D7000 single point focus problem

[tina_brandner]

<p>I have been using a D90 for over 3 years now with a 35mm 1.8 lens to shoot models. I recently bought the D7000 and have been using the same lens. I figured out how to have a single point focus, however it does not seem to be working correctly. My D90 was simple, you just move the focus box to wherever you want to focus (I mostly shoot vertical, so in head shots it would be at the top to focus on the models eye) and it was always crystal clear. My D7000, I have on AF-S and the single point, move it to the models eyes as I am looking through the viewfinder, hold the shutter halfway, it focuses as I am used to but for some reason the photo does not focus there! On the playback mode you can see the grid on the photo with the actual red focus box on her eye, however that eye is not in focus but the farther one is. Its not a huge difference but in headshots it is very obvious. I need that crystal clear shiny eye look. I have tried fixing the focus and recomposing, moving the box slightly, trying to focus on the forehead, nose etc. I even used the 9 point focus, which works great for body shots. I have tried for two days now and about 2 in every 5 photos is clear and I am not holding down the shutter. My model does not move. And even if she did my D90 was never off. I have tried focusing and holding down the shutter, tried refocusing after EVERY shot just to make sure. It is not consistent. I am at the point where I might just buy a new D90. Does anyone have any ideas? I have the manual and have done everything it tells me. Are there other settings that might be messing with this?</p><div></div>

[james_lai]

<p>Have you tried the AF fine tune? Check the manual for how to do it, you'll have to play around with the numbers until the focus is sharp. I had a similar degree of back-focus with my 18-70 on my D7000, which I fixed with an AF fine tune adjustment of -3.</p>

[simon_hickie1]

<p>I've just acquired a D7000 and was experiencing similar issues. AF fine tune was the answer for me. There are various ways of doing this. I used a brick wall at about a 45 degree angle, lens wide open, tripod or similar and played around with various AF fine tune settings. A target about 6 feet away should be OK. Try -10 for starters and work from there. My Tamron 90mm needs -8 and my 18-70mm needs about -10. I got rid of a D5100 because it had no AF fine tune and was quite a bit out with some lenses but not others. With the D7000, you can store values for many lenses and it knows automatically which lens you have on.</p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>For whatever reason, 16MP DX DSLRs such as the D7000 is a lot more demanding on lenses than 12MP ones like the D90. I would fine tune your lenses on the D7000 as the previous two posters suggest.</p>

[mike_halliwell]

<p>I'm guessing the actual difference in focused distance is a few mm, 10mm at most? Why not try AF-C in case you are actually moving and/ or swaying towards or away from the model? It may be the ergonomics of the new camera that mean this one does and the D90 didn't.</p>

<p>Use a still life and a good tripod. If they're <em>not</em> in focus, it's a AF-fine tune/calibration issue.</p>

<p>If they <em>are</em> in focus, it's a technique issue, maybe you are moving whilst using 'locked' AF-S?</p>

<p>This shot looks about 20mm back focused at a guess, there's a lot of fine detail further into the scene, especially sharp hair from the 'good' eye into the frame for about 20mm. What aperture are you using?</p>

[simon_hickie1]

<p>Mike has a point - I'm a 'swayer' so focus can often drift off unless I focus and fire as a single movement and don't recompose a bit. And of course, human subjects can sway a bit too! A 35mm lens at 1.5 meters away and f2 will have a DoF of 10 to 14cm (depending on how you define it - I use a Circle of Confusion reference of 3 pixels, giving the lower figure in this range). At a focus distance of 1 meter, DoF falls to 5cm, BUT the focus recomposition circle also does not cover the whole frame, so focus and recompose may also be off.</p>

[sjmurray]

<p>Try focusing on a flat design using manual focus and live view, which focuses right on the sensor, and should be as well focusd as it can be. Then manually focus using the viewfinder. Is it equally as sharp? Did the you have to change the place where the lens focuses on the barrel of the lens? If so, maybe the focusing screen is not calibrated. Just my guess. I sent my new d7100 in because of this problem and I'm now waiting to see what happens. Since you are using an AF lens, the problem could be the lens and not the camera. You could try auto focus using live view, which uses a different focusing method, and compare with normal AF focusing. Auto fine tune may work for you as others have pointed out. If this works at portrait distances, re-check for sharpness at farther distances, which may require different fine tune numbers or none at all! </p>

[pge]

<p>If you decide to fine tune your focus as a few people have suggested, have a look at this method.<br>

<br /><a href="http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1187247">Dot Tune</a></p>

[vince_lopresti]

More good information can be found here

http://regex.info/blog/photo-tech/focus-chart#comment-

49635

[vikingman]

<p>You have my sympathy. I had very similar problems with my D7000. Having upgraded from a D70 I was extremely disappointed with the D7000's ability to focus. Many shots I took were out of focus and, like you, the red focus box would be on the area I wanted to focus on, but the actual focus point in the photo was somewhere else. <br>

I then trawled through threads on D7000 focus issues (there are many). Opinion seemed to be divided between camera fault and photographer fault. On Photonet there seemed to be a swell of opinion that the photographers technique must be at fault - D7000 is a more demanding camera, depth of field/camera shake issues etc etc. Believing that I could certainly fail in my poor technique I tried all the harder to get everything right, but just got increasingly frustrated and hated using my camera. Cheap point and shoots could make a better job of focussing than my D7000, and I longed for the performance of my D70.<br>

Eventually I decided to send the camera back to Nikon. It came back a different camera, with focus issues resolved. Nothing to do with my poor technique, or increased resolution, narrow depth of field, not knowing how to use the AF system or cross hair points, nothing to do with fine tuning AF points. The problem was an expensive camera that could not perform one of the most important functions that it is asked to do - focus. I am still not confident of its ability to focus reliably and spend a lot of time checking focussing rather than concentrating on composition.<br>

There will be large numbers of people who have correctly operating D7000s who will try and persuade you that it is your technique, there will also be large numbers of people who believe blindly that just because it is Nikon it can't be wrong, you must be wrong.<br>

My advice: You have a serious problem, send your camera back to Nikon for repair.<br>

My personal opinion is that the D7000's focussing system is poorly engineered and fragile, resulting in the the kind of frustration that I have had, and I suspect that you too are having.</p>

<p> </p>

[Landrum Kelly]

<p>I see that you shot this at f/2.5. How would you feel about stopping down to f/2.8? I realize that you want a shallow DOF, but it appears that it is now so shallow that you have trouble getting both eyes in focus, even though they are almost in the same plane. </p>

<p>That said, it does appear that the plane of focus is behind both eyes. Rocking back might work well enough at your existing settings.</p>

<p>--Lannie</p>

[oracle0017]

<p>I have experienced similar problems with the autofocus. I fine-tuned each of my lenses with the D7000 and have had excellent results since.</p>

[chris_walsh3]

<p>a bit about me, i received a ba in photography in 89, worked for several yrs in chicago for such groups as sadin photo, steve nozika, hedrick blessing, ect. worked on shoots for spiegal, sears, Lamborghini, playboy, chicago mag, ect. Have background in both scitex and mac, and good overall understanding of photography, both film and digital, optics, and digital processes. <br>

and i can tell u that an instamatic for 49 bucks far outperforms my d7000 piece of junk. this camera simply will not perform critical focus...period.<br>

i am, and u should be also, furious with nikon.. having unusable photos, that can not be recreated or reshot, they are simply gone forever.<br>

Nikon owes all of us, who foolishly purchased this piece of junk, a full refund.</p>