Nikon D 50 and 50mm 1.8 autofocus

[amy cupp]

Anyone else had issues with this prime not wanting to autofocus on the D50?

[skellener]

Seems to work fine for me.

[rjacksonphoto]

Never had a problem. Don't have the camera set to manual focus, by any chance, do you?

[amy cupp]

No, I had to switch to manual because it was not wanting to focus.

[kayak203]

Your photos look very nice, is the 50mm new? We could throw out random possible causes, but more information would be helpful. Is the focus area getting bumped off center, or off your intended area? Are you using your intended focus mode? Is the shallow depth of field an issue? You probably can rule out my suggestions quickly. It's hard to guess without more info.

[work-page]

Yes, I've had problems with it. It appears that the 50/1.8AFD is one of the few lenses that can be turned too far when you keep the lens release button pressed while it's being mounted on the camera body. Turn it back/forth till the lens release button really clicks.

[frank kennedy]

I have the D50 and 50mm 1.8. I don't usually have a problem. Two things that might help, select the center focus area, focus on a hard edge, then re-compose. Also turn on focus assist in low light.

[djthomas]

I do not have the lens in front of me right now, but as I recall, I think you need to take the f/stop all the way down (f/22?) and then move the tab on the lens (I think there's a red dot there) before it will engage AF -- of course, if I were at home, holding the lens, I could better explain it.

[amy cupp]

Thanks guys. I will play around with it somemore. I know what you mean about the red dot. I kept trying to change the fstop there instead of on the camera and was wondering what the heck was wrong. That was user error : )