70-200 VR Question

[TonyH]

Has anyone had difficulties with their 70-200VR lens with the D70?

I'm having difficulty occasionally with the camera not recognising the lens or vice versa. I put the lens on and no AF action. Take it off and put it back on again and it will work. I may have dirty contacts perhaps, has anyone got a cleaning solution. I'd sooner try that before sending it in for a service and get ripped off.

I took quite a number of shots yesterday which were blurry or out of focus which is unusual for this lens. The other thing to mention is that the lens and body can move slightly (rotating not forward and back), but I'm sure that others have mentioned this before and it is quite common.

All comments and help appreciated.

Regards

Tony

[avkomp]

I am assuming other lenses work ok on your camera??
only the 70-200vr not working correctly.

might be trying the lens on another body to confirm it is faulty or not also.
plenty of members up that way too.

cant comment about cleaning the contacts though. havent encountered any issues first hand (luckily)

Steve

[birddog114]

TonyH,
Try to clean the contacts on both the lens and the D70 body's mount.
Pec*Pad and pure methanol can be used as cleaning aid.

[Geoff]

Has anyone had difficulties with their 70-200VR lens with the D70?

I'm having difficulty occasionally with the camera not recognising the lens or vice versa. I put the lens on and no AF action. Take it off and put it back on again and it will work. I may have dirty contacts perhaps, has anyone got a cleaning solution. I'd sooner try that before sending it in for a service and get ripped off.

I took quite a number of shots yesterday which were blurry or out of focus which is unusual for this lens. The other thing to mention is that the lens and body can move slightly (rotating not forward and back), but I'm sure that others have mentioned this before and it is quite common.

All comments and help appreciated.

Regards

Tony

Hi Tony,
As a proud owner of the 70-200VR I can say I've not had this problem/s with the lens at all. I've not had the rotational issue either, but u may need to make sure that the screw which can change the position of camera whilst on a tripod is done up nice and tightly - this MAY be what's causing the rotational issue.

As far as the non recognising issue, never occured for me. Perhaps at the next local minimeet try it on a different D70 body and see what happens?

Hope this helps.

[birddog114]

TonyH,
Do you know the history of the 70-200VR which you bought used?
Movement is happened with few/ some D70 camera bodies, but not a big margin to notice.

[Glen]

Tony, I would suggest cleaning as per the above suggestions. If that doesn't work try any AFS (kit?) lens to check it is not the AFS circuit. My AFS circuit died but all the other AF lenses worked, it meant a trip to Maxwells.

[TonyH]

Tony, I would suggest cleaning as per the above suggestions. If that doesn't work try any AFS (kit?) lens to check it is not the AFS circuit. My AFS circuit died but all the other AF lenses worked, it meant a trip to Maxwells.

Glen, The kit lens works perfectly.

Birddog, the lens is a Nikon USA. No worries before my overseas trip at Christmas. The movement is not a huge amount just a small movement, but it is still movement.

Geoff, the movement is definately between the lens and the D70 body. The collar is locked tight. Thanks anyway.


I'll give the contacts a clean and see if that makes any difference. Who knows, maybe a film has developed over them wit the extreme cold/hot over Dec and Jan.

The best thing will be if it persists to try another body (digital) and see the results.

Cheers

Tony

[birddog114]

TonyH,
Nikon USA or other region is not my question.
The history of the lens is how the lens was treated and used by previously owner?
Is it in service before? perhaps they won't tell you.

[TonyH]

Birddog,

you can only work on what they tell you of course but it has never needed a service. Owned by a local Brisbane woman who used it every now and then. She didn't like it because of the weight. As a result it was rarely used.

When I bought it there was no worries at all with the lens, everything spot on. The problems have only ocurred since returning form overseas. I had the lens with me in the lowepro back pack at all times. Always caried on as onboard baggage and stored in the overhead locker. Not much turbulence on the trip compared to other tips I have had.

Tony

[birddog114]

Once more thing to check:

VR/ ACTIVE ? Is it on? should be OFF.
Did you hear or feel any AF-S or VR motor working?

[TonyH]

Hi Birddog,

Active on and Off, whirring and clicking sounds do happen as normal.

The main worry is when the lens is put on the body and the lens doesn't work. I take it off put it immediately back on and it then works... very strange.....

[birddog114]

Definately, it's the contacts's problems.
One of our members on this board (Robw35), he had similar problems before and he had to send the D70 to the service center.
You might hear from him.

[gstark]

you can only work on what they tell you of course but it has never needed a service. Owned by a local Brisbane woman who used it every now and then. She didn't like it because of the weight. As a result it was rarely used.

Tony,

Owned by a little old lady and only driven on Sundays ???

Hmmmm .......

[TonyH]

Tony,

Owned by a little old lady and only driven on Sundays ???

Hmmmm .......

[/quote]


Very funny!

Fortunately in this case it just wasn't driven.

A sucker is born every minute, fortunately I was born an hour ago......

[shakey]

My new 70-200 VR arrived today. Haven't had this problem yet.

[Digidegs]

Hi Tony

It is a common problem with many of the earlier models of this lens.
Had the very same problem myself!!!

It is a grounding wire issue on the power circuit board.
Will cost you about $145 to rectify at Mawells in Sydney.

There is a post on this forum as well somewhere.
Also look at Nikonians.org as well for articles about this problem.

Cheers Albert

[TonyH]

Hi Tony

It is a common problem with many of the earlier models of this lens.
Had the very same problem myself!!!

It is a grounding wire issue on the power circuit board.
Will cost you about $145 to rectify at Mawells in Sydney.

There is a post on this forum as well somewhere.
Also look at Nikonians.org as well for articles about this problem.

Cheers Albert

Albert,

Is that a problem with the body or the lens that you encountered?

Cheers

Tony

[Digidegs]

Hi Tony
Sorry for the delay but I could not log onto this site untill I contacted Gary.

The problem is with the lens NOT the camera.
All my other lenses worked fine on my D100 but not the 70-200 VR.
It worked okay then froze. If I re seated the lens, it worked OK for a while, then the same problem.

It is a grounding wire that is needed on the power board of the lens, nothing to do with a Nikon body.

Hope this helps. Otherwise this is a GREAT lens (IMHO)

Cheers ALbert

[anubis]

Interesitng....had a similar problem with my 70-200 VR, except in my case it happens very irregularly. Has only happened 3 times in the last 4 months.

Two circumstances:
(1) the lens will not work when I put it on the camera
(2) after extensive AF-C use it will suddenly stop working.

If I take the lens off put it back on, try different switches on the lens etc....it will not work.

However, I will leave it for about 15 mins and then put it on the body it will work.....my other AF-S lens work fine.

Will the same solution apply guys?

[Digidegs]

Hi Guys
It will not always happen all the time.
As discussed on Nikonians, it is a build up of static electricity and only when it reaches a certain point will the power board cut out.

They say it is a very easy fix by sorting out a grounding wire.

[TonyH]

Thanks Digidegs, I'll ring for some quotes next week for the modification.

Tony

[anubis]

Thanks Digidegs