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Nikon 200-500 Problem

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gtrplr2

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I went to my not so local Nikon dealer (250 mile round trip) today and purchased a brand new 200-500 lens. When I returned home and mounted it for the first time, I got the "triangle F0" or "delta F0" as some call it in the viewfinder. I actually only noticed that after I went to take a pic and nothing worked. So I went looking for what the error code is, and it turns out that the lens CPU is not communicating with the camera. I took the lens off and mounted a few of my other Nikon lenses, and all is good. I tried mounting it a few more times with no luck. I removed and replaced the battery flipped all the lens switches back and forth, no go. One thing that has me concerned is the CPU contacts are not really supported in place like all my other lenses, and they are just sort of there all by themselves, with no support at all. I looked again at the owners manual to make sure that something was not missing, and it looks just the same in the manual. All of my other Nikon lenses have a good solid piece that matches the CPU contacts all around, and seem much more rigid. Even if I do trade for another 200-500, the CPU contacts have me worried for long term durability (and stability) even in the short term, am I over-reacting? It just does not seem correct to me. The store where I purchased the lens will obviously trade it for another one, but now I am hesitant to do so. Another valuable lesson for me is to NEVER leave a store where I make a purchase again without attaching the lens for verification that it works, that is totally my fault, but this is the only Nikon lens that I have ever had be defective and I have purchased quite a few over the years from this same store. I should mention that I have this mounted on a Nikon D500

Jeff
 
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gtrplr2 said:
I went to my not so local Nikon dealer (250 mile round trip) today and purchased a brand new 200-500 lens. When I returned home and mounted it for the first time, I got the "triangle F0" or "delta F0" as some call it in the viewfinder. I actually only noticed that after I went to take a pic and nothing worked. So I went looking for what the error code is, and it turns out that the lens CPU is not communicating with the camera. I took the lens off and mounted a few of my other Nikon lenses, and all is good. I tried mounting it a few more times with no luck. I removed and replaced the battery flipped all the lens switches back and forth, no go. One thing that has me concerned is the CPU contacts are not really supported in place like all my other lenses, and they are just sort of there all by themselves, with no support at all. I looked again at the owners manual to make sure that something was not missing, and it looks just the same in the manual. All of my other Nikon lenses have a good solid piece that matches the CPU contacts all around, and seem much more rigid. Even if I do trade for another 200-500, the CPU contacts have me worried for long term durability (and stability) even in the short term, am I over-reacting? It just does not seem correct to me. The store where I purchased the lens will obviously trade it for another one, but now I am hesitant to do so. Another valuable lesson for me is to NEVER leave a store where I make a purchase again without attaching the lens for verification that it works, that is totally my fault, but this is the only Nikon lens that I have ever had be defective and I have purchased quite a few over the years from this same store. I should mention that I have this mounted on a Nikon D500

Jeff
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Sorry to hear about the bad luck. About the only think you can do is change it. Maybe send Bill Ferris a PM. He had an electronic aperture issue. Not sure about if he had error codes.

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www.dpreview.com
 
If you have a good relationship with the store then consider a courier save the journey, and if there is something wrong they can courier a new one to you to save the journey. I personally would not travel that far I would get them to post me the item, any problems then I have distance selling regulations I can fall upon.
 
A common cure for this type of issue is to carefully clean the lens and camera throat electric contacts.

With your lens you seem to be saying the lens electric contacts are not spring loaded.

If yes the lens will not work on any body and is defective straight out of the box.

You should either get your money back from the dealer or an exchange body if the dealer has a second one in stock.
 
Thanks for all the advise and suggestions. It is a bit of a trip, and except for the wind, really not a bad one, lots of mountains, rivers, wildlife etc. I made the trip back over, and the lens was defective as the error message suggested, and the shop was happy to replace it with a new one, this one actually works! They said it was the first one of the 200-500 they have had to be defective. I did not have a chance to use it much, but will get more opportunities in the upcoming week.

Jeff
 
Leonard Shepherd said:
A common cure for this type of issue is to carefully clean the lens and camera throat electric contacts.
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I have to second what Leonard has to say. On pretty much every Nikkor lens or TC that I have purchased, I mount the lens and get an error. I clean the contacts and the problem goes away. Additionally, If this happens when I am out and about, I turn the camera off, hit the lens release, turn the lens as if to take off but then turn it back to locked position. Turn the camera back on and away I go. I think the contacts on the Nikon camera and lenses are a weak point, but usually not an issue. This has happened to me a number of times.
Leonard Shepherd said:
With your lens you seem to be saying the lens electric contacts are not spring loaded.

If yes the lens will not work on any body and is defective straight out of the box.

You should either get your money back from the dealer or an exchange body if the dealer has a second one in stock.

--
Leonard Shepherd
Good photography is usually more about what you do with the equipment you own rather than what equipment you own.
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rz350 said:
I have to second what Leonard has to say. On pretty much every Nikkor lens or TC that I have purchased, I mount the lens and get an error. I clean the contacts and the problem goes away. Additionally, If this happens when I am out and about, I turn the camera off, hit the lens release, turn the lens as if to take off but then turn it back to locked position. Turn the camera back on and away I go. I think the contacts on the Nikon camera and lenses are a weak point, but usually not an issue. This has happened to me a number of times.
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Thanks. This is the only Nikon lens or camera that I have personally had a error message appear, and the shop tried the lens on several Nikon bodies with the same results. I tried many times to remount this lens with no luck, so in this particular case it was a defective lens. It had to do with the contacts, as the alignment and position looked all wrong, and on my new one there is a definite difference in the way they look alone, and of course it works just fine.

Jeff
 
gtrplr2 said:
the shop tried the lens on several Nikon bodies with the same results.
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From your original description of the fault this was a very high probability.
gtrplr2 said:
my new one there is a definite difference in the way they look alone, and of course it works just fine.
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Seems the shop had another in stock or got you one for you very quickly :)
 
Swap yours for a good copy.

maljo



cb6e47f4be694e40ad17e6abf9a211f0.jpg
 
Leonard Shepherd said:
Seems the shop had another in stock or got you one for you very quickly :)
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Yes they had another one in stock, it was sitting on the counter when I walked in. We had discussed the issue over the phone the previous day. Very good customer service and the reason I make the trip when needed. So today I will be able to get out and use it.

Jeff
 
gtrplr2 said:
Thanks for all the advise and suggestions. It is a bit of a trip, and except for the wind, really not a bad one, lots of mountains, rivers, wildlife etc. I made the trip back over, and the lens was defective as the error message suggested, and the shop was happy to replace it with a new one, this one actually works! They said it was the first one of the 200-500 they have had to be defective. I did not have a chance to use it much, but will get more opportunities in the upcoming week.

Jeff
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It's good to hear you were able to exchange the defective lens for one in good working order. Enjoy shooting with the 200-500.

As TO mentioned in his comment, I experienced an issue with my copy to the 200-500. About a month after receiving the lens, I discovered my D610 camera body was not able to control the electromagnetic aperture beyond a focal length of about 250mm. During the first month, I'd made several hundred exposures but, with only a handful of exceptions, all had been with the lens wide open at f/5.6. The symptoms included an error message (Err) that would appear on the D610's top LCD display after making a photo at 260mm or longer and f/6.3 or higher, and photos that were increasingly over-exposed with each increase in f-stop. In short, if a photo at f/5.6, 1/1000, ISO 100 appeared properly exposed, a photo at f/8, 1/500, ISO 100 would appear 1-stop overexposed; one at f/11, 1/250, ISO 100 would appear 2-stops over-exposed and so on.

Nikon USA repaired the lens and it has performed like a champ, since being returned. One of the lessons for me from that experience has been to be more thorough about testing the performance of a new lens at all apertures and, if a zoom, at a range of focal lengths.
 
Bill Ferris said:
Nikon USA repaired the lens and it has performed like a champ, since being returned. One of the lessons for me from that experience has been to be more thorough about testing the performance of a new lens at all apertures and, if a zoom, at a range of focal lengths.
Click to expand...
 
Watch out! Cardinals can get very angry at their reflections. This one looks ready to attack.

Very pleased with my 200-500 as well.
 
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