Oh well that’s put me in my place. I suppose I should also go tell the staff at the shop where the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] D5100 was bought that they too are idiots because bad shots are obviously down to the person pressing the shutter release.
The shop staff had problems; hence its replacement.
Read the earlier posting – Yes, full auto mode also produced poor results.
Unlike some, I am only to willing to listen to advice from an ‘expert’ – so with the focus points as described below the two photographs posted earlier, would ‘eurotrash’ care to enlighten us what mistakes a mere junior member could have made in operating such a simple device?
I tried to apologize before going into it. I'm a mere mortal. I don't have a hammer sent from the god of thunder that enables me to take superior photos. I don't even thing I take what can be considered to be a 'superior' photo...I put my pants on one leg at a time in the morning, and more often than that, fall down trying to do so. Nothing about my online nikonites status makes me any better than you for any reason. All I'm saying is that in AUTO mode with an autofocus lens, set to single point AF-S, it should make a great picture. If it doesn't, then there's a problem. There are just a lot of variables with cameras these days and it's hard to diagnose.
That said, I suspect that the camera is having back focus issues. If the statue of the dog in the first picture is in focus, then the camera obviously is in the wrong. (Assuming that the focal point was in fact on the ferret)
Now, if you were in AF-S with the middle focus point selected, and it did this with an AFS lens, well then, I'd DEFINITELY suspect the camera is in the wrong.
So here's how we trouble shoot this. Take five batteries, any size, line them up in a row. Setup your tripod at a 45 degree angle from the batteries, set camera to AF-S mode, select the center point on the camera, line up that point with the middle battery, and shoot a picture of them at the lowest allowable aperture. The only battery that should be in perfect focus will be that middle battery. All others in that line should have some blur to them.
Also, try this same thing with multiple lenses to rule out that the 55-200 has the issue and not the camera body. This back focusing issue was aparentlly a huge thing with the D7000, but I've not heard any such issue with the 5100.
If it's a problem across multiple lenses with the camera, then it's the camera and not the body. IF it only happens with the 55-200, then the problem is with the lens. Also before doing this, do a factory reset of the camera body just to rule that out as well.
This is just what I would do. If Nikon said that its weird, then it must be weird. I think it is judging by the info provided so far. I would try to get them, or if you can, get a replacement from the dealer you purchased it from.
