Can lenses loose sharpness?

Bakat

I know this sounds weird, but I swear that my Nikkor 24-120 VR lens has been loosing sharpness. BTW this lens has been back to Nikon once for working it's way loose in the middle.

So I did a little experiment.
I have a Sigma 50mm Macro lens that I adore for it's sharpness.
Put the camera on the tripod, set it to manual, took a shot with the Sigma at f5, Shutter at 1/60.
Then I switched to the Nikkor at 50mm, f5, Shutter at 1/60 with the VR on.
Then I took shot #3 with the VR off.

The Sigma shot is definately the sharper of the three.

I guess I need to contact Nikon.

Any thoughts?

Bakat

pathfinder

As they say, stuff happens.

Most lenses lose image quality from damage of some sort - being dropped, subjected to interminable vibrations, forcibly mounted on the wrong body, etc.

But some just go south for no apparent reason. I have a Tamron zoom that just quit working for me. One frame was fine, and the next shot the camera would no longer work with the lens at all - Error 99 - or You're hosed:D Tamron fixed it without hesitation and it is back in good working order. Nikon will do the same I am sure,

If your lens is not sharp, when used with good technique - tripod, shutter speed, proper focus,etc, then I would send it back to Nikon. That lens should be sharp like a razor.

borrowlenses.com

Bakat wrote:

I know this sounds weird, but I swear that my Nikkor 24-120 VR lens has been loosing sharpness. BTW this lens has been back to Nikon once for working it's way loose in the middle.

So I did a little experiment.
I have a Sigma 50mm Macro lens that I adore for it's sharpness.
Put the camera on the tripod, set it to manual, took a shot with the Sigma at f5, Shutter at 1/60.
Then I switched to the Nikkor at 50mm, f5, Shutter at 1/60 with the VR on.
Then I took shot #3 with the VR off.

The Sigma shot is definately the sharper of the three.

I guess I need to contact Nikon.

Any thoughts?

Bakat

I can aswer this one from lots of experience

Yes, lenses can lose sharpness over time. We've seen it happen to lots of ours. Like pathfinder mentioned, this happens as a result of shock damage to the lens or just ordinary wear&tear. Send it into Canon or Nikon for re-calibration. It really helps if you are a CPS (Canon Professional Services) or NPS member, because they usually repair your stuff in 3-5 days and ship it back Fedex 2nd Day.

Scott_Quier

Not adding anything except, maybe, humor?

pathfinder wrote:

As they say, stuff happens.

Most lenses lose image quality from damage of some sort - being dropped, subjected to interminable vibrations, forcibly mounted on the wrong body, etc.

But some just go south for no apparent reason. I have a Tamron zoom that just quit working for me. One frame was fine, and the next shot the camera would no longer work with the lens at all - Error 99 - or You're hosed:D Tamron fixed it without hesitation and it is back in good working order. Nikon will do the same I am sure,

If your lens is not sharp, when used with good technique - tripod, shutter speed, proper focus,etc, then I would send it back to Nikon. That lens should be sharp like a razor.

I just could resist adding this ...

Here, all along, I thought lenses degrade over time due to the wear factor of all the light photons passing through the lens elements and, thus wearing the out.

or

Yep, lenses degrade over time. They are manufactured to only allow so much light through them before they wear out. It's called designed obsolescence.

vinceman

this happened to my canon rebel kit lens. I admit, it did get some rough usage through its time. My older photos were a lot sharper than it is now, and seems almost unusable, P&S were sometimes sharper. Since I've got better lenses now, I haven't really checked if its calibration related or it is just back/front-focusing. My guess is the latter.

J.T.

borrowlenses.com wrote:

I can aswer this one from lots of experience

Yes, lenses can lose sharpness over time. We've seen it happen to lots of ours. Like pathfinder mentioned, this happens as a result of shock damage to the lens or just ordinary wear&tear. Send it into Canon or Nikon for re-calibration. It really helps if you are a CPS (Canon Professional Services) or NPS member, because they usually repair your stuff in 3-5 days and ship it back Fedex 2nd Day.

How do you become an NPS member? What does it cost, if any? I juts had my body go to Nikon twice, once for a mess up they caused and I was out of a camera for about 10 days!

wxwax

Scott, it's well known that lenses get stale, like any food product. That's why I keep them in the 'fridge.

jeffreaux2

Scott_Quier wrote:

I just could resist adding this ...


or

I had been blaming it on my eyes. Guess I am not as old as I thoughjt I was.