals, film or camera that has resulted in completely clear film with no edge markings and swears blind that using fixer first could not have happened

Mike
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Old 16th January 2016, 02:09 AM
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I got the lens back
Tested it on my nikon d40 at f1.8 with speeds of 1/15th and 1/30th of a second @ iso 200
At 1/15th of a second it was slightly out of focus due to the shutter speed and the f1.8 aperture when checked on the comuter screen
When taken at 1/30th of a second and focused spot on at near distance and far distance everthing was in focus, i took the sd card out of the camera and put it in the computer to veiw the images, they were in focus
I also put it on my nikon fm2/fm3a and focused at infinity, the lampost down the road was clear and straight in the veiwfinder and not out of alignment in the split screen
Dont know why it was out of focus on his camera, the guy was a pro as well and not a beginner
Oh well i have a back up 50mm ais lens now that i will use for travel purposes
Paddy
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