Battery removal causes aperture problem . . .

Tabaliah

Tabaliah

New member
I have a D3100 with an AF-S Micro NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8G ED lens. A few weeks ago I noticed that, after replacing the battery I could not select an aperture lower than f/3.5 -- I thought that this was strange, removed the battery, fiddled a bit with the controls and it worked. It happened again, later - but I shut the camera off, then turned it on and after refocusing it was okay. I have a photo gig tomorrow, so I was recharging both of my batteries. When I re-inserted the battery I noticed that this problem re-appeared - but even stranger was that I could adjust the aperture upward of f/50, but not lower than f/3.5. I noticed that the only thing that actually reset this was to auto-focus the lens - then select the appropriate aperture. Removing the battery, lens, or resetting the camera has no affect. This is re-creatable by removing the battery for a few moments.

This is my first digital Nikon. I am buying my second one next week (D7000). Is this a feature of this camera / lens combination or is there a problem with my D3100 body or my lens? Thanks.

.michael
 
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fotojack

Senior Member
Sounds to me like a problem with your camera, Tabaliah. Did you buy it at The Camera Store? Vistek? Saneal Cameras? Future Shop? How long ago did you buy the D3100? Definitely a warranty problem.
 
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PavementPilot

New member
I have had a battery insert issue, but not this extreme. I had the memory card out dumping photos to the HD and the battery in the charger. When I finished with the card, I inserted it into the camera without the battery in place. When the battery was inserted, I noticed the green 'working' LED was lit and would not go off. I pulled the battery and reinserted it. Still the same light. I then pulled the memory card and waited about 5 seconds, reinserted it. LED lit and then went out. Powered up camera and then just on a hunch, formatted the card with the on camera menu. Never had it do that again. On a side note, my capacity on the card (8GB) went from 448 RAW to 457 RAW after the format.
 
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Ranie

Senior Member
Hi Tabaliah

I understand your problem, and no, it's not your camera at fault.
I also have a Nikon 60mm F2.8 Micro AF-D.
First of all, how close are you on the subject when focusing?
As you get closer focus, the effective aperture becomes smaller.
This is normal for all macro lenses.

In fact, I did submit a question to Nikon before about this concern and I still have their reply.
"The camera's LCD shows progressively higher f-numbers as an AF Micro-Nikkor lens is focused closer because the optical elements inside are moving farther away from the camera so less light is reaching the film plane. The meter interprets this as a progressively smaller effective aperture, even though the actual aperture is not changing. This is normal with AF Micro-Nikkor lenses and does not indicate a malfunction."

This also applies to AF-S Micro lenses.

I hope I have enlightened you on your concern.
 
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