Ebay lens won't work on D80

redhalton

I just purchased and took delivery of this lens and was hoping to use it on my D80, but once I put it on the camera, it won't autofocus and the camera won't fire. Can you have a look at the lens and let me know if I purchased a lens which will work on the D80..if so, I'll take it up to Henry's and see what the problem is. If it won't work on the D80, I just learned a valuable and expensive lesson ;-))

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=250299028355

Thanks.

Tee Why

I use Canon's but it seems to be defective as it's made for AF.
I would first make sure that the electrical contacts are clean.
Also are you getting any error messages with the lens on?

If the lens is defective, you may contact the seller and ask for a refund as well.
Good luck.

redhalton

When the lens is on and I'm looking through the viewfinder, the info status bar at bottom flashes 'EE'

Tee Why wrote:

I use Canon's but it seems to be defective as it's made for AF.
I would first make sure that the electrical contacts are clean.
Also are you getting any error messages with the lens on?

If the lens is defective, you may contact the seller and ask for a refund as well.
Good luck.

Tee Why

I take it that stands for some error.
Have you cleaned the electrical contacts on the lens?
Try a pencil eraser to gently rub the contact free of any thin layer of corrosion.

redhalton

Cleaned contacts--no change. Also should mention the LCD on the top right of the D80 is also flashing 'EE'

Tee Why wrote:

I take it that stands for some error.
Have you cleaned the electrical contacts on the lens?
Try a pencil eraser to gently rub the contact free of any thin layer of corrosion.

Tee Why

If you cleaned the contacts and are still getting that error message, then I'd assume that the lens is broken or at the least cannot communicate with the camera.

I'd contact the seller, and explain things and ask for a refund.

ziggy53

Make sure the aperture ring of the lens is rotated to the smallest aperture setting (usually f22 or f32).

dangin

ziggy53 wrote:

Make sure the aperture ring of the lens is rotated to the smallest aperture setting (usually f22 or f32).

ziggy's got the likely culprit. with non-G lenses, you have to set them to the smallest aperture to be able to use on newer nikon cameras. if this doesn't work; i'd encourage you to try it on another nikon camera to see if it's localized to your camera body.

bandgeekndb

Make sure the lens is intended to autofocus on the D80. I own a D40 and I know to do my research because some lenses won't autofocus on my camera. I usually see something like "Won't autofocus on D40, D40x, D80" in my research. Someone who knows Nikon better than I do can correct me if I'm wrong, but this might be the case here.

~Nick

Art Scott

Why not just ask the seller to refund money??....you should get it all back except S/H both ways......hopefully you paid thru paypal.....and if the seller gives you grief then contact ebay and paypal.

SloYerRoll

If Ziggy didn't nail it. Art did.

redhalton

Okay...now the camera fires, but still won't AF.

ziggy53 wrote:

Make sure the aperture ring of the lens is rotated to the smallest aperture setting (usually f22 or f32).

redhalton

Hi Art

I don't want to ask for a refund until I'm absolutely sure it's the lens and not the incompatibility with the camera.

My reasoning--I purchased the lens understanding the AF 50mm 1.8 would work on the D80, the seller didn't tell me this, I harvested the info from the Rockwell website. Now I just need someone with the same lens mounted on a D80 tell me the AF works with theirs and then I'm pretty sure, this lens is pouched. If it's my mistake I'll take the hit, if it's the seller, I'll try and get a refund.

Art Scott wrote:

Why not just ask the seller to refund money??....you should get it all back except S/H both ways......hopefully you paid thru paypal.....and if the seller gives you grief then contact ebay and paypal.

ziggy53

redhalton wrote:

Okay...now the camera fires, but still won't AF.

If the lens has an "M/A - M" switch, make sure the switch is set to "M/A".

If the lens has an "A - M" switch, make sure the switch is set to "A".

Make sure the Focus-Mode selector on the camera is set to "A".

Cygnus Studios

The AF 50mm 1.8 would work on the D80. If you are having problems after making sure it and the camera are set to auto and all the points are clean, then get a refund.

redhalton

Okay the camera was set on 'M' this is the toggle switch lower left almost below the lens on the camera body. When on 'M' the camera will fire everytime and when I focus manually there is no drag on the lens focus ring.

Now I switch to 'AF' and there is considerable drag on the lens focus ring and the camera will only fire intermittently while spinning the focus ring.

Either mode the lens will not auto focus.

ziggy53 wrote:

If the lens has an "M/A - M" switch, make sure the switch is set to "M/A".

If the lens has an "A - M" switch, make sure the switch is set to "A".

Make sure the Focus-Mode selector on the camera is set to "A".

i_worship_the_King

Did you raise the aperture back up? If you're trying to auto focus indoors at f/22 the poor thing can't get enough light to focus. Try opening it to f/4 or better and try again. If the focus ring is 'jivin then the camera is starting to warm up to the lens.

Note: The 'considerable drag' is the difference between a screw focus and the new 'Silent wave' or whatever it's called lenses. It should have about the same speed, just sounds like it's towin' a small boat while focusing.

nightowlcat

I have a 50mm f1.8D, and it does AF with a D50 and D1h, and should with your D80, but I notice that yours appears to be an older version than mine is:

http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/serialno.html#50slow

Yours is this lens, it appears from the photos in the auction:
http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/af5018.jpg

Mine is this version:
http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/afd5018.jpg

According to the chart here:
http://www.nikonians.org/html/resources/nikon_articles/other/compatibility.html the D80 will autofocus with AF, AF-D, AF-I, AF-S, and G lenses. Is there a switch on the lens by any chance, and fwiw, the camera is set for AF as well?

Do you have a local camera store that would let you test the lens on a camera?

redhalton wrote:

My reasoning--I purchased the lens understanding the AF 50mm 1.8 would work on the D80, the seller didn't tell me this, I harvested the info from the Rockwell website. Now I just need someone with the same lens mounted on a D80 tell me the AF works with theirs and then I'm pretty sure, this lens is pouched. If it's my mistake I'll take the hit, if it's the seller, I'll try and get a refund.

i_worship_the_King

I too wondered why he was purchasing the older version when the new one is right at US$100 also...

Maybe he likes the metal ones

redhalton

Ignorance ;-))

Nothing I try makes any difference. I'm going to reserve judgement on both the seller and the lens until after I get absolute evidence of who or what is at fault here.

Here is a plug for purchasing from a local camera dealer--this is the reason I ALWAYS give the local guy the business when purchsing big ticket items, if of course things are equal or even if there not, providing the spread isn't ridiculous, yes I'm talking dollars. I still purchase locally. Now I can take my gear up to him (Henry's in Oakville), try to explain my stupidity, ask him to show me the reasons why the lens is not working and not feel like I need to pay for or purchase something for his service. I can't say enough about building a good relationship with your local dealer.

I won't be able to get to Henry's until late tomorrow...keep any eye open for an update.

Thanks again

Bob

i_worship_the_King wrote:

I too wondered why he was purchasing the older version when the new one is right at US$100 also...

Maybe he likes the metal ones

redhalton

There is a F/S post right here http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=107070 which states the D40/D80 DON'T have internal AF motors. Would this be my problem?

redhalton wrote:

I just purchased and took delivery of this lens and was hoping to use it on my D80, but once I put it on the camera, it won't autofocus and the camera won't fire. Can you have a look at the lens and let me know if I purchased a lens which will work on the D80..if so, I'll take it up to Henry's and see what the problem is. If it won't work on the D80, I just learned a valuable and expensive lesson ;-))

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=250299028355

Thanks.

dancorder

Now I switch to 'AF' and there is considerable drag on the lens focus ring and the camera will only fire intermittently while spinning the focus ring.

The "considerable drag" you felt when trying to turn the focus ring in automatic mode would be you turning the autofocus motor in the camera (I believe the D80 does have a motor, the D40 and D60 do not) which is not really a good idea. As this lens is not an AF-S lens then it can either focus automatically, in which case it is always hooked up to the camera's motor and you shouldn't turn the focus ring yourself, or it can focus manually in which case you will have to turn the focus ring manually. This is decided by the focus switch on the camera.

From your quote I'm not sure whether in AF mode you are spinning the focus ring or the camera is. If the camera doesn't spin the focus ring for you when you depress the shutter half way then it suggests that either the lens or the motor in your camera is duff. Hopefully your camera shop guy will be able to tell you which it is (probably by trying it with another lens/camera). However given that you have felt drag when turning it manually, it suggests that the focus ring is mechanically connected to the focus motor, in which case my money would be on the camera being the problem.

If the camera is spinning the focus ring for you then it sounds like everything is working fine and the camera is just having trouble focusing either due a lack of light or a lack of contrast under the autofocus point. I imagine your camera is set to not take pictures in automatic focus mode if the camera hasn't found focus.

If your version is like mine then you should set the aperture on the lens to the largest number (f22?) and there will be a little locking switch to keep it there. From then on the camera will be able to control the aperture for you (and will automatically open it fully for focusing as i_worship_the_King suggested)

nightowlcat

redhalton wrote:

There is a F/S post right here http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=107070 which states the D40/D80 DON'T have internal AF motors. Would this be my problem?

It's the D40/D60 that don't have the internal AF motors. See http://www.nikonians.org/html/resources/nikon_articles/body/chart/nikon_dslr_chart.html and scroll to the right, the D40/60/80 are next to each other, so you can can compare easily by leaving the 80 at the edge of the window and scrolling down to compare.

redhalton

The camera is pouched.....just got back from Henry's where they worked on it and tried everything. The camera will not AF the 50mm I just purchased and now, it won't even AF any of my lenses. The camera is only 10 months old...oh well at least it's under warranty.

Thanks for all the input....much appreciated.

nightowlcat

Bummer on the camera being toast, but fortunate that it was in warranty. Do you know if they tried the two button reset, or the button on the bottom of the camera reset as one of their solutions?

redhalton

Unbelievable series of events between my last post and now. Ziggy figured it out--the camera wasn't pouched like I was told. You can read about the solution on this thread

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?p=937896#post937896

If you shot with the D80 and maybe other Nikon(s), you probably should know this.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to help me.

Bob

time2smile

redhalton wrote:

Hi Art

I don't want to ask for a refund until I'm absolutely sure it's the lens and not the incompatibility with the camera.

My reasoning--I purchased the lens understanding the AF 50mm 1.8 would work on the D80, the seller didn't tell me this, I harvested the info from the Rockwell website. Now I just need someone with the same lens mounted on a D80 tell me the AF works with theirs and then I'm pretty sure, this lens is pouched. If it's my mistake I'll take the hit, if it's the seller, I'll try and get a refund.

I have the same lens for my D50. it should work fine on the D80
50 f1.8 non D lens

Joves

Also remember that you always have to keep the lens in f/22 to use it on the body. Or you will get the EE code. I didnt notice if that had an apterture lock on it or not. If it does lock it. I forgot to and was having kittent till I realized that it wasnt at f/22.