My new 35mm 1.8 AF-S lens is making noise.

[Tbini87]

Hey guys, just got a 35mm f/1.8 AF-S Nikkor lens in the mail. Was shooting around with it for a little and noticed it making a good amount of noise when auto-focusing. Is this normal? I thought I had read that the AF is quiet but maybe it isn't. It has a slight scratching sound to it like something being dragged over sand paper or something (but just very quickly while the lens is moving to get the shot in focus). Any help would be great from those who know this lens. Thanks.

 

[mcopan]

The lens should be relatively quite. Maybe check the sound level against another lens and see if the noise is substancially louder.

How did the lens come packaged? Mail service people don't care about whats in the box, you could have a lens that was dropped.

Hope I helped.

 

[Tbini87]

packaging was great and the lens seemed pretty secure when i took it out of the box. i thought i had read that the focusing was quiet on this lens but maybe it was something else i had been reading. i will put on another AF-S lens and see how they compare.

 

[Tbini87]

the other AF-S lens makes the same type noise, but is a zoom lens. the 35mm prime does all the focusing stuff inside the lens so that nothing on the outside of the lens moves. thought the 35mm would be quieter but it is probably normal to have some noise.

 

[epp_b]

Define "noise". Would you compare it to a pencil drawing a line on a paper or to pressing a wood block against a stone grinder?

The former is normal.

 

[Tbini87]

Define "noise". Would you compare it to a pencil drawing a line on a paper or to pressing a wood block against a stone grinder?

The former is normal.

i defined it as something being slid over sand paper. so yeah, something like a pencil drawing over sand paper. probably normal.

 

[epp_b]

I'd call that normal. Though it is real AF-S, it's also "cheap" AF-S, so it's not quite as smooth or quiet as Nikon's more exotic lenses.