Help with focus issue please

blondie606

blondie606

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Name
Lynne
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Hi all

I'm not a beginner but didn't know where else to post my please for help :(


recently treated myself to a 2nd hand Nikon 70-200mm , 1st weekend out with it & was really really happy but it's gone down hill since then ! 1st use was on D7000 which developed a problem with the back buttons ( image preview got stuck in so none of the others would work) so I swopped it on to the D90 . Got an inkling that something wasn't right but put it down to pilot error as not used the 90 in months .

Today I've been out n about at Yorkshire War event trying to improve my people shots - that'll be a fail then !

I'm sure this problem is pilot error but I'm struggling big time to get the darn thing to focus consistently . Initially I was shooting f2.8 . I've screen dumped from Viewnx to show what I'm on about....

1/4000 ISO 320 exp comp-1 175mm focal legnth
1 - View attachment 15392


Focus point has barely moved , person moved slightly , took another shot :

as above but 180mm focal length
2 - View attachment 15393

Admittedly these are screen dumps of RAW images but the 1st looks decidely oof to me , the 2nd still a little but better ....

I think this one was almost at full reach , handheld ....
View attachment 15394

Now unless I'm being really dumb ( which wouldn't be unheard of ! ) the area inside the red box is the focus point....but the whole image is oof.....

This one really got me...I was stood maybe 6 ft away.....
ISO 200 155mm focal length 1/3200 ev -.03
View attachment 15395

In all images VR was on , camera handheld & the camera bleeped to say focus locked , so what the hell am I doing wrong ? Is it shooting at f2.8 that causing it as it's something I'm not used to ?

As soon as I thought something wasn't quite right I spoke with the shop I bought it from & said if no better this weekend it would be coming back to them .What I'm hoping you guy's n gal's can help with is determining if it's me or the lens ?

Your's in deep frustration

Lynne

I can post them to flickr if seeing the exif would help ?
 
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Hi, Lynne, I can't help much at the moment as I've been out today in the sun without a hat or sun cream so I'm burnt to buggery :)

#2 doesn't look too bad but the others do look OOF. Not sure what this issue is but I'll have another look Sunday.

What I'd do is a controlled test, in good light with a newspaper. Focus on the paper at a variety on apertures and see what you get.

I had a quick Google and this was up there in the search linky

Of course I could be taking twaddle :)

Cheers.
 
Hi Lynne. There was a Nikon 70-200 f2.8 for sale here in the classifieds wuth focussing issues so maybe it's a similar thing and would point towards the lens rather than the clicker.

Have you managed to sort the button on the D7000?
 
Any reason why you are shooting people at 1/4000 with a f2.8 aperture ?
That will give you a very narrow DoF on the 70/200, might help if you could try it at somewhere round f8

I do find that the lens is very quick to focus so even the slightest movement can set it to focus elsewhere
then where you think you have

Can't remeber on the D90 but somewhere in the menu there is a setting that allows you hold the focus for
slightly longer, might be worth playing with
 
Gremlin said:
Any reason why you are shooting people at 1/4000 with a f2.8 aperture ?
That will give you a very narrow DoF on the 70/200, might help if you could try it at somewhere round f8

I do find that the lens is very quick to focus so even the slightest movement can set it to focus elsewhere
then where you think you have

Can't remeber on the D90 but somewhere in the menu there is a setting that allows you hold the focus for
slightly longer, might be worth playing with
Click to expand...

@Gremlin
Hi Ingrid....the answer to your question is......not a flippin clue....I think I was trying to really blur the bg as it was quite busy & wasn't paying too much attention to the shutter speed, when I did see 1/4000 I was a bit surprised :oops: :$ I'm hoping it is just pilot error as when I 1st used it I got some great results ...just checked the settings on a couple of those earlier shots...some at f2.8 1/1600 & some at f5 or smaller....

this is the f2.8 shot.....

View attachment 15435

that's what I comparing the other shots to...this subject was moving towards me but still sharp , light was less harsh , little bit of a breeze , this was on the D7000 though . I'm fairly sure the D90 is ok as took some static shots using the 18-300mm the other day & focus seemed good.

Gonna go play again & see what happens today
 
@blondie606

What editing programme is that you are using Lynne ?
Is it taking the reading off the camera settings (ie single spot centre focusing)
or off the actual file ?
Mine usually shows a square red spot on the focal point that's why I ask.
It could be that you are moving very slightly when you take the picture or the subject is.
I had this with a Great crested grebe,, perfect shot lined up and something sent a a drop
of water up, that was perfect, bird went right out :banghead:

The focus of this lens is very quick, your bike one is superb
 
Hi Ingrid.....

I process in CS6 but the screen shots are from View NX which I only use to take the photo's off the memory card...which may or may not be the right way to do it ?

I can't see anywhere to see the focus spot in CS6 ? but then ,there's a lot I don't know about CS6 :(
 
minnnt said:
Was it that jammed then? I'd have been tempted to prod it with a needle and then probably make it 10 times worse. :D
Click to expand...

dunno.... prodded it a few times but nothing happened so figured Nikon repair centre was the best way forward.....hope to hear from them this week

cosmicma said:
at such high shutter speeds VR might be causing problems
Click to expand...

never thought of that one

wave01 said:
Hi only real way to check is down load a focus chart
Click to expand...

yeah , think I'll do that this week

Though having said that I've been out to the Moto x today & it behaved itself in the main...couple of hiccups but they really were pilot error !
 
& a little update.....I have figured out what the problem is with the lens......

It's well n truly goosed !! Auto focus stopped working totally yesterday :banghead: Manual focus is ok...but not much help when I'm trying to shot motocross...I struggle enough with auto focus :D Duly packaged up & sent back to LCE today.......so far I have 2 len's * a body away for repair...don't recall breaking any mirrors :oops: :$
 
Sorry to hear that Lynne, I've had my 70-200 since 2008 when I bought it new and it has been well used and abused
without any problems.
It's been my walkabout lens mostly and I can't fault it :)
 
I read the OP as lens ok on the D7000 and not ok on the D90 which points to the D90, or did I misread?

Explain to shop and maybe they would loan you another camera for a few hours?
 
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