D200 focus problem fixed

[jim_gifford]

Following up on an earlier thread, "D200 focus screwdriver misbehaving"

 

My D200 was having difficulty focusing AF-D lenses. Sometimes it would work

normally, but at other times it would focus verrrrry slowly or whir

ineffectually, the itty bitty screwdriver-like drive in the body failing to

change the lens's focus. That made autofocus unreliable and essentially left me

with a nice manual-focus body.

 

I sent the camera to Nikon's service center in Melville NY for warranty

service. They replaced the bayonet mount on the body and adjusted the focus

mechanism. That seems to have fixed the problem. The camera now focuses my

various AF-D lenses as it should.

 

(They also cleaned the CCD and gave the camera the standard checkout and

tidying up.) No charge for the warranty service... the camera was a few days

shy of its first birthday. Turnaround time (including shipping both ways) was

13 days.

 

I post this because we do hear from folks whose service experience is

unpleasant, and it seems fair to take a minute to post when Nikon's service

technicians do good work promptly.

 

Be well,

[ldallara]

I just had a good service experience with Nikon service at the Melville service center. Repair was to a damaged 60mm Nikkor lens.

They brought the smashed lens (from a drop)back to like new staus for $170 and 7 days turn around. I am very happy with my favorite lens again.

 

Lou Dallara

http://louisdallara.com

[trunfio]

This brings up an interesting point. My D200 sometimes very slowly focuses non AF-S lenses. Specifically, my Sigma 18-50/2.8. Often it focuses fine, but occasionally when i depress the shutter halfway it will slowly go way out of focus, depress the shutter halfway again, it will slowly go back into focus. Sometimes, it takes a couple shutter presses to gain focus. Does anyone know if this is normal??? I've been living with it, but if I don't have to, I won't and I'll get it serviced. Plus, I don't know if it's the lens or the D200. Thanks!

[jim_gifford]

For Mr. Trunfio:

 

You should test another AF or AF-D type lens to see if the behavior is a function of the body or just your Sigma 18-50. Also, test to see whether the behavior happens with a fully charged battery (many misbehaviors crop up when battery juice is low).

 

Having said all that... what you describe is pretty much what I was seeing with my D200, tested with two different batteries and four AF-D lenses. I don't have any AF-S lenses with internal motors, so all my autofocus lenses use the little screwdriver fitting and the motor in the body. It wasn't working correctly. Now that I have the camera back from the techs in Melville, it is working normally again.

 

Be well,