18-200 VR Focus Problems...

I am an occasional professional photographer. I shoot for a studio once a

month or two. Mostly small weddings and most recently a Bat Mitz Vah. While

shooting I rely primarily on my 18-200 VR because it has nice optics and I

love the flexibility of the zoom and the VR. However recently I've had a

problem with the focusing.

 

While shooting, completely at random, the focus will go from working

perfectly to not working at all. I will take a picture and everything works

fine. Then I go to take the next shot, and the shutter won't release. Often

times, (about 85% of the time) the lens will hunt back and forth and back and

forth trying to focus to no avail., which I find really weird. It seems to

happen every 20 to 30 shots. The shutter will release and the lens will focus

fine if I switch the camera to manual focus. I've checked the focus selector

(it's in S, single servo) but swithing it to C doesn't change anything, same

problem. The focus is set to "dynamic area with closest subject priority" (the

big white rectabgle). Switching if to single servo (the little cross at the

bottom) didn't change anything or fix the problem.

 

The only thing that did seem to help was to shut the camera off and turn

it back on again. It did seem to happen a litle more often when the battery

got below 40%, but it didn't solve the problem when I tried a fresh battery.

The weirdest thing is that the lighting isn't tricky, nor is the subject.

Plenty of light, with a subject that easily stands out from the background. It

doesn't happen with either my 28-105 3.5-5.6 or my 70-300 3.5-5.6. No problems

with the primes either. (24 2.8, 50 1.8). I'm also using a SB-800 set to TTL

BL and there isn't any issues that I can tell with the flash or SC-29 cord.

 

I'm about to contact Nikon service here in Illinois, but thought I might

get a few suggestions before I go that route. The lens is about 6 months old

and I have never dropped it or damaged it in any way. The problem has happened

almost since I've had it. I'm stumped and can only think I have a bad sample.

Thanks for any advice.

 

Dan

its probably the camera. try it with a diff lens?

I can't think of anything you haven't tried yet to resolve the problem. This lens will hunt for

focus while shooting in low light, or at least my sample does. However, I think something

else is going on here. You need to send it in to Nikon for servicing.

I had the same problem when using the same VR lens on my D200 body.

I followed this up with Nikon support who 1st advised me to upgrade the firmware on the body which didn't make any difference.

 

I then sent the lens to Nikon repairs who had it for 3 weeks, it came back and has worked perfectly ever since.

 

For your information, the lens wouldn't focus between certain focal lengths, from memory, this was around 30-70mm between 4-10ft.

 

Hope this helps and i hope your lens is still under warranty.

It's hard to say if it's a camera or a lens problem but you might try another lens and see it that's the problem. Lenses do tend to hunt in low light. I have that same lens and just got it back from service working pretty good now, still a little soft but usable. They recalibrate my AF. It was gone about 2 1/2 weeks their turn around time is 7-10 business days.

I have a similar problem with the 18-200 VR on a Fuji S3 body. Although I didn't notice the problem when I first got it, it looks now as if AF focussing is impossible at the wide end of the lens whatever the light intensity. I have to zoom in and press the release mid way, zoom back and trigger. Or alternatively move the manual focussing ring back ant forth. But this is of course very annoying when a quick response is needed, and aslo modifies the light metering. On occasions the lens does not focus at all even at longer range. Should I send the lens to Nikon? Any further experience?

Interesting ... I too have the 18-200 ... didn't have your problems however, just yesterday the

lens stopped being able to focus at the 70mm and beyond zoom at subjects beyond around

50-80- yards. Had it for 6 months and no problem ... did try my 12-24 and it works fine.

Even when I manually focus, it won't work. I think it is beyond my service ability --- what did

you learn from Nikon?

Toby

After more enquiries I was told that Fuji (Nikon too) offers a free upgrade for the S2 and S3 bodies to make them fully compatible with the Nikkor 18-200 VR. You have to send the camera in. Mine has just come back after two months, the long delay being due probably to the summer vacations.

<p>i have same lens, same stupid focus issues. sent it in. still.<br>

focuses when close to subject. blurry when more than 2 ft. away. <br>

i am extrememly confused. could also be the d200. sent that in also. still random blurry pics.</p>

<p>I also have the same focusing problem. no idea what's causing it. Getting ready to send it in to Nikon for repair. It happened on my d80 i used to have, and also still happens on my new d90. anyone know what Nikon service charged for this repair? I also have alot of dust in the lens(hasn't seemed to affect any images) and i'm sure cleaning that will jack up the price even more! If anyone has any ideas what i can expect, i'd appreciate it! I don't want to send it in, get an outrageous quote and not have the money to get it serviced!</p>

<p>Version 1 of the 18-200 was introduced in late 2005 and went on sale in December that year; that was less than 5 years ago. If your 18-200 is a Nikon USA lens, it should still be under the extended 5-year warranty.</p>

<p>That is a good point. I guess my problem will be if they ask for proof of purchase or a receipt. I bought it off a photographer friend of mine a couple of years back and i'm sure the receipt is long gone. Their return site says if the product is still under warranty, you have to scan the warranty information and receipt. Guess i'll never know till i try! Thanks for the response!</p>

<p>The following may not answer OP's question for his particular situation. But after struggling with many focusing problems, I have set up my D200 and the 18-200mm zoom in a certain way to alleviate many of them.</p>

<p>Use the AF_on button instead of the shutter release to focus. I can then focus at one area in the view finder, and set the exposure at another area (e.g. spot metering) with the shutter release. Using the shutter release to focus would mean setting the exposure at the same area. More often than not, this is not the desired operation.</p>

<p>Disable focus tracking. I want to be able to focus off center, recompose and release the shutter. With focus tracking enabled, after I press the AF_on button off center to focus and recompose, the camera would refocus and destroy the focus I set in the first place. I.e., with focus tracking, the focus is not locked until the shutter is released.</p>

 

<p>Disable shutter release only when in focus. There are times I need to capture an image immediately (in dim light or fast action), in focus or otherwise.</p>

<p>The D200's AF settings are very complicated. Only a very carefully chosen combination of the numerous knobs and menu settings would result in *optimal* focus for a particular shooting situation and/or habit. Without realizing this, many would blame the lens for the out of focus shots. On a film body, none of the above is a problem.</p>

<p>This was posted on the Flickr forum and it worked for me, take off your filter and tighten the small grey ring on the inside of the filter threads as follows (use a lens cloth so no smudges or scratches):<br>

"Just Check the top part of your lens.You will see a gray ring with 2 small holes <br />where you should hold this ring and turn clockwise to tighten it.It is quite <br />simple.Just don't scratch your lens,be gentle.You can even clean the inside by <br />turning this ring counter clockwise and unscrewing the front element.There is <br />nothing you can do wrong unless you scratch the glass.So even if you are still <br />not sure,just go ahead and try it.Your lens will have no problem at all...I <br />guarantee....;-)...Just don't scratch it..."</p>

I have used 18-200 VR II on D300s but it is not focusing after 135 mm anybody encounter such issue

<p>I had the same focusing problem with my 18-200mm VR I, after following Jeff's posting on tighten the ring, it works fine again. Thanks you Jeff.</p>