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by Mark Robinson on Mon Aug 14, 2017 7:56 am
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I have a mint condition 300mm F4D AF-S lens that I bought new approximately 13 years ago. It is a USA model, and rarely used.

It will not auto focus at all on either of my D500 bodies, but will auto focus on my D2x bodies. It does squeak when focusing though.

I can use it perfectly well in manual focus on my D500's.

Any ideas? Thanks.
Mark Robinson
http://www.critterlight.com
 

by flygirl on Tue Aug 15, 2017 9:27 am
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Mark Robinson wrote:I have a mint condition 300mm F4D AF-S lens that I bought new approximately 13 years ago. It is a USA model, and rarely used.

It will not auto focus at all on either of my D500 bodies, but will auto focus on my D2x bodies. It does squeak when focusing though.

I can use it perfectly well in manual focus on my D500's.

Any ideas? Thanks.
Mark, I had the same issue with my older Nikon 500 AF-S II version lens and the D7100.  My Nikon 300 AF-S II works fine on all my cameras including the D500, but mine is only about 4 years old.  I had to send in my 500 lens to Nikon for adjustment, then it worked just fine.  There was a modulator in the lens that they adjusted.
 

by Woodswalker on Tue Aug 15, 2017 9:35 am
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I have that lens and just tried it with my D500 and it works fine. I would clean the contacts on the lens and the lens mount before sending it in though.
 

by E.J. Peiker on Tue Aug 15, 2017 11:52 am
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One question, did you by chance have a teleconverter on the lens. The 300D lens does not work with the newest version of the 1.4x on any camera.
 

by Mark Robinson on Tue Aug 15, 2017 12:43 pm
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E.J. Peiker wrote:One question, did you by chance have a teleconverter on the lens.  The 300D lens does not work with the newest version of the 1.4x on any camera.
No TC on lens. 

Thanks.
Mark Robinson
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by Mark Robinson on Tue Aug 15, 2017 12:48 pm
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flygirl wrote:
Mark Robinson wrote:I have a mint condition 300mm F4D AF-S lens that I bought new approximately 13 years ago. It is a USA model, and rarely used.

It will not auto focus at all on either of my D500 bodies, but will auto focus on my D2x bodies. It does squeak when focusing though.

I can use it perfectly well in manual focus on my D500's.

Any ideas? Thanks.
Mark, I had the same issue with my older Nikon 500 AF-S II version lens and the D7100.  My Nikon 300 AF-S II works fine on all my cameras including the D500, but mine is only about 4 years old.  I had to send in my 500 lens to Nikon for adjustment, then it worked just fine.  There was a modulator in the lens that they adjusted.
Thank you for this information. I will most likely need to send the lens in. Curiously, my D500's work well with my 600MM AF-S from 1999-2000, and other lenses bought at similar times.
Mark Robinson
http://www.critterlight.com
 

by Mark Robinson on Tue Aug 15, 2017 12:49 pm
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Woodswalker wrote:I have that lens and just tried it with my D500 and it works fine. I would clean the contacts on the lens and the lens mount before sending it in though.
VERY clean contacts, and it does work on a D2x.

Thank you.
Mark Robinson
http://www.critterlight.com
 

by Woodswalker on Tue Aug 15, 2017 1:29 pm
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Well hopefully it's some small thing because it is a good lens despite the vintage.
 

by Tim Zurowski on Tue Aug 15, 2017 4:52 pm
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Mark, this is a known issue with these lenses. Mine did the exact same thing, as did three friends with the same model. It would AF on a D800 & D810, but would not AF on a D7200, D600 or a D750. I also had issues with it not auto focusing with a 1.4x on certain bodies. You would think that it is a contact cleaning issue, but it is not. I cleaned to contacts many times and it never made the slightest difference. I took the lens into Kerrisdale Cameras to see about trade in value for the new 300 f4 PF VR. They first tested it on a D750 and it would not AF, So I told him to try it on a D810, and it worked. Mine also squeaked as well. So he phoned their tech in Vancouver and he said it means the AF motor is starting to fail and will eventually stop AF completely. Needless to say they would not take it on trade. I know two people who sent their copies back to Nikon and all Nikon does is replace the AF motor with a new one. If you really like the lens, the cost for the new motor (around $500 in Canada) is probably worth it. I sold my lens cheap and bought the new 300 PF VR, which I love and like better than the old model like yours.
 

by Mark Robinson on Tue Aug 15, 2017 5:24 pm
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Tim Zurowski wrote:Mark, this is a known issue with these lenses. Mine did the exact same thing, as did three friends with the same model. It would AF on a D800 & D810, but would not AF on a D7200, D600 or a D750. I also had issues with it not auto focusing with a 1.4x on certain bodies. You would think that it is a contact cleaning issue, but it is not. I cleaned to contacts many times and it never made the slightest difference. I took the lens into Kerrisdale Cameras to see about trade in value for the new 300 f4 PF VR. They first tested it on a D750 and it would not AF, So I told him to try it on a D810, and it worked. Mine also squeaked as well. So he phoned their tech in Vancouver and he said it means the AF motor is starting to fail and will eventually stop AF completely. Needless to say they would not take it on trade. I know two people who sent their copies back to Nikon and all Nikon does is replace the AF motor with a new one. If you really like the lens, the cost for the new motor (around $500 in Canada) is probably worth it. I sold my lens cheap and bought the new 300 PF VR, which I love and like better than the old model like yours.
Thank you Tim. This is very useful information. I guess if I have the squeaky motor replaced, it still will not auto focus on a D500.
Mark Robinson
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by KK Hui on Tue Aug 15, 2017 7:16 pm
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Mark,
See this old thread viewtopic.php?f=57&t=248032
I'm now on my D7200 and the AF-S 300/4D ED works flawlessly w/ or w/o TC14E (ver I or II)
My 300/4D squeaks occasionally too; soon after I bought it new in Jul 2008.
The AF-S motor is still working without a hitch!
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by Tim Zurowski on Tue Aug 15, 2017 8:05 pm
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KK, I think you missed my point, which is that this lens is notorious for for randomly not auto focusing on any Nikon camera body. I am not saying that it won't work with the same bodies I had the problem with. My lens worked perfectly on Mike's D7200, so we used to switch lenses when we were out shooting dragonflies. On my D7200, it was totally dead with regards to AF. This lens can have this issue arise at any time on any body. For some people it never happens, (like you) and others it does happen. Also, when the motor squeaks it does not mean that it is guaranteed to fail. It may work forever, but it does mean that the motor is struggling and may fail at anytime. The guy who bought mine only paid $400 for it. he knew the issues, but it worked fine on his two bodies, do he was willing to take the chance and hope that it never fails for him. If it did, he was willing to send it to Nikon to get the motor replaced.

You are lucky that it is not happening for you. I know others who also do not have the problem (Mike for one). But I also know many others who do have the issue.
 

by KK Hui on Tue Aug 15, 2017 8:41 pm
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Tim,
It's a mystery as to why this lens doesn't AF with certain bodies even Nikon Service has no idea; they end up exchanging lens motor etc.
I had problem with my D7100 but that is history for me.
The root cause I never find out. :-(
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by Dave Courtenay on Wed Aug 16, 2017 9:55 am
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Tim Zurowski wrote:Mark, this is a known issue with these lenses. Mine did the exact same thing, as did three friends with the same model. It would AF on a D800 & D810, but would not AF on a D7200, D600 or a D750. I also had issues with it not auto focusing with a 1.4x on certain bodies. You would think that it is a contact cleaning issue, but it is not. I cleaned to contacts many times and it never made the slightest difference. I took the lens into Kerrisdale Cameras to see about trade in value for the new 300 f4 PF VR. They first tested it on a D750 and it would not AF, So I told him to try it on a D810, and it worked. Mine also squeaked as well. So he phoned their tech in Vancouver and he said it means the AF motor is starting to fail and will eventually stop AF completely. Needless to say they would not take it on trade. I know two people who sent their copies back to Nikon and all Nikon does is replace the AF motor with a new one. If you really like the lens, the cost for the new motor (around $500 in Canada) is probably worth it. I sold my lens cheap and bought the new 300 PF VR, which I love and like better than the old model like yours.


My 600VR has squeaked since day one and has had the motor replaced and still squeaks

Dave
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