Strange problem w/ 100-400 Z lens - SOS

[ricardo00]

PROBLEM solved. Not sure what was happened but I noticed that Zemlin mounting ring was attached in a slightly crooked manner. When I removed it, everything worked file. No idea what was happening. Not Karl's fault - I attached the hood mounting ring incorrectly

Wonder if you happened to take a picture of the "crooked mounting"? I have for the first time used a replacement hood (the Zemlin) on my 800mm PF and now am worried about whether it is mounted wrong. I am also not sure that this was the cause of the problem (sorry I am a cynical person). It is hard to understand how this caused the dramatic problems you had. Is it possible that it was a co-incidence that removing the hood solved the problem? For your sake, I hope it never repeats.

 

[BillW]

I misaligned the mounting ring. that error is mine. I can not fault Karl for my error. There is no way Karl can anticipate all possible user's errors and make a products that are full proof. I have tried and found that the fools are smarting than I am.

I have heard stories that when you give a recipe and say add an egg, some people, albeit only a few, will add the egg including the shell.

Interesting to think about what caused the problem. It’s not obvious to me (of course, I’m not an expert, so maybe?) why a misaligned hood mounting ring would cause this problem. I’d be curious to understand the possible mechanism.

According to her post, Karen had a similar problem with the Z9 and Z 105 with no Zemlin hood/ring.

Could reseating the Zemlin ring cause you to move the lens in a way that “fixed” a short inside the lens? If so, I’d be worried the problem might happen again.

I just got a Zemlin hood for my Z 100-400 and installed it, but have not shot with it yet. It‘s my third Zemlin hood — I’ve used and liked them on my 500 mm PF and 800 mm PF. No problems so far. I did try to install the mounting ring backwards on the 500 mm PF — my first Zemlin hood — but all went fine after I figured that out.

I‘m headed on a trip to Alaska next week. Will take my Z9, Z 100-400, and Zemlin hood. Will do some tests shots before going as I’d hate to have this problem on a trip. Big snow storm starting here tomorrow.

 

[RichF]

Wonder if you happened to take a picture of the "crooked mounting"? I have for the first time used a replacement hood (the Zemlin) on my 800mm PF and now am worried about whether it is mounted wrong. I am also not sure that this was the cause of the problem (sorry I am a cynical person). It is hard to understand how this caused the dramatic problems you had. Is it possible that it was a co-incidence that removing the hood solved the problem? For your sake, I hope it never repeats.

Interesting to think about what caused the problem. It’s not obvious to me (of course, I’m not an expert, so maybe?) why a misaligned hood mounting ring would cause this problem. I’d be curious to understand the possible mechanism.

According to her post, Karen had a similar problem with the Z9 and Z 105 with no Zemlin hood/ring.

Could reseating the Zemlin ring cause you to move the lens in a way that “fixed” a short inside the lens? If so, I’d be worried the problem might happen again.

I just got a Zemlin hood for my Z 100-400 and installed it, but have not shot with it yet. It‘s my third Zemlin hood — I’ve used and liked them on my 500 mm PF and 800 mm PF. No problems so far. I did try to install the mounting ring backwards on the 500 mm PF — my first Zemlin hood — but all went fine after I figured that out.

I‘m headed on a trip to Alaska next week. Will take my Z9, Z 100-400, and Zemlin hood. Will do some tests shots before going as I’d hate to have this problem on a trip. Big snow storm starting here tomorrow.

No picture. I did notice upon careful inspection that mounting ring was slightly askew. That is, not completely flush with the front of the lens.

I had previously installed hoods on my 500 PF (which is my wife's now), 400 F/4.5, 180-400 F/4, 800 PF, as well as my wife's 100-400. So I might have got a bit sloppy when I attached the mounting. With all the other lens, the screw that tightens the mounting ring is at the 6 o'clock position per Karl's video. With the 100-400 the screw is at the 3 or 9 o'clock position which I must have missed at first.

When mounted correctly, the hood attached much easier than when askew. Seems to me if the lens works with the Zemlin hood attached, you are all set. I am off to Baffin Island in 5-6 weeks w/ lens with the Zemlin hoods and I am not concerned about the hood. If you are very concerned, bring the Zemlin allen key and your old hood (in your suitcase).

 

[BlackRockArt]

I am glad @RichF has solved the problem, enjoy your trip.

Going off on a tangent, this reminds me of a common sceario I notice again & again with telephoto lens hood. Some lens hood has a small click lock, if it's mounted correctly, it usually goes from 9 o'clock or 3 o'clock to 12 o'clock up right; when the photographer is in a hurry, occasionally the lens hood would get mis-aligned but still attached; this will cuase vignetting in the photos.

I am a bit sensitive to the level & straightlines, sometimes even from 10 feet away I could see a mis-mounted lens hood, it bugs me.

It's entirely possible that a mis-mounted lens hood mount-ring when pressed & twisted, the force caused the lens mount shifting away contact points between the lens & the body, thus the error.

Oliver

 

[BLev65]

I am glad @RichF has solved the problem, enjoy your trip.

Going off on a tangent, this reminds me of a common sceario I notice again & again with telephoto lens hood. Some lens hood has a small click lock, if it's mounted correctly, it usually goes from 9 o'clock or 3 o'clock to 12 o'clock up right; when the photographer is in a hurry, occasionally the lens hood would get mis-aligned but still attached; this will cuase vignetting in the photos.

I am a bit sensitive to the level & straightlines, sometimes even from 10 feet away I could see a mis-mounted lens hood, it bugs me.

It's entirely possible that a mis-mounted lens hood mount-ring when pressed & twisted, the force caused the lens mount shifting away contact points between the lens & the body, thus the error.

Oliver

I'll echo this point... either the misaligned hood affected how the mount was interacting with the contacts, or even how the electronics in the barrel were being shifted. Nikon engineered a very unique zooming mechanism and probably has circuit boards running through much of the barrel. I could imagine how pinching the front ring in the wrong way might impact the circuitry...

 

[cchuck]

Or...It could be that when you re-aligned the hood, you instigated a vibratory "click" that seated a contact or righted some impediment to the barrel zoom mechanism or sensors. I'm just guessing here, but trying to leave the door open to a less evident cause to the resolution of the problem. Glad it's working!

 

[RichF]

Or...It could be that when you re-aligned the hood, you instigated a vibratory "click" that seated a contact or righted some impediment to the barrel zoom mechanism or sensors. I'm just guessing here, but trying to leave the door open to a less evident cause to the resolution of the problem. Glad it's working!

Pinched something - don't know what and I will not take apart the lens to figure out what the problem was

 

[Wes Peterson]

I dont want to knock a guys side hustle, I get why hes selling the hoods. What I dont get is why anyone is buying them.... What does it do that the stock hood doesnt do?.... besides of course turn the lens into a paperweight.

In all seriousness IF it was the hood that caused this malfunction they why in gods name would you put it back on?

 

[zemlin]

There isn't going to be anything electronic going on where my lock ring interacts with the lens. Don't know how it would be possible that an improperly installed ring could impact lens function. I've sold many hundreds of hoods and haven't heard of anything like this before.

If I had any concern about my products potentially damaging someone's equipment, I wouldn't sell them.
The lock rings for lenses with factory bayonet mounts hoods need to be oriented properly when installed, just like the factory bayonet hoods will only click into place in the correct orientation.

 

[ButlerKid]

FWIW - I use the Zemlin hoods and have had no problems whatsoever. I don't see how a hood lock ring at the front end of a lens would cause a connection problem at the other end of the lens.

 

[abc123brian]

As crazy as it sounds that might not be cleaning it enough. I have tried the same in the past with lenses and I still had issues. I bought some electric contact cleaner Steve recommended and used it with a clean cloth and everything worked as it should. Why there is a difference I have no clue but it did work.. I found it on Amazon.

DeoxIT D100

That is interesting that it made a difference. Thanks for sharing. I ordered it to have some on hand.

 

[zemlin]

I've used DeoxIT products and their predecessors since the '80s. Never found anything comparable.

 

[JoelKlein]

In my troubleshooting experience, I always try again to replicate the issue. I must know for sure.

To blame some pressure on the front hood to effect the camera? In my opinion its not related.
Come on! it’s an S lens built tough and strong.

Do your self a favor and mount the Zamlin hood skewed again. Make it tight. I bet you the lens will work. If not, and it turns out the 100-400 has a fragile rim, its bad news. But I doubt it. Try it! Or maybe someone else can try it? This is too simple!

 

[dabhand16]

I'm leaning towards the hood not being the issue but it was something to do with the mount that coincidently went away at the exact same time you found the hood issue.

 

[JoelKlein]

I'm leaning towards the hood not being the issue but it was something to do with the mount that coincidently went away at the exact same time you found the hood issue.

That mount issues could happen again. Its a tough mount with some connectors, nothing to be lose and shake around.

 

[MartyD]

I have looked at my Z 100-400 and I can't see how you could put enough pressure on the hood mount area of the lens to cause a problem. I am wondering if the issue was created then corrected in the handling of the lens during the Zemlin hood mounting process. Maybe something to do with the buttons and switches on the lens? It just seems strange that the issue was caused by incorrectly attaching a hood mount. I would certainly test the lens multiple times and attach and remove it multiple times before traveling with it.

 

[RichF]

I have looked at my Z 100-400 and I can't see how you could put enough pressure on the hood mount area of the lens to cause a problem. I am wondering if the issue was created then corrected in the handling of the lens during the Zemlin hood mounting process. Maybe something to do with the buttons and switches on the lens? It just seems strange that the issue was caused by incorrectly attaching a hood mount. I would certainly test the lens multiple times and attach and remove it multiple times before traveling with it.

Hard test this weekend.

I handled the lens a lot when I had a problem and nothing "fixed" until I removed the mounting ring

 

[M R Opp]

I'm sorry. How can misaligning a mounting ring, on the outside of the lens not remotely close to any "function controls", cause this issue? It seems more likely that a few "mount-dismount" cycles resulted in a better contact between lens and body. What am I missing about the mechanics of a hood mounting ring such that it would mess up the electronics of the lens-camera interface?

 

[RichF]

I'm sorry. How can misaligning a mounting ring, on the outside of the lens not remotely close to any "function controls", cause this issue? It seems more likely that a few "mount-dismount" cycles resulted in a better contact between lens and body. What am I missing about the mechanics of a hood mounting ring such that it would mess up the electronics of the lens-camera interface?

I remounted the lens a dozen times on 3 to 4
Different bodies

 

[Krümelkraft]

I agree with certain comments here that imply the hood was probably not the issue, but it was rather the process of remounting the hood that somehow solved the issue.
Maybe you fixed the lens between your legs or something and you pressed somewhere where a bad contact is. Or you released some electrostatic charge from the lens that caused the issue... who knows.

 

[M R Opp]

I remounted the lens a dozen times on 3 to 4
Different bodies

Very strange indeed.

 

[joe43]

I am late to the game on this topic. If the issue is the lens hood that comes with the Nikon 100-400mm S I had problems with attaching/removing it to the front of the lens especially when the hood was attached to the lens in reverse position. I placed the hood on the lens is reversed position very carefully. When I pushed the little button to release the hood, I could not release it. I tried everything except brute force as I did not want to ruin the lens or the hood.

I took the Z9 with the lens mounted to a local cmera repair store in Houston where I live. He was able to remove the hood by applying more force. Once it was removed, he attached it to the front of the lens in the normal position and then removed it. He repeated the procedure about 10 times. Each time the hood was easier to remove. he told me that it just needed to be "broken in" as the locking mechanism was stiff.

I use the hood but not in reverse position. I do not want to risk getting it stuck on the lens again.

The hood is very flimsy plastic and that might be part of the problem. Now that I have been using the lens for a few months, I do not think the Nikon HB-103 hood is durable enough for continued use on my 100-400mm S lens.

If the Zemlin hood is made of better/more durable materials, I might get one. I would appreciate any thoughts as to which Zemlin hood is the best one to replace the Nikon hood that came with my 100-400mm S lens--HB-103. There seems to be two Zemlin hoods, a 60mm and a 90mm.

 

[Marion Anstis]

Rich: To check the firmware version or to update a firmware to a lens (including a Z Teleconverter) you have to actually mount the lens to a Z body in order to see the firmware version in the setup menu of your Z body. Any firmware version update to a lens is done by putting the firmware update on a memory card and use the camera body (mounted to that lens) setup menu WITH THE LENS ATTACHED to update the lens firmware. You only need to do this with one body attached to the lens. Once done the lens firmware will be set for the lens no matter which body the lens is connected to after the FW update

Thank you for the tip.

 

[zemlin]

I would appreciate any thoughts as to which Zemlin hood is the best one to replace the Nikon hood that came with my 100-400mm S lens--HB-103. There seems to be two Zemlin hoods, a 60mm and a 90mm.

I make a 120mm long hood too. The 120 doesn't vignette at any focal length which makes the HB-103 petal-style design a real mystery. No clue why they would design a hood like that for the lens, unless they consider it more of a fashion statement than a functional hood.

 

[agrumpyoldsod]

Pretty sure the problem is with the lens. Same problem on multiple cameras bodies and no problem when I mount a different lens. I sent a msg to Nikon NPS and I'll see what they say, hopefully monday.

Have you cleaned all the terminals with IPA impregnated wipes or similar AND made sure all the pins work ok and are not stuck in the lens?