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I have a Nikon D7000 and I recently purchased a used 50mm f 1.8D for it. I am unable to get the aperture of the lens to change. It seems to stay stuck at completely open version of the lens (1.8f).

What I've done so far:

  1. Set the aperture ring on the lens to 22
  2. Locked the ring (using the orange button)
  3. Change the aperture in the camera body with the dial

I get no errors, however, regardless of which aperture I set on the camera body, the lens stays wide open. For example, The photo I take on manual mode with 1.8f and 1/60 will look exactly same as 22f 1/60. I also don't see the lens blades closing.

If I dismount the lens the aperture ring correctly switches through all of the stops and the blades react properly. I have noticed that as soon as I put the lens on the camera body, the blades will completely open regardless of the F-Stop.

I am unsure what I am doing wrong. Any pointers will be greatly helpful!

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    \$\begingroup\$ Do you see/hear any aperture movement when you press the "Depth of Field Preview" button? By default this is the button at the lower left of a D7000 (but it can be assigned other functions via the "Custom settings" menu). \$\endgroup\$
    – Peter M
    Jan 20, 2022 at 14:01
  • \$\begingroup\$ @PeterM If I am on the lowest F-stop (1.8) I hear sound, if I am on another F-Stop I do hear a sound but I get "ERR" on the camera. I tried the lens that comes with the camera and it had the same behavior. Lowest F-Stop works okay, but anything else shows up as "ERR". Is this a settings issue? \$\endgroup\$
    – tailedmouse
    Jan 20, 2022 at 17:42
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    \$\begingroup\$ According to Nikon an "ERR" is "the cameras internal performance monitor has detected a problem". That article mentions various reasons and possible fixes \$\endgroup\$
    – Peter M
    Jan 20, 2022 at 19:48
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    \$\begingroup\$ Also when using the DoF preview button you should be able to see a change when looking at the front of the lens. \$\endgroup\$
    – Peter M
    Jan 20, 2022 at 19:49
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    \$\begingroup\$ Hopefully the person you bought it from takes some responsibility if it is indeed broken \$\endgroup\$
    – Peter M
    Jan 20, 2022 at 22:35

1 Answer 1

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I found a solution for my situation in case it helps someone else.

I noticed that my aperture lever wasn't bent/broken like the Nikon website suggests. It felt more jammed. I took the following steps to unjam it:

  1. Unmounted the lens.
  2. Gently pressed the lever down along with the DoF Preview button while the camera was on. Taking a photo would probably have the same effect. All I was trying to do was to get the camera to unlock its hold on the lever.
  3. Repeated these steps until the lever finally clicked in place.

Once it clicked into place, it operated as normal. It does get jammed now and then, but it's significantly easier to get it into place.

I would still recommend showing it to a repair shop if your situation is different from mine, or you feel unsure about doing these steps.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Great that you found a solution. You can select your answer as the correct one (and this sort of thing is encouraged) \$\endgroup\$
    – Peter M
    Jan 25, 2022 at 13:33

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