D800 left AF serial number range?

[dw1338]

I just purchased a new D800... And per the various internet forums a batch was affected by a left AF issue of some sort. Has a range of serial numbers been published somewhere?

 

[pluton]

Some months ago, T. Hogan wrote that serial numbers above 305xxxx should be OK.

This is consistent with my experience; My D800E, purchased in early Nov from Roberts(very nice people, btw) has S/N 3008xx, and it had the left AF disease.

My Feb 2013 D800(from B&H), s/n 305xxxx, seems free of it.

 

[NikPhotography]

pluton wrote:

Some months ago, T. Hogan wrote that serial numbers above 305xxxx should be OK.

This is consistent with my experience; My D800E, purchased in early Nov from Roberts(very nice people, btw) has S/N 3008xx, and it had the left AF disease.

My Feb 2013 D800(from B&H), s/n 305xxxx, seems free of it.

 

[dw1338]

Just received my D800 purchased Feb 2013 from B&H and I have the problem!!! I thought this was fixed by now... SN is 3057xxxx so that's above the Tom Hogan threshold of 3055xxxx. Admittedly this is not as dramatic as some of the photos out there but there is definitely a difference with center/right.

How do you know your manufacturing date from the SN???

 

[JohnLux]

Here's another thread about the D800's SN from some months back: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/post/41340365

 

[Mr Gadget]

Gee, just makes you want to run out and spend $3k+ on one. I have pretty much decided not to make the jump to FX, Dont need the expense nor the equipment issue headaches. I would love a D400, if they made one, but then I would wonder what quality issues it would have if they did. My D2x still is working great so we will wait a bit longer ...

 

[rcower]

pluton wrote:

Some months ago, T. Hogan wrote that serial numbers above 305xxxx should be OK.

This is consistent with my experience; My D800E, purchased in early Nov from Roberts(very nice people, btw) has S/N 3008xx, and it had the left AF disease.

My Feb 2013 D800(from B&H), s/n 305xxxx, seems free of it.

 

[xuser]

I just bought mine at B&H 305xxxx and did a quick test with 85 1.8. It is a little bit front focus, but I get same results using left, center and right sensors. I will be fine tuning my lenses soon.

 

[NikPhotography]

xuser wrote:

I just bought mine at B&H 305xxxx and did a quick test with 85 1.8. It is a little bit front focus, but I get same results using left, center and right sensors. I will be fine tuning my lenses soon.

I believe you would need a fast wide angle lens to detect the issue, and always fine tune first before testing.

 

[TOF guy]

NikPhotography wrote:
I feel jealous as I haven't been lucky but I hope I can get my hand on an issue-free D800E one day.

D800E #1 3010xxx Late Dec 2012, LAF syndrome
D800E #2 3010xxx Jan 2013, LAF syndrome
D800E #3 3011xxx Jan 2013, LAF syndrome
D800E #4 5002xxx Feb 2013, LAF syndrome

Maybe - just maybe - your testing procedure needs adjustment. Would you mind sharing your set-up with us and post the resulting images from one of the camera ?

 

[GO]

Mine is also 3020xxx and does not have any problems

 

[NikPhotography]

TOF guy wrote:

NikPhotography wrote:
I feel jealous as I haven't been lucky but I hope I can get my hand on an issue-free D800E one day.

D800E #1 3010xxx Late Dec 2012, LAF syndrome
D800E #2 3010xxx Jan 2013, LAF syndrome
D800E #3 3011xxx Jan 2013, LAF syndrome
D800E #4 5002xxx Feb 2013, LAF syndrome

Maybe - just maybe - your testing procedure needs adjustment. Would you mind sharing your set-up with us and post the resulting images from one of the camera ?

--
Thierry - posted as regular forum member

Here's the procedure, settings, and set-up I used:

1- D800E with 14-24mm AFS f/2.8 on tripod, leveled using a hot-shoe mounted bubble level;

2- set to AF-S A priority, Exposure Delay 3 sec., Self Timer 5 sec.;

3- AF fine tuned the lens ( in the range of +/- 5 was needed for the first 3 bodies )


4- Committed a sin by some standards, that is, instead of using lovely charts I used three fresh $5 bills and set them apart such that Lincoln's face lines up under the left-most, center, and right-most viewfinder focusing sensors;

5- captured several times using both Live View focus and viewfinder sensor focus. (obviously there's some sharpness fall off for images coming from off-center part of the lens).


In all bodies, the right-most sensor was always better than the left, in one very closely matched the LV focus on the same spot, but left-most sensor was always off with slightly different degrees in all four cameras. Here are the resulting images of the D800E body #2. (all are 100% crops, focus points as indicated in Capture NX2):




Center focus via Viewfinder


The softness here is an obvious effect of the lens and not expected to be as sharp as the center

and finally, the left-most sensor via view finder:



focus via the left-most sensor in view finder

--
Regards,
Nik

 

[Robin Casady]

NikPhotography wrote:

xuser wrote:

I just bought mine at B&H 305xxxx and did a quick test with 85 1.8. It is a little bit front focus, but I get same results using left, center and right sensors. I will be fine tuning my lenses soon.

I believe you would need a fast wide angle lens to detect the issue, and always fine tune first before testing.

Agree about AF Fine-tune first, but are you saying f/1.8 is not a fast lens? :-O

One thing to watch out for is the light. Do not test with tungsten or warm fluorescent light. Try to use daylight or something closes to it. There seems to be some PDAF error with warm light and you don't want to confuse that issue with your AF alignment issue.

 

[NikPhotography]

Robin Casady wrote:

NikPhotography wrote:

xuser wrote:

I just bought mine at B&H 305xxxx and did a quick test with 85 1.8. It is a little bit front focus, but I get same results using left, center and right sensors. I will be fine tuning my lenses soon.

I believe you would need a fast wide angle lens to detect the issue, and always fine tune first before testing.

Agree about AF Fine-tune first, but are you saying f/1.8 is not a fast lens? :-O

f/1.8 for sure is fast, even f/2.8 is fast enough for the purpose of this test, but 85mm is not wide.


Regards,
Nik

 

[Art Jacks]

Have you done any more tests with other lens or that lens using a different body to eliminate the possibility of a lens issue ?

 

[ken6217]

I picked up my 800E at B&H last week (2/27). Why would it have a s/n nbr of 301xxxx if Nikon is up to and maybe past 305xxxx. Any ideas?

Ken

 

[wombat779]

ken6217 wrote:

I picked up my 800E at B&H last week (2/27). Why would it have a s/n nbr of 301xxxx if Nikon is up to and maybe past 305xxxx. Any ideas?

Ken

D800E serial numbers are different than D800 serial numbers. My D800E bought in late November 2012 from B&H is 3009xxx.

 

[TOF guy]

I thought that Nikon had fixed this, and I was wrong.

But thank you for taking the time to share the procedure and results. The camera does exhibit the issue albeit it's nowhere as bad as it was in the early months of production. Still not good enough.

3 cameras with the issue ... hmmm this is not good :-(

 

[TOF guy]

Art Jacks wrote:

Have you done any more tests with other lens or that lens using a different body to eliminate the possibility of a lens issue ?

This is why it is important to compare results between CDAF (or alternatively manual focusing using LV at 100% magnification) and PDAF - as Nik has done.

We can eliminate the possibiity of a lens issue based on his results.

 

[Yaamon]

When I first got my D800 last June in Canada I quickly tested it in sunlight and noticed the right side was slight back focused with the left more pronounced. Canter Af and view voiew was accurate.

My serial number is 50027xx.

Luckily I was able to send it in to Nikon located in Mississauga, Ontario and after speaking to the service rep that I dealt with my D7000 they were able to repair it in one service. Now extreme left and right af is the same with pd vs live view.

I have read many owners have sent their D800/800E to Mississauga a few times with no luck.

I did noticed that with incandescent and florescent light throws off the af. So I did my fine tune in natural light. Only 1 lens need af and that was a -2.




I should use the D800 more but I have been using my 5DIII as my main camera.