Nikon 14-24mm distance scale off?

Hi, I have bought a Nikon 14-24mm 2.8 to use on a Sony A7R with manual focusing using live view.

I am finding that the marked distance scale is very inaccurate, especially at the wide end, improving somewhat at the longer end. At the wide end I get a focussed result for distant objects (30 meters away) when the lens scale shows only about one meter. Is this typical, or does the lens have an issue? For what it's worth, the lens sharpness seems ok, even wide open it is very good in the center, and not bad in the corners for such a wide lens (but clearly softer than the center, in agreement with the MTF curves I've seen). I've tried several different adapters and I don't think they are the problem (other lenses on hte A7R with these adapters are fine). I'm assuming it is also expeceted that zooming in/out causes significant focus shifts with this lens? Any help much appreciated.
Thanks.

The marked distance scale on the 14-24 f/2.8 only goes to 1 meter, and then it says infinity. On a Nikon D800, at either 14 or 24 end when focusing at a measured 1 meter, my distance scale ends up about halfway between 1 M and infinity. There are no markings past 1 meter, so no farther number seems possible there. A measured 7 or 8 meters is much closer to infinity. Ignoring the scale, AF always seems to focus accurately. I don't know how any adapters might affect that.

For critical focusing with Live View, you should zoom in on that Live View rear LCD, so you can see something much larger to manually focus more critically. It should not be much issue then (except for fast action). It's a great lens for star pictures, but focus is not easy.

The marked numbers you refer to are a different subject, but my complaint has been the D lens reported focus distance. Not specifically this lens, but any zoom lens. The zoom lenses all seem poor that way, and some lenses report outrageously incorrect values (which seriously affects TTL BL direct flash exposure).

The 14-24 is one of the better of those. Only because a measured 1.5 meters reports 2 meters, and larger distances mostly report Infinity, which puts it out of play, not causing problems.
This is a different subject, but more at http://www.scantips.com/lights/ttlbl-d.html#alert

Thanks Wayne,
it sounds like your lens is adjusted to over-indicate the distance a bit, whereas mine-under indicates consistently. E.g. a measured distance of 1m is in focus when the scale is close to 0.5m on mine when at 14mm (and more like 0.75m at 24mm). I might just live with it rather than get it looked at. I wonder if I should be more worried about the focus shift when zooming from 14mm to 24mm? It sounds like in your case there is very little shift? Richard

rvh said:

Thanks Wayne,
it sounds like your lens is adjusted to over-indicate the distance a bit, whereas mine-under indicates consistently. E.g. a measured distance of 1m is in focus when the scale is close to 0.5m on mine when at 14mm (and more like 0.75m at 24mm). I might just live with it rather than get it looked at. I wonder if I should be more worried about the focus shift when zooming from 14mm to 24mm? It sounds like in your case there is very little shift? Richard

Click to expand...

Mine is totally unadjusted by me. I just snap them on, and they work. I don't ever see the marked distance scale, I had to go look this time.

I do think this is one of the better zooms. It's awesome at FX 14mm. It works, and I've not noticed focus shift on this one.

So I stumbled across the manual whilst looking for a warranty card in vain, and lo and behold it says: "The distance scale does not indicate the precise distance between the subject and the camera. Values are approximate and should be used only as a general guide".

What that means in terms of tolerances and reasonable expectations, and whether it is reasonable to see differences across zoom settings of course remains a total mystery.

I should clarify, btw, that when I refer to "focus shift" above, I'm not talking about anything to do with autofocus. I'm referring to the need to (manually) re-adjust the focus when I zoom in/out (or even alter f-stop).