D3300 & Kit 18-55, Serious Vignetting 18-21 mm

Ray Maines

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I went to a wedding over the weekend and a friend with a four month old D3300 with two kit lenses was there and we looked at each others pictures afterward.

Every shot he took from 18-21 mm (ISO 100 & 200, F/ between 8 & 11) looked like he shot the picture through a cardboard tube.

This shot is re-sized but otherwise untouched, and is representative of the other half dozen he took. There were no shots in this focal range that weren't this way.

He's brand new to our hobby and I haven't had my hands on his camera to know if anything is loose or damaged. Looking through his older pictures I see the same problem from the beginning, so I don't think the lens improperly attached.

Thanks for your time and diagnostic skills.

 Beside the obvious, what's wrong here?
Beside the obvious, what's wrong here?

--
Buy books, not gear.
Tacoma, Washington, USA
 
I went to a wedding over the weekend and a friend with a four month old D3300 with two kit lenses was there and we looked at each others pictures afterward.

Every shot he took from 18-21 mm (ISO 100 & 200, F/ between 8 & 11) looked like he shot the picture through a cardboard tube.

This shot is re-sized but otherwise untouched, and is representative of the other half dozen he took. There were no shots in this focal range that weren't this way.

He's brand new to our hobby and I haven't had my hands on his camera to know if anything is loose or damaged. Looking through his older pictures I see the same problem from the beginning, so I don't think the lens improperly attached.

Thanks for your time and diagnostic skills.

Beside the obvious, what's wrong here?
Beside the obvious, what's wrong here?

--
Buy books, not gear.
Tacoma, Washington, USA
Not sure but that really looks like he had the wrong lens hood on for the 18-55 lens or had it attached wrong. He didn't happen to have a strange filter setup on the lens did he? When reviewing on the back of the camera...did they look like this also?

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My opinions are my own and not those of DPR or its administration. They carry no 'special' value (except to me and Lacie of course)
 
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I am not familiar with any possible camera/lens defects, but I have had similar results with wrong hood in the past. My first suspicion is on the hood.
 
I agree that it could be the wrong hood. It could also be caused by a filter, but that's less likely unless he is using more than one filter at a time.
 
I went to a wedding over the weekend ... Blah, blah, blah
Not sure but that really looks like he had the wrong lens hood on for the 18-55 lens or had it attached wrong. He didn't happen to have a strange filter setup on the lens did he? When reviewing on the back of the camera...did they look like this also?
No filters, but I don't know if he were using a lens hood or if it were somehow the wrong hood.

<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>

He bought a two lens bundle from Costco, and after doing a little research I see both lenses use a 52 mm filter, so I think you guys are probably right. He was probably using the hood designed for the 55-200 lens on his 18-55. I'll be seeing him again a few days so I'll mention that.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.
 
I went to a wedding over the weekend ... Blah, blah, blah
Not sure but that really looks like he had the wrong lens hood on for the 18-55 lens or had it attached wrong. He didn't happen to have a strange filter setup on the lens did he? When reviewing on the back of the camera...did they look like this also?
No filters, but I don't know if he were using a lens hood or if it were somehow the wrong hood.

<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>

He bought a two lens bundle from Costco, and after doing a little research I see both lenses use a 52 mm filter, so I think you guys are probably right. He was probably using the hood designed for the 55-200 lens on his 18-55. I'll be seeing him again a few days so I'll mention that.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.
This suggests that 55-200mm lens's hood might be better for minimizing flare if it's used on the 18-55mm lens when it's zoomed between about 22mm and 55mm. It wouldn't be very convenient if your friend had to carry both lens hoods and swap them every time the lens's focal length crossed the 21mm/22mm zone but it might be worth doing this in situations where the sun or extremely bright lights are producing tremendous flare or veiling glare.

Something else to warn your friend about regarding lens hoods if he's new to photography is that they can cause large shadows in the bottom center of the frame in photos that use the built-in flash. I found that with the 18-55mm lens the shadow is clearly visible at the widest focal lengths. At 29mm the shadow is almost gone, at 30mm you almost have to pixel peep to see its trace, and by 31mm the shadow is entirely gone. If your friend tries this he may not see the effects at the identical focal lengths (29mm to 31mm) because I don't know which 18-55mm lens he has. The newest VR II model is the one that I used and it uses a petal shaped hood that isn't included with the lens (the VR II lens is the one that has a locking button on the lens barrel) uses a different lens hood that won't fit Nikon's other 18-55mm lenses, so there may be slight differences in where the shadow appears and doesn't appear.

This happened to me several years ago but I was fortunate enough to occasionally review the photos in the LCD so the shadows only appeared in a couple of photos before they were noticed.
 
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I dont know if you know about the DSLR categories in Nikon.

One is the DX version (D3300) and other is the FX version (D800).

same for the lenses as well.

So check if your lens is a DX type or FX type.

In nikon website fins lens simulator. find the lens that you are using and it will show you the type of cameras that the lens can be used.

So the problem that i think is your camera accepts only DX lens and you are using a FX lens on the DX camera.
 
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I dont know if you know about the DSLR categories in Nikon.

One is the DX version (D3300) and other is the FX version (D800).

same for the lenses as well.

So check if your lens is a DX type or FX type.
The 18-55mm "kit" lens that comes with the D3300 is a DX lens. The image EXIF agrees.
So the problem that i think is your camera accepts only DX lens and you are using a FX lens on the DX camera.
The D3300 (and all Nikon DX bodies) accept both DX and FX lenses. Currently, Nikon doesn't even have an FX version in 18-55mm (not sure they ever did). Even if they did, mounting an FX lens on a DX body would not cause vignetting. DX lens on an FX body (like the D800) can be a different story (not always though)

--
My opinions are my own and not those of DPR or its administration. They carry no 'special' value (except to me and Lacie of course)
 
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So the problem that i think is your camera accepts only DX lens and you are using a FX lens on the DX camera.
I can say with 100% certainty this answer is wrong.

A wrong hood, as others have already said, or stacked filters is the problem.
 

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