D7000 backfocus tolerances

[Englischdude]

Hi all,

i know there is enough info on the web about the backfocus issues some experience with the D7000, however I would be interested to know at what point should I be sending the unit back to NIKON? My D7000 is still under guarantee, and when I received the camera at the end of August I noticed it was sometimes difficult to maintain focus at the larger apertures. After alot of research on the net I thought the first thing to do would be to get some practice, hone my skills in order to eliminate operator error.

Since one week now I am the proud owner of a D80 which is my fallback body. Tonight I decided to download a focus chart and compare the focus with the same lenses on both the camera bodies. The D80 was more or less spot on regardless of which lens I used, however the D7000 proved to be back-focusing considerably under exactly the same conditions. Using the AF- fine tune function I managed to get better results with the following settings:

NIKKOR 50mm AFD 1.8 Correction -18
NIKKOR 35mm AFS 1.8 Correction -14
NIKKOR 28-80 AFD 3.3-5.6 No correction needed
NIKKOR 18-105 AFS at focal lengths above 90mm -20 was not enough to correct the issue.

My feeling is that the camera must go back to NIKON for adjustment/calibration. Agreed? Although the adjustment scale allows +-20, if I am having to get close to the limits to get acceptable performance this suggests to me a camera issue. I would appreciate hearing your thoughts.

Many thanks
Martin

 

[Ruidoso Bill]

Hi all,

i know there is enough info on the web about the backfocus issues some experience with the D7000, however I would be interested to know at what point should I be sending the unit back to NIKON? My D7000 is still under guarantee, and when I received the camera at the end of August I noticed it was sometimes difficult to maintain focus at the larger apertures. After alot of research on the net I thought the first thing to do would be to get some practice, hone my skills in order to eliminate operator error.

Since one week now I am the proud owner of a D80 which is my fallback body. Tonight I decided to download a focus chart and compare the focus with the same lenses on both the camera bodies. The D80 was more or less spot on regardless of which lens I used, however the D7000 proved to be back-focusing considerably under exactly the same conditions. Using the AF- fine tune function I managed to get better results with the following settings:

NIKKOR 50mm AFD 1.8 Correction -18
NIKKOR 35mm AFS 1.8 Correction -14
NIKKOR 28-80 AFD 3.3-5.6 No correction needed
NIKKOR 18-105 AFS at focal lengths above 90mm -20 was not enough to correct the issue.

My feeling is that the camera must go back to NIKON for adjustment/calibration. Agreed? Although the adjustment scale allows +-20, if I am having to get close to the limits to get acceptable performance this suggests to me a camera issue. I would appreciate hearing your thoughts.

Many thanks
Martin

I would send it in if it were mine. Take advantage of that warranty. Curious what aperture you did the testing at? I have tested both of my bodies and no adjustment was needed for my goto lenses.

 

[BackdoorArts]

There was a lot of talk when it was a newer model about the D7000 and backfocus issues, and it was well warranted. Mine had consistent backfocus adjustments, so I had a standard adjustment of -12 on mine and then specific adjustments for the primes. Realize that zooms can vary across the sweep, so you may never be able to adjust it properly across the full sweep, but you should be able to adjust it at one (I use the long end since it has the shallowest depth of field).

As was recommended, if it's under warranty then file a warranty claim and speak with a customer service rep, telling them that the consistent measures speak to a global adjustment problem and you want it recalibrated. If you have a specific prime lens that is your bread and butter suggest that they also take that and make sure it can be properly calibrated (they'll balk at a zoom for the reasons mentioned).

 

[Englischdude]

I would send it in if it were mine. Take advantage of that warranty. Curious what aperture you did the testing at? I have tested both of my bodies and no adjustment was needed for my goto lenses.

i tested both cameras on a tripod using shutter timer to avoid any movement of the camera, centre point focus, matrix metering and 1 stop down from the largest aperture to give me the shallowest depth of field for analysing the exact posiotion of the focus plane. Same procedure for both cameras. D80 spot on, D7000.............

 

[alfaholic]

I have the same queation. It is maybe true that my expectations are unreal, but it is very dificult to decide whether my D7000 works well or not...

 

[BackdoorArts]

I have the same queation. It is maybe true that my expectations are unreal, but it is very dificult to decide whether my D7000 works well or not...

For me there's a distinction between "works well" and "is properly set from the factory". A camera that can be adjusted so that all lenses focus sharply can work well, but it may not be set correctly from the factory, which seems to be the case with yours based on your post (I would need more details to understand how you're going about adjusting the zoom). Given that you are at -18 and -14 on the primes, and that the D7000 seems to have a bit of a history here, I suspect that Nikon would be willing to take a hard look at yours under warranty and calibrate it. The question you need to ask is whether you want to do without it for a couple weeks? Your numbers are not necessarily concerning to me since I had similar numbers, and you can get your lenses adjusted. I never sent mine in and am still happy with it.

 

[Englischdude]

For me there's a distinction between "works well" and "is properly set from the factory". A camera that can be adjusted so that all lenses focus sharply can work well, but it may not be set correctly from the factory, which seems to be the case with yours based on your post (I would need more details to understand how you're going about adjusting the zoom). Given that you are at -18 and -14 on the primes, and that the D7000 seems to have a bit of a history here, I suspect that Nikon would be willing to take a hard look at yours under warranty and calibrate it. The question you need to ask is whether you want to do without it for a couple weeks? Your numbers are not necessarily concerning to me since I had similar numbers, and you can get your lenses adjusted. I never sent mine in and am still happy with it.

A couple of weeks without the d7k is a pain but ill survive.this is a confirmation that the d80 i bought as a standin a week ago was a good investment.
The d7k is boxed and will be sent to nikon tomorrow. Ill report my findings when i get the camera back.

 

[Englischdude]

WOW, following the online tracking, my D7K was sent on Monday, was delivered to NIKON Service Wednesday, was repaired and dispatched on Thursday! Good job NIKON! Now just waiting for the delivery.............

 

[Englischdude]

got my d7k back and have had time to now test fully. What a difference, there was obviously a focus issue there which has now been calibrated and fixed. it is like a new camera! I have done extensive testing with all my lenses, nothing in the AF tune function required more than + or - 10. I can live with this. Seems strange to me however, that my old d80 focuses spot on with all lenses, but the d7k needs to make use of the af tune function ?!?!?!?
Fazit: if your d7k is still under guarantee and yu think the focus may be off, then send it in for calibration. cant hurt!

Here a few pics taken today, I am happy with the results. Pics are straight out the camera, no post processing.

 

[Brian]

Thankyou for this information. My front-focus/back-focus issues are normally solved with taking apart a lens and changing the shims in it. This AF-tuning is new to me.

 

[Lamkarthess]

To all,

I bought D7000 last Sept and trying the following lenses 35mm1.8G, 50mm1.8D, 85mm1.8D,55-300mm 4.5-5.6, I found that the camera was backfocusing. Searching how to solve this problem I came across with the following site My Photography
I did not hesitate and did the process required. Now I have AF tuning off on the menu and all my lenses are working in an excellent way.