CV-F V'lander 20mm ƒ3.5 SLR lens Indexing - D700

[sper]

Not an RF question I know, sorry, but few groups know as much about CV than you folks so I had to post this question!

I work at B&H in the used department and today a man came in with a CV 20mm ƒ3.5 on his D700 asking about a problem. The lens wouldn't index even after I repeatedly CPU'd it. I even stuck a ZF 50mm ƒ2 Makro-Planar on there and CPU'd it and it worked fine.

He said that he had purchased it a week before, so I told him he was well under warranty and even return policy, so I directed him to the 'new' department for lenses. When he came back he said he returned it, and even another copy wouldn't work so they were sending back the small bunch we had in stock.

So my question is A. Are the CV 20mm ƒ3.5's supposed to index as an AI lens would? and B. What is the state of quality control at CV?

I am a big CV user (R2A, 35 ƒ2.5) and I plan to keep purchasing their rangefinder equipment (would love love love an R4A and a 21 ƒ4) but today's episode made me think a little harder about spending that extra cash for the Zeiss or used Leica lenses.

 

[CameraQuest]

So my question is A. Are the CV 20mm ƒ3.5's supposed to index as an AI lens would? and B. What is the state of quality control at CV?

exactly what are you calling indexing ?

Stephen

 

[jonmanjiro]

"The lens wouldn't index even after I repeatedly CPU'd it"

Exactly how do you "CPU" a lens?

 

[sper]

When Nikon's started making 'AI' lenses it means Auto Indexing, which refers to the mount communicating with the body what the aperture is, without needing the pin/flange that pre-ai lenses used on F/F2 bodies (with metered prisms).

So when I say indexing, I mean when you change the aperture on the lens, the camera responds correctly. For manual focus lenses the D700 needs to be 'CPU'd' which means you tell the camera the focal length and the max F stop. After that the metering system knows what f-stop you are selecting when you open up or stop down.

 

[CameraQuest]

well, you might try reading the directions.

the CV SL II series in Nikon mount have the CPU. Set the lens aperture ring at it smallest aperture and leave it there. control the f/stop on the camera body.

Stephen

 

[jonmanjiro]

the lens already has a CPU, so it doesn't need to be "CPU'd".

just set the aperture ring on the lens to f22 and control the aperture from the command dial.

edit: what CameraQuest said!

 

[sper]

tried that, no dice. Also the guys upstairs made that attempt as well I assume because we're shipping them back to CV. Something seems to be wrong. I'm not ruling out user (read: my) error but I'd be surprised because I saw that ƒ22 was highlighted as it is on AF-D lenses.

Even if the lens has contacts to electronically index it should have responded when I set it to 22 and fiddled with the dials, but the read out gave me F/EE until I was opened up to ƒ3.5, which was the only aperture it could identify.

 

[CameraQuest]

tried that, no dice. Also the guys upstairs made that attempt as well I assume because we're shipping them back to CV. Something seems to be wrong. I'm not ruling out user (read: my) error but I'd be surprised because I saw that ƒ22 was highlighted as it is on AF-D lenses.

Even if the lens has contacts to electronically index it should have responded when I set it to 22 and fiddled with the dials, but the read out gave me F/EE until I was opened up to ƒ3.5, which was the only aperture it could identify.

no.

if the lens aperture ring is not set to the smallest f/stop, the camera can not adjust the aperture and you get the fEE error message.

Stephen

 

[sper]

I set it to F22 and the camera did not respond. I say again, the camera would not index either electronically or manually. This lens did not function properly and neither did our other copies we had on hand.

 

[CameraQuest]

In selling hundreds of Voigtlander SLII Nikon mount lenses, I have yet to encounter one, much less more than one, which failed to be recognized by the Nikon DSLR body.

That leads me to suspect some kind of user or camera error. Try mounting the lens on any other model Nikon DSLR to see if the problem persists.

Stephen