Possible bad copy of the 50mm 1.8D?

I picked up one of these the other night. I've been shooting with it with the same, consistant results. Here's my 35 1.8. Settings were f/7.1, ISO 400, 1/200th shot in manual.



Then, I slapped on my new 50 1.8D and metered on that same spot, to the tree on the right hand side. Same exact settings. Here's what I got:



The camera said that it was going to expose correctly when I metered.. I've shot this lens before and not had this problem, although that was manually focusing on a D5100 at the time I'm referring to.

I've been debating between keeping the 35mm 1.8 or selling. If I sold, I'd get either the 50mm 1.8D or G, or get the 40 2.8G. So, at this point, I'm not really sure WTF to do. I sort of have my eye on the 40mm as it has macro and I do like my 1.8, it just got boring I guess. I'm kind of scared that if I sold it, one day I'd really like to have it around and that I'd miss it. The alternative would be to hang on to the 35 and grab the 40. Would I miss having 50mm?

Anyways, rant over. What do you guys think? Is this a bad copy of this lens? Does this sort of thing happen? I've never experienced it before if it does.

I wouldn't say it was a bad lens on 1 shot..Just go out and shoot it and if all the images are like this it might need calibrating or some sort of adjustment...

What would the 40 give you that the 35 doesn't...To me 5mm is not a lot...

Is 40mm really long enough for macro

Like I said, this is pretty consistant. It's has been happening the whole time with this lens for whatever reason. If the camera says, "hey, just so you know, this shot is going to be properly exposed with the settings you've chosen", and then produces an extremely overexposed shot, that tells me something has to be funky, right? I'm not using it any differently than any of my other glass, so I'm not sure what it would be other than a really strange phenomenon or a bad copy.

The 40 has way less distortion, better contrast, no CA's and it can do close macro. (my 35 copy has extraordinary CA problems..) True, that 5mm isn't that much of a huge difference. In fact, it's barely noticeable as far as my hands-on tests are concerned, and that is kind of why I like it. But it can get f'ing close. Some things like hornets, I wouldn't want to get f'ing close to. But little Lego men, cupcakes, and rice pudding don't tend to hurt me as much.

Back to the original issue however, if this is happening all the time in various doses, what do you suppose the issue is? And I swear, I'm not the one at fault here. I can put it on no-flash Auto and get similar results to that blown out mess up there, too!

Here's two more I just shot. ISO 200, 50mm, F/5.

Firstly, a correct exposure according to the camera. Focused single point on the face of the action figure.


Another "correct" exposure according to the camera, this time with the 50 1.8d.

WTF?!

Sorry I don't know..

What aperature did you say you were shooting in? Try making it bigger or smaller depending on what you are. Switch it up with the shots. What are you using - D7000?

Try picking up the G version of this lens, it sounds dumb, but maybe it will work better with your Camera, also maybe just try to pick up a different D version, I'm going to buy one soon, if yours is a bad copy, I hope I don't buy it, haha.

Two possibilities:

1- lens diaphragm is sticky. Remove the lens and play with the diaphragm lever (little prong that opens and closes the iris inside the lens). On it's own, it should be closed, so you open it and then release the lever. The blades should close very quickly.

2- You accidentally have activated the "bracket" function. This would produce one correctly exposed photo and the next would be over-exposed. Press on the bracket button (just above the flash button) and look in the control panel. While turning the main command wheel until the display says F0. Now it might be F2.

Keep us posted.

Ok, thanks for the replies.Yes, D7k, as seen in my signature.
I have tried all apertures, ISO's and shutter speeds, same results.
No bracketing, definitely.. I've played with the lever, it opens/closes ok. Doesn't feel sticky either, lol.
I'm really not sure what else to check. Any other ideas? I feel like it's going back tomorrow haha!

eurotrash said:

Ok, thanks for the replies.Yes, D7k, as seen in my signature.
I have tried all apertures, ISO's and shutter speeds, same results.
No bracketing, definitely.. I've played with the lever, it opens/closes ok. Doesn't feel sticky either, lol.
I'm really not sure what else to check. Any other ideas? I feel like it's going back tomorrow haha!

Click to expand...

Does it do the same at 1.8? If it does, then it has to be bracketing

Try also with another lens at the same settings just to make sure it's not the camera.

yea those two pictures were shot with the EXACT same settings on two different lenses..

Try taking a shot with the correct exposure at f1.8 with the 50 and the 35. Take 2 successive shots with both lenses. It it exposes correctly at 1.8, then it's the diaphragm that is not operating correctly.

Have you tried it in A mode?

Yes, same results as A(noflash). I did shoot a few shots at 1.8 and definitely did.."better", though it was still a lot brighter than I expected, and still much brighter than the 35 at the exact same settings shooting at 1.8 as well. Maybe the diaphram IS faulty?

eurotrash said:

Yes, same results as A(noflash). I did shoot a few shots at 1.8 and definitely did.."better", though it was still a lot brighter than I expected, and still much brighter than the 35 at the exact same settings shooting at 1.8 as well. Maybe the diaphram IS faulty?

Click to expand...

Well,there seems to be something wrong since 1.8 is 1.8 wether 35 or 50. I suspect some kind of electric contact fault that would prevent the camera to communicate with the lens. If this is a new lens, I'd return it for exchange or have Nikon repair it. If you bought it used... then I'm not sure what your options are.

If you know someone with a nikon body, you could repeat your tests on another body.

No, this is a very used 1.8D from yesteryear. I'm almost certain that the lens is to blame here. As soon as I got it, I started noticing weirdness with it that made my eyebrows raise. I might return it and pickup the 40mm 2.8 micro instead. That's kind of what I wanted anyways, lol. I appreciate all the advice and troubleshooting help!

I'll tell you I have a very similar situation with a 17-55 2.8 that I bought used (damaged) and repaired by Nikon in Toronto. Works fine on the camera, but when I use an extension tube (Kenko), the diaphragm sticks and if I use anything different from 2.8 it's all overexposed.

I checked with other extension tubes ( there are 3 in the set) and the lens works fine with only one of them. Seems the little lever operating the diaphragm sticks to the other twos...

But the first time I tried them I was very perplexed and wondering what the heck was wrong.

That is a strange issue. I wonder why some lenses have strange issues like that. Especially your PRO lens! Well, I'm certainly glad that this problem isn't unheard of.

I'm certain this lens has been through some shit. Heck, the filter ring is bent and the lens just feels "rattely" and loose. I remember borrowing the exact lens from a friend awhile back and thought it was awesome! Too bad. Guess if anything, I'll spring for the AFS version next go around. But I feel like getting my Macro on lately