D70 autofocus issue. Help appreciated

[patrick_looney]

Hi Folks

When using AF-S the autofocus on both single and dynamic is really really slow

if not failing. However the nearest subject works perfect everytime. The

issue is not lens or composition specfic. Really strange - the d70 is only

about 5 months old.

 

Any ideas or just a faulty body?

 

Thxs and kindest regards

Pat.

[aardvarko]

try all of the sensor spots individually and see if there's one that's bad. it could have some

gunk in it - use a blower brush or canned air (carefully, and only if you know how) towards

the AF sensors, which are in the bottom of the body under the mirror.

[frans_waterlander]

Never, ever use canned air, as this contains other things than air and can leave a residue on your mirror and sensors. And when you use a blower, don't use the Hurricane blower; it emits small rubber particles that cling very badly so that professional cleaning becomes necessary, as I found out myself.

[chansonbleu]

Hi Pat,

 

Does it act sluggish all the time or just when your working fairly close? Like within 10 or 15 feet? Thats what mine was doing. I tried cleaning the camera to lens contacts and used a blower bulb to clean out the mirror box. Nothing worked. I sent it off to Nikon. They acknowledged the problem and said they can fix it with a cleaning. I don't have any idea what that entails. I should have it back by Friday so I'll let you know if it works.

 

By the way the cleaning costs $200.

 

Good luck

 

Steve

[randalldouglas]

Franz. Your tip explains something.....

[frans_waterlander]

Randy,

 

Curious what my tip explains... The canned air or the Hurricane blower?

[graham_marsden]

Hi Patrick. If you were using the long end of a long zoom for instance, you can often find that the object isn't big enough to fill the 'focus-box' you have selected. I often let auto-focus do its best then flick over to manual and sharpen the image.