Nikon D810 - hopeless AF performance

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toohuge

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All,

Over the weekend I was photographing my niece - she's 18 months old and bundle of joy - my Nikon D810 however is not :(

The camera has been back to Nikon and was repaired for an unknown AF issue - I was photographing my brother, camera on a tripod and 1 out of 3 shots was in focus from a burst - it went oof in focus oof.

Anyway - I was reviewing the images from yesterday and the AF performance is still hopeless - at times it feels like the camera is just sluggish / dimwitted. It's an odd thing to describe but nearly every shot I took was oof when my niece was moving. Compare this to my previous D3s with the same lenses etc. and my hit rate was in the 70-80% range.

Am I expecting too much from the D810 - I am so frustrated as I cannot rely on my camera to deliver results at the moment and I have lost a bunch of shots due to this.

As the body is still under warranty I am planning on sending it back to Nikon - as even after 'repair' af fine tuning lenses is nearly off the scale to dial them in.

I am thinking of chucking in the towel and changing body - I have always loved the pro bodies (I've had the D1x, D3 and D3s previously) and I am wishfully thinking that the D5 will sort some of these issues.

But I am torn between going for the D5 with potential AF accuracy issues (front/back focusing) and a Z6 - which I am lead to be believe will eliminate this, however my AF-D lenses wont AF.
 
try cleaning contacts on lens's and on camera body
clean the glass at both ends of the lenses
check lens is on autofocus
check you have it on single point focus
if you can borrow another body try your lenses on that to try to eliminate the lenses
if you can borrow lenses try them on your body to see if its the same bad results
 
holty said:
try cleaning contacts on lens's and on camera body
clean the glass at both ends of the lenses
check lens is on autofocus
check you have it on single point focus
if you can borrow another body try your lenses on that to try to eliminate the lenses
if you can borrow lenses try them on your body to see if its the same bad results
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Just for the information of others reading - I used to shoot a lot of sport, so I am familiar with AF settings etc. Hence my frustration with the 810.....

Definitely in AF-C (single point) - it's weird sometimes on image review the AF confirmation is showing (red box) yet the image is oof....

I don't have another body atm - but my lenses all worked much better on my D3s/D3 I had before.

I can't see it being lenses - I've lost count of the number of lenses I have - all of which give inconsistent results on the D810.

Now I'm thinking of getting a D780 - it's driving me crazy
 
What lenses are you using?
 
Are you using centre af point or an af point away from centre?

Is this in low light?

Neither of the above are the d810’s strong point.

I share your frustration (although mine was a lot better than my d600) but I only cured it by adding ‘40’ to the end ;)
 
Sounds like there’s a serious issue with the camera as my D810 was nothing like that. Silly question but are you using genuine Nikon batteries?
I would definitely do some test images with different lenses and then if it’s still not right send it back. The D810 isn’t that bad which begs the question what’s really going on.
 
What is the release priority setting; and do you have "AF-ON only" active? If AF-ON only is enabled the camera ignores any release setting, and IDT there is any way to override that on the D810.
The D810 is not the greatest in low light. I've also had third party lenses require firmware updates when I got a newer camera... my Sigma 150/2.8 won't autofocus worth a damn on my D850 now.
 
Recently, all the shots have been taken outdoor - I am aware of the limitations in low light - and accept that things wont be 100% in those challenging situations.

Usually, the camera is set to centre point AF - I do sometimes move the AF point, however there is not an appreciable difference on this camera - neither offers a confidence inspiring AF performance.

All the lenses I have are Nikon lenses - no third party glass.... they include the 35 1.4, 85 1.8, 180 2.8, 80-200 2.8, 300 f4 etc. none of which are bang on all the time.

Yes - always use genuine batteries.

I do have AF-ON active as I am used to back button focusing etc. Just on this camera it seems very unsure even of itself.

Thank you all for your inputs - I agree, the 810 should not be 'that' bad - I mean it really is hopeless so much of the time.

I am going to write to Nikon as it came back from 'repair' in February - however very little appears to have changed - and oddly, after repair the AF-fine tune required for some lenses is off the scale
 
got no problem with my D810. What I did notice ,coming from the D800, is that the D810 with no AA filter you have to be more carful . The camera is less forgiving. Took me quite a time to adjust to what I would call more accurate handling to get the best out of it.

I would suggest single shot first, trying on a tripod with remote shutter release then same hand held, this would show up as a camera error or user error. Also try using an AF-S lens, Maybe the D screw drive lens is not fast enough for a more modern camera

In the link below he actually states a screw lens is not as fast as a later model such as an AF-S lens see about 4.25 minuits into video

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrrmpuJqIAw
 
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realspeed said:
In the link below he actually states a screw lens is not as fast as a later model such as an AF-S lens
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Screw drive is definitely not as fast, nor as accurate.
And a Nikon set to AF-ON only will take pictures regardless of focus acquisition and the focus release setting after focus has been acquired the first time (although, the 153pt AF system has a setting to override that behavior).
 
sk66 said:
The D810 is not the greatest in low light. I've also had third party lenses require firmware updates when I got a newer camera... my Sigma 150/2.8 won't autofocus worth a damn on my D850 now.
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Is that the EX 150/2.8? Reason I sold my Sigma 180/3.5 was that it stopped working after the D810 got its' firmware upgraded. Latest global Sigma lenses are supposed to be upgraded by Sigma, but they won't touch EX.

I tend to find my D810 not 100% focus-wise, time to spend some time in Surbiton. Mind you, I think my 24-120/4 isn't quite the best lens to use on it, so that will go for its' 10 year service.
 
welshwizard645 said:
Is that the EX 150/2.8? Reason I sold my Sigma 180/3.5 was that it stopped working after the D810 got its' firmware upgraded.
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Yup... I'm not too concerned because it is a macro lens and I don't really use it for other things. I did have to send my 120-300/2.8 in for firmware upgrade as well and they did it... it's the first (non-Sport) version.
 
toohuge said:
Recently, all the shots have been taken outdoor - I am aware of the limitations in low light - and accept that things wont be 100% in those challenging situations.

Usually, the camera is set to centre point AF - I do sometimes move the AF point, however there is not an appreciable difference on this camera - neither offers a confidence inspiring AF performance.

All the lenses I have are Nikon lenses - no third party glass.... they include the 35 1.4, 85 1.8, 180 2.8, 80-200 2.8, 300 f4 etc. none of which are bang on all the time.

Yes - always use genuine batteries.

I do have AF-ON active as I am used to back button focusing etc. Just on this camera it seems very unsure even of itself.

Thank you all for your inputs - I agree, the 810 should not be 'that' bad - I mean it really is hopeless so much of the time.

I am going to write to Nikon as it came back from 'repair' in February - however very little appears to have changed - and oddly, after repair the AF-fine tune required for some lenses is off the scale
Click to expand...

How does the 3D Subject tracking perform, is it accurate at all?
 
toohuge said:
Nope - miles off...

I wrote to Nikon and they've requested the camera and some of my lenses back for assessment. Camera shipped out yesterday
Click to expand...

Wow, that sounds bad. I reckon SsSsSsSsSnake (Jesus that was hard to type) is right. Good luck with getting it sorted.
 
toohuge said:
Nope - miles off...

I wrote to Nikon and they've requested the camera and some of my lenses back for assessment. Camera shipped out yesterday
Click to expand...

Oh this is a lovely thread to come by now that I've just bought one and then to see that I've previously responded in it as well! haha

Did you ever get yours sorted?
 
gman said:
Oh this is a lovely thread to come by now that I've just bought one and then to see that I've previously responded in it as well! haha

Did you ever get yours sorted?
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Gosh - a blast from the past .....

Er not really. I moved to using my D5 and 1dxii's for everything. The last outing for the 810 was to Pakistan in October 2022, I tried using it, but the d5 was miles more reliable af wise than the 810. I recently traded it against a canon 200 f2 - I'd shot over 120k on the camera but never got on with it. It's a shame, because when it was right, the images from the 810 are stunning
 
toohuge said:
Gosh - a blast from the past .....

Er not really. I moved to using my D5 and 1dxii's for everything. The last outing for the 810 was to Pakistan in October 2022, I tried using it, but the d5 was miles more reliable af wise than the 810. I recently traded it against a canon 200 f2 - I'd shot over 120k on the camera but never got on with it. It's a shame, because when it was right, the images from the 810 are stunning
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That's a shame. Hopefully it was a bad one, otherwise I'm in for a rough ride!
 
The AF on the D810 is far from hopeless but when compared to a camera with really good af the D810 is far from accurate when you move away from the centre point.
 
Brazo said:
The AF on the D810 is far from hopeless but when compared to a camera with really good af the D810 is far from accurate when you move away from the centre point.
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Is it better than the D3?
 
SFTPhotography said:
What will you use it for. I used one for landscapes for 4 years and I can count on about 1 hand how many times the AF goofed up. Took a few portraits/event jobs with it and never found it wanting.
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I think it has a slightly more advanced focus system, but it's more about focusing with narrower apertures. Perhaps the more powerful processer might make it slightly better, if so then that's fine because I managed perfectly well with the D3. I'm just a little worried coming from the Sony A9.

Mainly family, landscapes and panos and also the dog but I won't be expected to get super fast action shots, just so long as it's faster af than my phone lol

I got the MK2 version of the 70-200mm 2.8 so hopefully that will help?
 
gman said:
I think it has a slightly more advanced focus system, but it's more about focusing with narrower apertures. Perhaps the more powerful processer might make it slightly better, if so then that's fine because I managed perfectly well with the D3. I'm just a little worried coming from the Sony A9.
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Time will tell. It isn't an action camera and has quite a leisurely frame rate. AF point coverage won't be like a mirrorless.
gman said:
Mainly family, landscapes and panos and also the dog but I won't be expected to get super fast action shots, just so long as it's faster af than my phone lol
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It will be better than a phone...this was a top end camera 7 years ago. For landscapes/panos if you keep it at ISO64 is almost MF quality - not so beyond that but the resolution is good and the dynamic range/colour depth excellent. If I hadn't done so well money wise with some investments, I'd still use mine happily today - but GAS and FOMO got the best of me.
gman said:
I got the MK2 version of the 70-200mm 2.8 so hopefully that will help?
Click to expand...

Native lenses AF pretty well. 3rd party ones are more ponderous. It's a fine lens.
 
Naturally subject matter will be significant and my comments concerned use of wide aperture lenses for portraits/family and moving subjects which was frustrating, I suspect dof would cover up some focus issues with a 70-200 2.8.
 
Just received it and looks like the AF is good. Just got to learn the Nikon menus again with the first priority being BBF and disabling focusing with the shutter button.

I did a few deliberately underexposed test shots at ISO64 and wow, that's some dynamic range to play with. I could move the shadow recovery all the way to the extreme and it was still completely clean. I think I'm going to enjoy this camera.
 
gman said:
That's a shame. Hopefully it was a bad one, otherwise I'm in for a rough ride!
Click to expand...

I am just about to trade in my D810 for a D850. I have had my 810 for years now and have never had a problem with focusing, or indeed anything else. It's been wholly reliable, accurate and a joy to use and it's been a difficult decision to move it on as it has become part of the family, however I need to get my last DSLR camera in before mirrorless ruins it all; if yours is like mine, you will have no trouble with it. Hopefully, that assuages your concerns a little bit.
 
ShinySideUp said:
I am just about to trade in my D810 for a D850. I have had my 810 for years now and have never had a problem with focusing, or indeed anything else. It's been wholly reliable, accurate and a joy to use and it's been a difficult decision to move it on as it has become part of the family, however I need to get my last DSLR camera in before mirrorless ruins it all; if yours is like mine, you will have no trouble with it. Hopefully, that assuages your concerns a little bit.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that's good to hear. Working my way through the menus and it's bringing back memories of my D3.
 
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