Nikon ED AF Micro Nikkor 200 1:4D

[Gigas]

I got this lens today from the UK via Germany to Sweden. Everything is nice and it is in mint condition. I have tried  a couple of different settings with f stops at 18,20 and 22. I like the f18 the best but it is probably even sharper at f11. DOF is the standard problem so I like to use a smaller iris. This one is very dark on the screen at live view and when I push the P button it opens up, very bright for nailing focus. At the same time that little symbol of an iris is present at the screen. Should it be the other way around? Always full opening and when pushed P the lens close down for check of DOF.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

f/11 is better than f/16, and avoid the smaller stops for best quality. Do be aware of the persistent issue troubling this Micro-Nikkor, viz. the breaking of the A/M selector ring on the lens barrel. This ring, eventually, will break, and the repair is expensive and supply of spare parts probably is about to run out. The simple solution is taping down the A/M ring completely and forget that the lens has AF at all.

Not sure I understand your problem with LiveView - what camera is this?

[Gigas]

No need to tape for me as I only use this lens in my studio and always i manual mode. The problem is when setting the iris to f18 the screen goes da on live view. When I use the P button things get bright and the Iris symbol comes up on the LCD. I like to always set focus on full opening f4 but as soon I use the funktion for zoom to set focus it will go back to the darker view.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

The ring will break, eventually, whether it is used or not. My specimen of the 200/4ED suffered this fate after some years of the ring not being used at all.

Still don't understand the LiveView scenario. What camera are you using?

[Gigas]

I am using D810 and after I start the live view the screen goes dark. After I press the Pv button the screen lights up a lot better to set the focus. Took for granted that the camera opens up the aperture full and the you can check the DOF by keeping the Pv button pushed in!

[Roland Vink]

The ring will break, eventually, whether it is used or not. My specimen of the 200/4ED suffered this fate after some years of the ring not being used at all.

Is that true of later production lenses? Maybe it was only a problem with early lenses which was fixed later on. My AF-D 105/2.8 micro has the same A/M ring, usually set to M but occasionally switched to A, and it shows no signs of breaking.

[Bent Hjarbo]

My 80-200 f2.8 the 2 ring version also has this problem, got it fixed by Nikon, but broke again, this time I did not fix it, got the 70-200 VR2  . I thought that it was my handling of the lens when taking it out of the bag that was the problem, but maybe not

[Bjørn Rørslett]

I am using D810 and after I start the live view the screen goes dark. After I press the Pv button the screen lights up a lot better to set the focus. Took for granted that the camera opens up the aperture full and the you can check the DOF by keeping the Pv button pushed in!

Must be the particular set up of your camera? I cannot replicate this behaviour with my D810 and the 200/4 ED Micro.

[Gigas]

Ok Bjørn, maybe I got it all wrong. Anyway my "new" 200mm works perfect and is very sharp. The quality is just great and I love the WD now with lots of room for my strobes. The best settings for me is f11 and even f14 for both sharpness and DOF in my case. Taped down the plastic ring with black tape.

https://flic.kr/p/XmCkHu

[Gigas]

I will try to explain what happens in my D810. When I mount the 200mm micro lens I would expect to get the full opening of the aperture on live view. This is not the case so I have to push the Pv button for that. At the same time the icon of an iris appears on the screen. No it seems back words that I have to push the Pv button for a full opening to nail focus instead of the other way around. Something is not right or is it?

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Again the only explanation I can think of is your camera set up that differs from mine. I simply do not get the described behaviour. In fact, pushing the Pv button does nothing at all in LiveView mode. Liveview is always bright.

[Gigas]

This is from the owners manual but the facts are that it will be the other way around for me! "To preview the effects of aperture, press and hold the Pv button. The lens will be stopped down to the aperture value selected by the camera modes P and S or thye value chosen by the user (modes A and M) allowing dept of field to be previewed in the viewfinder" Does not the same thing aplies to live view?

[Bjørn Rørslett]

No. The view in LiveVew is electronically amplified to have the same brightness no matter what aperture is selected.

[Gigas]

On side 41 in the manual: Previewing Focus During View Photography ”To temporarily select maximum aperture for an improved focus preview during live view photography, press the Pv button. To return aperture to its original value, press the button again or focus using autofocus. If the shutter-release button is pressed all the way down to take a picture during focus preview, aperture will return to the original value before the photo is taken” My monitor goes dark according to the aperture value i got.


I guess I need to read this manual now and then to remember all the functions.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

As already stated a few times, my D810 camera does not share this behaviour. We must have configured them differently. How do you set the aperture - on the lens or with the camera dial?