Camera won't take pictures?

<p>Hello!</p>

<p>I am new here. I have had my camera for about a year now and this problem has always been randomly occurring... but now it's become annoying enough for me to ask about it.</p>

<p>I shoot with a Nikon D3000 and what I think is the kit lens (Nikkor 18-55mm). I generally take photos of just my dogs and sometimes while I'm in the process of doing that I will press down the button to take a picture and it will beep as if ready but it will not actually take the picture. Sometimes it just does this once but usually I have to try several times to get a picture before it works again.</p>

<p>I'm sure that this is user error but can somebody explain it to me?</p>

<p>Reread your manual...it probably has to do with not enough light to focus accurately.</p>

<p>Sounds like your camera has a "focus priority" setting that won't permit a photo to be taken until the camera thinks it's in focus. See if your Nikon D3000 has an option for "release priority" which allows the photo to be taken even if the camera thinks it's not in focus. I generally prefer "release priority" on my Nikon because I'd rather risk an out of focus photo than missing a good snapshot because the camera tried to give me unwanted help.</p>

<p>As Stephen and Lex say, this sort of thing is usually because light too low for the AF to work, the camera is set so it won't take a picture if not in focus, and a number of other things that could lead to this without anything at all being wrong with the camera.</p>

<p>After a year, it is exactly the time to sit down again with the manual, and read it through.</p>

<p>You will now find yourself able to understand a lot more of the fine points, limitations, and particularly how to customize the camera to your needs through the "parameter" setting and such like.</p>

<p>You've had your year of apprenticeship, now it's time to become a "master". ;)</p>

<p>There are two possibilities,<br /> First, you're shooting with AF-C or AF-A, it might not take pictures when it thinks that the focus has shifted and it can not keep up, whether because it is too dark or too fast so the focusing mechanism can not nail on anything, or the focus is too close. You might hear the beeping sound, but it might not mean anything a fraction of second after that. Shift to AF-S or Manual, use the center point if it's too dark assuming that you focus assistance light is turned on, and mind your distance. The D3000 doesn't have custom setting to set the release mechanism... I guess.<br /> Second, contact problem, there are times when under "ideal" situation, the shutter won't trip, and it happened irregularly. My guess is, there is something with the electrical related with the button and you might want to get in touch with the people at the service center. My D3000 has the problem, alas, I don't really fond of the people at the service center, so I worked around it by keeping the button fully pressed until it work, usually for 2 or 3 seconds. Luckily it doesn't happen often enough, but it hurt sometimes.<br /> Nevertheless, as previous comments have mentioned, read the manual, it's more than utterly useless as some of us assumed.</p>

<p>Autofocus cameras can have trouble focusing on certain subjects even when there is plenty of light and the subject is not moving. If the subject is low in contrast or it's very light or dark or lacks lines the camera can have trouble focusing on it. Try focusing on you dogs eyes and try using the center focus point. You can also try using the camera's auto focus illuminator. You'll find it in your manual.</p>

<p>Every newbie should get a good basic photography book or DVD. My favorite book now is, "National Geographic Complete Photography", but there are other good ones. Also worth getting is, "The Digital Field Guide Nikon D3000". It's both a better manual and a good basic photo book geared to your D3000.</p>

<p>Wow, thanks a lot for the responses guys!</p>

<p>I have started actually learning how to use my camera, it's my summer project, so I'm slowly getting a grasp on it. I have a few books (plus the manual!) that I"ve just started to crack open so I'm sure I'll learn something that would eventually remedy this for me. This was my first post and I"ve been reading the forums all day - there are so many great pictures and great advice. Thanks again!</p>

<p>What I like to do is to read the manual (even though I don't get very much out of it initially) and then use the camera. Then I go back and look at the manual again because now a few things are more understandable. Over time you can master the things you need.</p>