Update

After 3 copies and a trip to Nikon, I finally got a copy of the lens that works well with my D70.
This is simply the best lens I have handled in that range. The lesson learnt is patience :) .

Incidentally, the lens works flawlessly on the D70s cameras and my D80 as well. Obviously Nikon has fixed something.

I bought a Nikon AF-S 17-55 DX f/2.8 lens since it is simply the best in its class. Turns out that the Nikon D70 camera has focus issues with this lens. I tried two different copies of this lens before I gave up.

The 17-55, when used between focal lengths of 17-28mm, using the center focus point at any aperture on a subject at infinity [300 ft] in bright sunlight, locks focus at 9 ft. When Manual Focused at inifinity, the focus is definitely better. This behaviour does not exist in the longer focal lengths.

All images when in AF locked on center focus point. The distance indicator stopped between 9 ft and say about 15 ft for various apertures. When MFed, the distance was set to infinity. The tree was about 350 feet away. The crops are 100%

17mm f/2.8 AF

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17mm f/2.8 MF at infinity

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17mm f/5.6 AF

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17mm f/5.6 MF at infinity

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17mm f/8 AF

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17mm f/8 MF at infinity

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This problem has been widely reported in various internet fora. Few links below:

  1. The orignial thread Phil Youngblood started.
  2. Adjustment of camera to fix the lens.
  3. Nikon changed a D70 to fix this issue.
  4. Another intriguing thread.
  5. Another thread.

Nikon has fixed the camera in a few instances when you send both the camera and lens for service, so that option still exists. There are mixed responses about this, some say it has been perfectly fixed while some say there are still issues with their setup. Sigh. This would have been the perfect lens to add. I guess I have to wait till I upgrade the camera.

I tried 3 different 17-55 lenses on my D70. All of them did the same thing. All these lenses focused spot on with a D200 or a D2H. [My friend has a D50 and he says it focuses just fine]. I think nikon fixed something with the AF with the 2nd generation D70s and D50 cameras. The earliest D70 cameras have this issue. I have reluctantly returned the lens :( .

If you have this problem and have a solution, please send me an E-mail.

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