Nikon d200&105mm macro

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Name
Neil
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Hi,
Please could anyone give some advice,when shooting with a nikon 105mm macro the lens locks on then looses focus almost straight away,I've tried matrix and spot metering,a&s mode,vr on and off,please tell me I'm just a bit dense and put me on the right track.
 
What are you focusing on? In what sort of light, at what distance?

You need a good contrast on the subject to focus, you should be using manual focus on a macro for the best results.

All the things you mentioned make no difference to focusing, so dont worry about chsnging all that.
 
Depth of field at Macro distances and magnifications is tiny, so the lightest movement forwards or backwards will probably throw the subject out of focus. Stopping down a bit can help a little but the problem will still be there, especially when focussing wide open. When I'm shooting Macro, I tend to set the magnification ratio then rock gently backwards and forwards until the subject is in focus (in MF mode - AF tends to miss and /or hunt).
 
Hi tcr4x4
If I'm working indoors and use lamps , seem to get it ok sometimes,but say a flower stamen outdoors in good light just a blur,should I come out a bit and crop.
As you can tell I'm a newbee but finally found something I want to be ok at.
 
As Nod said above, the DOF will be tiny at f/2.8, and if you are using single servo autofocus, if you move even a milimetre, then you will have thrown the focus off. If you must use autofocus, put it in continuos servo.
 
Cheers guys,I'll have a go tomorrow,unfortunately I'm on an iPad and can't upload images but getting new computer soon.
 
Its a bit tricky using macro, especially if it is hand held.
Just an example of how shallow the DOF is close up at f2.8, I took 50 images of a grasshopper from nose to tail with different focus points so I could stack them into one fully focused image. The little blighter moved a leg at image 43 so i still got a blurry leg.
The rest looked pretty good though!
Allan
 
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