16-35mm f4 VR red streak issue

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Scott Grant
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p.1 #1 · 16-35mm f4 VR red streak issue

In the past week i've spent quite a bit of time outdoors in the evenings shooting long exposures and time lapses.

I noticed almost immediately that i was getting a strange streak of red in the upper left on all my images, regardless of body used (D700 and D800). Initially i attributed it to a friend of mine shooting with a 5d II next to me (red light on back of his camera). Even after closing the eye piece and taking other precautions i was still seeing the streak.

Today i read Thom Hogan's blog and he mentions an issue being brought up about the 16-35mm causing streaks of red when shooting longer exposures at higher ISO.

Here's what i'm seeing. The image below was shot at f4 for 30 seconds at ISO 6400. Pay attention to the upper left of the image.

Red Streak Sample by Scott Grant, on Flickr

I read on another forum to turn both VR and AF off as this might help, but to no avail. With the lens cap on and the viewfinder closed i tested this but still see the streak in the upper left.

I tested with another lens (Tamron 90mm Macro) at ISO 3200 at 30 seconds and the image was black as it should be with no red streak.

Anyone else seeing this with your copy of the 16-35mm f4 VR?

Thanks in advance!

Nov 26, 2012 at 08:31 PM

mshi
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p.1 #2 · 16-35mm f4 VR red streak issue

did you cover the distance window on the lens?

Nov 26, 2012 at 08:36 PM

Scott Grant
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p.1 #3 · 16-35mm f4 VR red streak issue

Just tried it mshi. It makes no difference to have the distance scale covered (taped well with electrical tape).

The streak also seems to move depending on what focal length is set. Zooming to 24ish pushed the streak higher in the frame.

Nov 26, 2012 at 08:44 PM

Scott Grant
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p.1 #4 · 16-35mm f4 VR red streak issue

A few more observations from my tests..

The streak is visible in the frame at 16mm. At 20mm it is bordering the top of the frame. Contrary to what i said above the streak is gone at 24mm and above in my sample.

Nov 26, 2012 at 08:52 PM

mshi
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p.1 #5 · 16-35mm f4 VR red streak issue

Scott Grant wrote:
Just tried it mshi. It makes no difference to have the distance scale covered (taped well with electrical tape).

The streak also seems to move depending on what focal length is set. Zooming to 24ish pushed the streak higher in the frame.

You may want to read this thread:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=72609.0

Nov 26, 2012 at 08:54 PM

Scott Grant
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p.1 #6 · 16-35mm f4 VR red streak issue

mshi wrote:
Scott Grant wrote:
Just tried it mshi. It makes no difference to have the distance scale covered (taped well with electrical tape).

The streak also seems to move depending on what focal length is set. Zooming to 24ish pushed the streak higher in the frame.

You may want to read this thread:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=72609.0

Thanks for the heads up but do notice i was the last to post in that thread.

Nov 26, 2012 at 09:02 PM

LizzieShepherd
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p.1 #7 · 16-35mm f4 VR red streak issue

Scott
I remember seeing something on dpreview about this. It seems to be something that affects a number of 16-35s but is not universal. Worth checking there for more details.
Lizzie

Nov 26, 2012 at 09:24 PM

Tim Ashton
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p.1 #8 · 16-35mm f4 VR red streak issue

www.bythom.com

Nov 27, 2012 at 09:30 AM

Scott Grant
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p.1 #9 · 16-35mm f4 VR red streak issue

LizzieShepherd wrote:
Scott
I remember seeing something on dpreview about this. It seems to be something that affects a number of 16-35s but is not universal. Worth checking there for more details.
Lizzie

Thanks for the heads up Lizzie!

Nov 27, 2012 at 01:51 PM

austriker
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p.1 #10 · 16-35mm f4 VR red streak issue

Thanks for posting this. I am searching for this lens and will now be more careful.

Dec 11, 2012 at 02:07 PM

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