Camera Labs

Hi all,

I didn't realize I had a problem with photographs taken with my D80 using the AF S Nikkor 55-200mm (kit) lens. I'm wondering what others think the problem might be.

We took a drive up to Mt. St. Helens and photographed the volcano with my telephoto. When I came home and off-loaded the image files to my hard drive I opened them up and examined them. Upon closer magnification I noticed what appears to be a ghost image towards the northwest direction of the subjects.

I examined other photographs from other times and realized that when I've zoom out to or near 200mm the affect (or problem) is exaggerated and the ghost always seems to be in the northwest position.

Some images from a couple of weeks ago at the coast were strictly taken with the camera mounted to a tripod so it couldn't from me holding the camera … I don’t think. Though I suppose the mere fact that I gently pressed the shutter could be to blame.

As I know that shake can cause this I'm a little confused as to why the ghosting is in the same direction. Any ideas? Could it be faulty hardware (camera or lens), me, or both?

Best regards,
Jim

Hi Jim, that certainly doesn't sound right, although I should mention if you have a lens with stabilisation, you should switch it off when mounted on a tripod. Otherwise it can actually add a little motion to the image and effectively blur it.

In fact maybe that's what's happened here, but you'll need to show us before we can really diagnose the problem. Could you post a shrunken version of the image here, or a crop showing the offending section?

Thanks,

Gordon

Hi Gordon,

I would upload a photo or two but don't know how to do it from inside of your message board. If there are instructions on how to do it please let me know and I'll read them. Do you want me to just email them to you?

Best regards,
Jim

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Best regards,
Jim

Hi Jim, unless you have your own website, the easiest thing is to post them to a flickr account...

Gordon

Or if it's just a one off thing, you could head over to http://imageshack.us/ You don't have to sign up and you can upload small images there and link back to it.



Does the 55-200mm Nikkor lens come with VR? I didn't think it did. Is it possible that some dust might have crept into your lens/sensor?

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My Flickr

The new one does.
But I have not yet seen it in kits - even the D40x kit I saw recently at Costco (in the US) comes with the old, non-VR 55-200mm.

Darrin

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Nikon D40 | Nikkor 18-55 VR | Nikkor 55-200 VR | Voigtländer Ultron 40mm SL-II | Nikon Speedlight SB-400

Here's a link to one of the images:

http://img217.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... pedij7.jpg

Thanks for the info on where to post images, TelexStar.

Best regards,
Jim

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Best regards,
Jim

Hi Jim, that looks like camera shake to me...

If it was on a tripod, you could still have knocked it a bit when pressing the button - I always try and use either a cable release or a self-timer to take shots on a tripod.

Also if your 55-200mm is the latest version with VR, then you should switch the VR off when using a tripod, or you might get a similar effect.

Do you have the VR version of the lens? And could you tell us what the exposure and focal length were?

Gordon

PS - that's one advnatge of flickr, as it lest you view the attributes of an image...

Hi Gordon,

I'll have to take some more shots but with self-timer and see what kind of difference it makes. The lens does not VR. Focal length: 200mm F-Number F/10 Exposure time 1/250 sec ISO Speed: ISO-125

I'll let you know after this weekend when I do some more tests if I can blame it on myself of if, without human intervention, shake is still evident afterwards. Makes me wish I have the newer VR lens or the 18-200 VR one.

Best regards,
Jim

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Best regards,
Jim

Hmmm, 1/250 is quite a quick shutter speed and should be enough to get rid of all but the worst shake at 200mm. But you'd be surprised how much you can knock a camera when it's on a tripod, so yep, try taking some with the self-timer and we'll keep our fingers crossed!

Gordon

Wow, that appears to be some serious shake. As Gordan said, 1/250 seems like more than adequate to eliminate that kind of shake.

Out of interest, have you tried taking some shots at higher shutter speeds? 1/1000 or something? If you're still getting ghosting at those settings then I would be seriously suspicious that something is wrong with the camera/lens somewhere.

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My Flickr

Should we consider the fact that 200 mm become 300 mm when the lens is used on an APS-C camera? That would require 1/300 sec minimum...

Darrin

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Nikon D40 | Nikkor 18-55 VR | Nikkor 55-200 VR | Voigtländer Ultron 40mm SL-II | Nikon Speedlight SB-400

Bingo!

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http://zorrofox4.deviantart.com/



Various lenses, SB800 & Manfrotto 190 with 460MG head

You're right Darrin, the old rule was 1 / (effective) focal length to avoid camera shake, so technically speaking, yes, it should be around 1/300! But since this problem was visible at 1/250, I don't think it would go away at 1/300! I'm hoping the camera was wobbled as Jim pressed the shutter release, and that using the self-timer will see the problem go away. Otherwise it looks like being an optical problem...

That shake looks incredible, just make more photos at and around 1/250 and see if this was a one time off!

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses