D7000 Focus issues

[Karaya1]

Hi, I'm not a newb photographer. In fact I'm a musician you might have seen. So I don't even consider myself a photographer. I actually consider myself the Salvador Dali or Andy Warhol of photography. I like to dabble in the abstract. So for me, catching the perfect sunset or capturing half-dome with perfect contrast isn't my goal.

I want to say that this thread has helped out a lot as I want to buy a Nikon that is dependable and fool proof for the point and shoot picture taker. (note: I didn't say photographer) I didn't want to start a new thread, (trying to save bandwidth) yet I don't want to hijack this thread either. So my question for you disgruntled D7K owners is, (and I'll try and stay on topic) What previous Nikon Model would you say you liked better than the D7K?

Thank you in advance.


K1

 

[AC016]

Hi, I'm not a newb photographer. In fact I'm a musician you might have seen. So I don't even consider myself a photographer. I actually consider myself the Salvador Dali or Andy Warhol of photography. I like to dabble in the abstract. So for me, catching the perfect sunset or capturing half-dome with perfect contrast isn't my goal.

I want to say that this thread has helped out a lot as I want to buy a Nikon that is dependable and fool proof for the point and shoot picture taker. (note: I didn't say photographer) I didn't want to start a new thread, (trying to save bandwidth) yet I don't want to hijack this thread either. So my question for you disgruntled D7K owners is, (and I'll try and stay on topic) What previous Nikon Model would you say you liked better than the D7K?

Thank you in advance.


K1

Nope, never seen you before or heard of you, lol. If you want, look at some of the bridge cameras Nikon has - like the P510. Have fun

 

[Karaya1]

Nope, never seen you before or heard of you, lol. If you want, look at some of the bridge cameras Nikon has - like the P510. Have fun

Cool, Thanks. When I was touring in the early 90's, I use to carry a very compact analog Cannon 35mm with me because it would fit in my coat pocket. Half of the secret of getting great pics is having a camera when stuff happens. I know everyone now has a phone camera, but they're just not cameras ya know? Great suggestion. I was looking at the D5200 because I'm looking for something lite, idiot proof and dependable.

Again, a million thanks.

K1

 

[Mike FM]

I know this thread is kind of old, but I thought I'd share some of my experience with the focus is. It's been discussed a thousand times I'm sure, but my D7000 had a serious backfocus issue. I got one back in Feb after finally letting my D90 retire. Anyway, I didn't really know about the issue at first. I honestly thought it was my fault. After hundreds of soft focus and blurry dead on shots, I decided to look up the issue and ran some test. It was definitely backfocusing on every single lens. The effects were worst at wide apertures (f/1.8 with my lenses). A lot of ruined shots. Maxed out the AF Fine Tune settings and still not enough. Thankfully, Nikon HQ in Melville is about 20 minutes from me. Dropped it off and a week later got it back with a firmware update, mirror adjustments and some other stuff I can't remember at the moment. It was still no perfect, but I was now able to fix it using the AF Fine Tune settings. Things are as they should be now and I couldn't be happier.

Hi, I'm not a newb photographer. In fact I'm a musician you might have seen. So I don't even consider myself a photographer. I actually consider myself the Salvador Dali or Andy Warhol of photography. I like to dabble in the abstract. So for me, catching the perfect sunset or capturing half-dome with perfect contrast isn't my goal.

I want to say that this thread has helped out a lot as I want to buy a Nikon that is dependable and fool proof for the point and shoot picture taker. (note: I didn't say photographer) I didn't want to start a new thread, (trying to save bandwidth) yet I don't want to hijack this thread either. So my question for you disgruntled D7K owners is, (and I'll try and stay on topic) What previous Nikon Model would you say you liked better than the D7K?

Thank you in advance.

K1

I'd personally pick a D90 over a D5200. The bridge cameras like the P510/520 aren't all that great to be honest. Either stick to a point and shoot or step up to a DSLR. The reason I say this is because the P510 isn't really that compact. If you have the cash, go for the Coolpix A.....really compact and has a DX sensor. If you're on a budget, the P310 is a great little point and shoot with some manual controls that lets you experiment a bit. A DSLR is the best choice if you don't mind the bulk of course. The D3200 & D5200 are pretty compact by DSLR standards if you want something newer than the D90. If you know the basics of photography, you shouldn't have trouble with any Nikon DSLR. The menu system is pretty similar throughout. You just get more physical buttons and knobs with the high end gear.

 

[Karaya1]

I think I'll go with the D3200. It sounds like a great entry level platform with a fine resolution.

 

[jwstl]

I think I'll go with the D3200. It sounds like a great entry level platform with a fine resolution.

It is. I have one I use when I don't feel like carrying the D800e or the 7000. I keep the Sigma 17-50 2.8 lens on it pretty much at all times. It's a great little camera.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Cody Maxted]

Owned the d7000 for a while and yes occasionally had focus issues. I use single focus point and as half pressing the trigger it locks on, when i press all the way down it changes focus before taking the photo. Very frustraiting. I have moved the focus point around after composing and before focusing but still same problem. Gone through AF fine tuning each lens. If there are so many other people out there with this problem you would think nikon would want to get it fixed as quick as possible to save bad publicity.

 

[evan447]

Owned the d7000 for a while and yes occasionally had focus issues. I use single focus point and as half pressing the trigger it locks on, when i press all the way down it changes focus before taking the photo. Very frustraiting. I have moved the focus point around after composing and before focusing but still same problem. Gone through AF fine tuning each lens. If there are so many other people out there with this problem you would think nikon would want to get it fixed as quick as possible to save bad publicity.

try using af-s. set the camera to focus priority.

 

[Mike FM]

Owned the d7000 for a while and yes occasionally had focus issues. I use single focus point and as half pressing the trigger it locks on, when i press all the way down it changes focus before taking the photo. Very frustraiting. I have moved the focus point around after composing and before focusing but still same problem. Gone through AF fine tuning each lens. If there are so many other people out there with this problem you would think nikon would want to get it fixed as quick as possible to save bad publicity.

Is it hunting after locking on or an off focus issue? There are several combinations. There are the focus point options and 3 options for the servo, AF-a, AF-s & AF-c. If it's set to to AF-a or AF-c, the AF system will continue to track a re-focus even after pressing half-way. I believe there is even an option for what happens when you press the shutter button half way.

If it's back focusing or front focusing consistently, you should send it in for repair. Sometimes it can't be fixed by AF fine tune alone.

 

[RussTnail]

New to the forum, but joined because of issues I am also having with my new D7000.
As a retired, disabled Vet, it took me some time to save up enough coin to make the
purchase. Upgrading from my D70s and a good assortment of lens. The "problem"
all captures are soft.. It make no difference if I use the stock lens that came with the
camera or any of my nikor AF lenses. The camera was sent back to Nikon. They said
they could not find anything wrong. Still all soft images..Sent the camera and lens back
to Nikon. The tested it and sent back some shots made with a focus chart. Said it looked
perfect. Took around 30 assorted landscapes, using all my lens. Still soft. Now I'm lost, and
have been bumming my wife's D70. With all my lens, it takes perfect shots. I find it strange
that one month after buying my D7000, they come out with the D7100??? Any ideas would
be appreciated. I still think Nikon should replace the camera and lens, I sent it in when it was
still under warranty...HELP! I can't afford to buy another camera..

 

[Dooku77]

New to the forum, but joined because of issues I am also having with my new D7000.
As a retired, disabled Vet, it took me some time to save up enough coin to make the
purchase. Upgrading from my D70s and a good assortment of lens. The "problem"
all captures are soft.. It make no difference if I use the stock lens that came with the
camera or any of my nikor AF lenses. The camera was sent back to Nikon. They said
they could not find anything wrong. Still all soft images..Sent the camera and lens back
to Nikon. The tested it and sent back some shots made with a focus chart. Said it looked
perfect. Took around 30 assorted landscapes, using all my lens. Still soft. Now I'm lost, and
have been bumming my wife's D70. With all my lens, it takes perfect shots. I find it strange
that one month after buying my D7000, they come out with the D7100??? Any ideas would
be appreciated. I still think Nikon should replace the camera and lens, I sent it in when it was
still under warranty...HELP! I can't afford to buy another camera..

I've had mine for a while. Still soft images. Nothing I can do about it. Considering selling everything. I don't have money either to keep updating bodies every year. I wish I could go full frame but I can't afford that either. Sorry I wasn't any help here, but I feel your pain on this one.

 

[Marcel]

@RussTnail & @Dooku77, make sure to check your camera "Picture Control" settings in order to have the proper in camera sharpening. The sharpening should be set to 7 or above and some cameras come with a setting of 4. This should give you a sharper shot. Now please note that this setting will only affect your jpegs as the raw files NEED to be sharpened in post processing. And for me, all raw files need some kind of sharpening.

Hope this helps a bit.

 

[Dooku77]

@RussTnail & @Dooku77, make sure to check your camera "Picture Control" settings in order to have the proper in camera sharpening. The sharpening should be set to 7 or above and some cameras come with a setting of 4. This should give you a sharper shot. Now please note that this setting will only affect your jpegs as the raw files NEED to be sharpened in post processing. And for me, all raw files need some kind of sharpening.

Hope this helps a bit.

Thanks Marcel I'll give that a try. I shoot everything in raw anyway and when I go to touch them up, they just don't seem crisp at all.

 

[Marcel]

Thanks Marcel I'll give that a try. I shoot everything in raw anyway and when I go to touch them up, they just don't seem crisp at all.

I don't know which program you are using to do your sharpening, but there are plenty of tutorials on post processing sharpening on the Net. Also make sure your shutter speeds are fast enough to prevent camera shake blur which is a common cause of unsharp images. Just as a test, take the same shot in the normal shutter mode hand held and then in the Quiet mode. You might find out an interesting fact of life. Since I did this little experiment myself, I always shoot in the Quiet mode either with my D7000 or 600, and I find I get sharper results. It doesn't take much to blur an image.

 

[Dooku77]

I don't know which program you are using to do your sharpening, but there are plenty of tutorials on post processing sharpening on the Net. Also make sure your shutter speeds are fast enough to prevent camera shake blur which is a common cause of unsharp images. Just as a test, take the same shot in the normal shutter mode hand held and then in the Quiet mode. You might find out an interesting fact of life. Since I did this little experiment myself, I always shoot in the Quiet mode either with my D7000 or 600, and I find I get sharper results. It doesn't take much to blur an image.

I'm going to give this a try now. I always have my prime lens on. I go back and forth ViewNX or lightroom.

 

[Marcel]

I'm going to give this a try now. I always have my prime lens on. I go back and forth ViewNX or lightroom.

Please share your findings with us.

 

[Dooku77]

Please share your findings with us.

Sounds good. I think I'm going to start learning shutter priority. I've always used aperture priority. I'll keep you all posted.

 

[dukatum]

I promise you the D7000 will shoot sharp images just as good as the next camera.
There are plenty of people on 500px with sharp shots from D7000, same on Digital Rev.
Try buying a Spyder Lenscal to use for testing your lens focus (you can actually make these sort of things at home with rulers etc) and run a good check on all your lenses. You can use AF fine tuning on D7000 to make any corrections if needed. This should be done no matter which camera body you have to be honest.

Keep in mind you have a bunch of f/1.8 lenses. This gives you very little DOF to play with, and maybe you're just needing to not using your aperture so wide right now until you become more use to the lenses?
I remember buying my 50mm 1.8, it was my first fast lens and I walked straight into Madame Tussauds shooting wide open and thinking "WTF this lens sucks!" as I couldn't get anything sharp. A few hours and a 700 shots later I was loving the lens.

Be sure you do your test shots on non-moving objects first to satisfy your thoughts that the camera can meet your expectations. Then you know if your shots on the street and moving objects are not sharp, it's not the camera at fault.

 

[skene]

Can you post pictures of these alleged "soft" images so that we can see?

 

[Englischdude]

my d7k was a nightmare when I first purchased it new from amazon. all the images seemd to be very soft until I notice at one image of my daughter, although the focus point was on her eyes, the hair around her ears was razor sharp. I then dug through the manual and went through the procedure for tuning the AF. the camera was demonstrating severe back focusing which could only be corrected when ajusting in AF fine tune to the absolute limits of the scale. As the camera was under guarantee I sent it back to nikon without any lenses for recalibration. The camera which I received back was completely different. Focus spot on with most of my lenses, some minor adjustment required on 1 or 2 of them. All in all, I am very satisfied with the results. WIsh the quality control at Nikon was a little more thorough though. There are so many threads on the web of the d7k showing backfocus issues out the box. Maybe this can help. Also, are you sure the softness is not down to motion blur resulting from camera shake? As a rule of thumb I always try to achieve a minimum of 2 times the focal length for the shutter speed. do you get the soft pictures on lenses with VR, without or both?