nikon 28-70mm f2.8 failure to autofocus. why?

123paradox321

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Wei
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Hi all,

I bought the lens two years ago from this forum. Back then it worked like a dream with my d90. However, when I try to autofocus these days, the lens simply sits dormant. Based on advice from the web, I wiggle the aperture ring a bit and the lens auto focusses for a couple of shots; after which it stops working again. Coupled it with a d3100 and noticed that it shows -E- on the bottom right hand corner of the viewfinder. Does anybody know what's going on? How much will it cost me to fix?

Also, I can feel a slight click as I try to manually focus the lens about where the focus is sharpest. Cheers guys
 
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Sounds like the autofocus motor failure. Quite common. Mine went. It cost something like £350 to repair at Nikon. Worth spending the money on though!


Kev
 
Oh dear..that's about half the money I paid for it (2nd hand) How long will a repaired motor last? Is it a tell tale sign that the lens is on its way out? Will getting another second hand lens be a better option? Don't want to fix the motor only to have another part fail.
 
Thanks for your replies. Quick question , when talking about the body lifetime , the number of shutter clicks comes into play a lot. Is there an equivalent measure for lens lifetimes?
 
Of course it's still useable as a manual lens.
 
Sounds like the autofocus motor failure. Quite common.

My first reaction to this was "seriously?" but then I realised you aren't talking about the 24-70mm phew! lol
 
My first reaction to this was "seriously?" but then I realised you aren't talking about the 24-70mm phew! lol


It could happen. It did on my 70-200mm vr too!! :D


Kev.
 
So that might the problem here?

Ah, I see what you're getting at .... bit slow today :|

@Wei: Is the lens marked AF-S? If not then it won't auto-focus on your D3100.
 
Bristolian said:
Ah, I see what you're getting at .... bit slow today :|

@Wei: Is the lens marked AF-S? If not then it won't auto-focus on your D3100.

The 28-70 2.8 is an AF-s lens unfortunately does sound to be a bit broken but it would be worth giving electrical contacts a good clean to be sure.
 
Ah, I see what you're getting at .... bit slow today :|

@Wei: Is the lens marked AF-S? If not then it won't auto-focus on your D3100.

The 28-70 2.8 is an AF-s lens unfortunately does sound to be a bit broken but it would be worth giving electrical contacts a good clean to be sure.

That's correct. It is an afs lens. How can I clean it? Do I need any special solutions? Or will water do?
 
That's correct. It is an afs lens. How can I clean it? Do I need any special solutions? Or will water do?

A pencil rubber is often used to remove any gunge on the contacts, it cleans off minor contamination.
 
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