60mm Micro-Nikkor exposure problem?

[KennyMark]

Recently I ran a test session with every normal lens that I could lay my hands on from my own and other's collections. My goal was to see which lenses performed better than others, particularly with regard to sharpness and resolving power. Something unexpected that turned up was an overexposure of every shot made with the 60mm Micro-Nikkor AF D lens. I thought that this was interesting but since I don't own it, I wasn't too concerned about it. My 55 Micro-Nikkor 2.8 AIS will continue to serve me for a long time. Then today I was talking with a friend who told me that he noticed that his 60mm Micro Nikkor AF D gave him similar readings yesterday, that he had not noticed before.

So has anyone else seen such a difference between this lens and others?



The 60mm Micro-Nikkor AF D is the center bottom image in both groups. The image of the sign is a detail of the full image of the house.

 

[kitanikon]

I just took some shots with this lens...on my Canon 30D and the exposure was just about spot on ... but I'll take some shots and compare exposures with other 50mm nikkors I have around here (I have a few...) and get back to you...

 

[kitanikon]

Hiya Kenny....

I took some shots...all on a Canon 30D (sorry they're digital) @ ISO 1000, 1/160 @ 2.8...no adjustments made out of camera.

The exposures are the same as are the results....in terms of exposure...
It does seem that the 50mm lenses are sharper @ the edge when set @ 2.8, and being 1.4 lenses, they are stopped down 2 F-stops from wide open where the Micro was set for the shots...

The 50mm/1.4 Nikkors are nearly identical...the earlier base coated "S" seems to have brighter gray (near 18% gray behind the books), and the multicoated AIS has a (bit) brighter white, and the 50mm Nikkors seem to have a bit more contrast than the Oly50 whose contrast seems more like the Micro-Nikkor....

All shots @ ISO 1000 @ 1/160 @ 2.8...
It should be noted that typically on dSLRs, the more you stop down the aperture the sensor's response is a bit "off" such that the "correct" exposure as viewed on the view-finder's metering scale must be readjusted...and each lens is different, so that's why I shot these as close to wide open as possible....

Hope this helps (and doesn't violate the APUG's analog rules)

It may be easier to see the differences by going here
http://imageshack.us/f/15/6n4p.jpg/
and putting the cursor on the image near the top and clicking on the arrow to go to the next full-size image

Nikkor 60/2.8 Micro

Olympus 50/1.4

Nikkor 50s1.4

Nikkor 50ais1.4

 

[KennyMark]

Thanks for doing the comparison. The one difference between our tests is that I was shooting f8 in aperture priority (as I was outdoors, I didn't want manual settings to be thrown by changing light). So I guess that perhaps my question is if anyone else's lens meters different than others. Yours look to be very similar if not identical.
Thanks again!

 

[kitanikon]

...again...on digital sensors, exposures vary as you stop down the lens, particularly to F8 or so...and you have to readjust the aperture and or shutter speed REGARDLESS of the meter reading.
I don't know what cameras you and your friend are using but that has been my experience with all my MF lenses on all my Canons.

 

[kitanikon]

Took a few shots @ F8 comparing the 60/2.8 to the 50/1.4AIS and....
the Micro was about 1/4 F-stop darker needing less than 1/3 shutter speed (< difference between 1/320 to 1/250) increase in shutter speed to get a matching exposure.

 

[KennyMark]

So the opposite direction of the one that I tested. Perhaps just a wider variance in manufacturing tolerances than most Nikkors.

In my tests, the 55 Micro-Nikkor AIS was the run-away winner in my perceived sharpness/resolution. I don't have a 28 2.8 AIS but I'd love to compare those two lenses. Ken Rockwell is a big fan of that 28.

 

[kitanikon]

Yes, the 55/2.8 is a real winner...I had one once but I don't use macro much so let it go...then found this 60/2.8 cheap...with broken (glued?) AF/MF switch so it's not worth much to anyone wanting AF...but on the Canon there's no AF so it's worth all I paid for it...
As an aside...
I had an 85/1.8 "H" Nikkor and an 85/1.8 "K" Nikkor and the "K" had 1/8 F-stop brighter/contrast than the "H" @ 1.8...perhaps due to the "K"'s updated coating...and @ 1.8 THAT was important.
And I thought it interesting that the single coat 50/1.4 "S" here had a brighter midrange gray than the multicoated 50AIS... the difference isn't much, but noticeable...

 

[Chan Tran]

Recently I ran a test session with every normal lens that I could lay my hands on from my own and other's collections. My goal was to see which lenses performed better than others, particularly with regard to sharpness and resolving power. Something unexpected that turned up was an overexposure of every shot made with the 60mm Micro-Nikkor AF D lens. I thought that this was interesting but since I don't own it, I wasn't too concerned about it. My 55 Micro-Nikkor 2.8 AIS will continue to serve me for a long time. Then today I was talking with a friend who told me that he noticed that his 60mm Micro Nikkor AF D gave him similar readings yesterday, that he had not noticed before.

So has anyone else seen such a difference between this lens and others?

View attachment 71163 View attachment 71162

The 60mm Micro-Nikkor AF D is the center bottom image in both groups. The image of the sign is a detail of the full image of the house.

Possibly the lens diaphram didn't stop down fully.

 

[Trygve]

I do not think that it is the lens. Do you have AF- fine tuning possibilities on your camera ?. For right comparison you shou have the camera in manual mode. The same ISO , shuttertime, and aperture for all lenses that have to been compared. lf camera on tripod then turn off the VR.

Trygve ;-)

 

[KennyMark]

All were shot with same ISO, f-stop, manual focus, no VR, with the only possible variation being shutter speed if the lighting changed. I can check my notes to see what the shutter speeds were, but in all of my test shots, that lens over exposed.

 

[kitanikon]

For right comparison you should have the camera in manual mode. The same ISO , shuttertime, and aperture for all lenses that have to been compared.
Trygve ;-)

I should have indicated that THIS was the procedure I followed...shooting at the same settings REGARDLESS of the meter reading....and shot ONLY IN THE SAME LIGHTING CONDITIONS...
As I suggested...with less than 1/3 F-stop difference between the lenses, that could be just a difference in coatings...

 

[rolleiman]

All were shot with same ISO, f-stop, manual focus, no VR, with the only possible variation being shutter speed if the lighting changed. I can check my notes to see what the shutter speeds were, but in all of my test shots, that lens over exposed.

Check my current post "Nikon AFD lens problems".........could it be you have a similar problem to mine of traces of oil leaking onto the diaphragm blades, causing them to become "sticky" and not stop down properly, thus causing overexposure?

 

[Eric Rose]

I've used my 60mm AF-D on several Nikon DSLR's and in each case it exposed spot on. It is also much sharper than your tests indicated.