Nikon 800/6.3 S repair

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jfbacks

jfbacks

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I'm not sure what happened but ever since I imaged the solar eclipse 4/8 my 800/6.3 S developed a "haze". It's not a Z9 sensor defect as it only affects the Z800.
I've been living with it for the warbler migration season as picking up my 500mm/f4 G is a real ball buster now. The haze can be mitigated in Adobe raw at +35.
Time to return as the warranty is running out. It really manifests with white and a dark background. The first image shows the haze around the the white box with
the 800/6.3, the second is the 500mm/4 G with a TC/1.4. The two warbler images are with the 800 and dehaze applied. It definitely happened at solar eclipse. Any
guesses as to what happened. I don't think I left the lens exposed to the sun for any significant period even with the camera turned off.
 

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I photo'd the eclipse with a solar filter in front of the big lens, no concerns. (I photo the SUN often)
Really sucks that you have a very serious concern.
 
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ajrmd said:
So sorry to hear about your issues and I am wondering whether the UV light somehow vaporized or altered the coatings or the Fresnel lens elements? Please keep us in the loop.
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I was wandering the same thing, that the Fresnel surface somehow got cooked. I'll let you know once I get an report from Nikon.
 
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So was your solar filter IN FRONT of the lens, or did you use the drop in filter at the back, closer to the camera? For solar shots, the filter HAS to be at the very front to prevent damage to the lens and/or camera as far as I understand.
 
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Fishboy1952 said:
So was your solar filter IN FRONT of the lens, or did you use the drop in filter at the back, closer to the camera? For solar shots, the filter HAS to be at the very front to prevent damage to the lens and/or camera as far as I understand.
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It was in front of the lens.
 

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That really is odd. As long as the filter material was rated, it should have also taken care of UV, IR, and the intense visible light. I shot the eclipse with the 600 PF and a Seymour Solar filter on the front end. No issues whatsoever.
 
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jfbacks said:
I'm not sure what happened but ever since I imaged the solar eclipse 4/8 my 800/6.3 S developed a "haze". It's not a Z9 sensor defect as it only affects the Z800.
I've been living with it for the warbler migration season as picking up my 500mm/f4 G is a real ball buster now. The haze can be mitigated in Adobe raw at +35.
Time to return as the warranty is running out. It really manifests with white and a dark background. The first image shows the haze around the the white box with
the 800/6.3, the second is the 500mm/4 G with a TC/1.4. The two warbler images are with the 800 and dehaze applied. It definitely happened at solar eclipse. Any
guesses as to what happened. I don't think I left the lens exposed to the sun for any significant period even with the camera turned off.
Click to expand...
Haze is usually caused by the lens getting too hot.
The lubricants from the helicoid transfer to the aperture blades and lens elements.
the only lenses I can see being affected by the sun are the chinese ones with plastic elements .. 🦘
 
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Roy said:
Haze is usually caused by the lens getting too hot.
The lubricants from the helicoid transfer to the aperture blades and lens elements.
the only lenses I can see being affected by the sun are the chinese ones with plastic elements .. 🦘
Click to expand...
Yes, that's a distinct possibility as are issues with the coatings. FYI, many lens manufacturers (not only those in China) are using optical grade, plastic elements to save weight and cost.
 
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Update. Nikon received my 800/6.3 for repair 6/2. I wasn't getting any updates so I called them a couple of days ago. After some checking the rep emailed me they
were waiting on a part. As far as I figure it must be a lens element, and if I was a betting man I would wager on the pf element. Surely they keep the objective element
in stock as that's probably the one damaged +95% of the time. I went back and checked raw files before the eclipse and the haze was not present so I did something to
cause the damage. I can't remember what I did after the eclipse was over(I have a hard time remembering what I had for lunch). Maybe I turned the camera off and then
removed the solar filter with the camera still pointed at the sun for some time. The part is expected 6/25, we'll see. I'm building back up muscle mass lugging my 500/4 G.
The good news, repair cost $0.
 
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jfbacks said:
Just out of curiosity. Did anyone else use a 800/6.3 to image the eclipse, or any other pf lens for that matter?
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I used the 600 PF for shooting the eclipse in Texas. The only time it was pointed towards the sun without a filter was from 20 seconds prior to totality until 20 seconds after totality for the diamond ring and Baily’s beads. No issues whatsoever afterwards. Sorry about your 800.

And my friend used my 300 PF on his D3400. Again no issues.
 
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Fishboy1952 said:
I used the 600 PF for shooting the eclipse in Texas. The only time it was pointed towards the sun without a filter was from 20 seconds prior to totality until 20 seconds after totality for the diamond ring and Baily’s beads. No issues whatsoever afterwards. Sorry about your 800.
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I'd be more worried about burning my sensor... 🦘
 
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