Massive focusing issues

WinkAbout®️

New member
Hi & thank you for the add.
I’ve been using Nikons for over 25+ yrs. My first DSLR was a d80. 2 yrs ago my husband bought me a D7100. I absolutely hate it! I’ve never owned a camera that has such soft focusing. My d80 was tack sharp.
I recently was on assignment & literally out of 2000 shots I believe about 50 are spot on. I’m so distraught over this. its like my focus square was not acknowledging where I was placing it. I literally was focusing on eyes yet the building to the right on the same plane is tack sharp! WTH!!!! I now have to sharpen all the pics in photoshop. I have performed the micro adjustments for each lens. I’m so irritated with this camera! I really want the d850 however I’m gun shy due to this problem. I realize the camera I have & the one I want are not even in the same playing field.
One other note I’ve had it in to Nikon 2x for focusing problems, both times they have replaced parts.

Sorry I guess I’m just venting!
 

Dangerspouse

Senior Member
Hi WinkAbout, welcome!

This may sound very obvious, but...what autofocus mode are you using? If you're trying to focus on eyes, I assume you're using Single Point AF? If you aren't, then I'd bet that's the problem right there. Otherwise the only thing I can think of is you are perhaps losing focus when focus/recomposing - maybe not holding the shutter halfway down as you recompose (do you use back button focusing?).

If you've had it serviced by Nikon 2x and they've made sure your unit is working, I'm not sure what else it could be. Perhaps someone else here, someone with more experience than me (that's most of them) will chime in with other thoughts. In the meantime, I wish you the best of luck getting this resolved. It must be very frustrating!
 

WinkAbout®️

New member
Hi DangerousSpouse
Thank you for your reply. Yes I’m using S-AF, along w/bb focus. I usually don’t recompose shot, but when I do I absolutely hold shutter 1/2 way.
Thanks for trying to help, and yes you are absolutely correct........so frustrating.
I wish my Dad was alive, I’d ask him. He was a photographer for United Airlines. :-(
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
WinkAbout®️;714473 said:
Hi & thank you for the add.
I’ve been using Nikons for over 25+ yrs. My first DSLR was a d80. 2 yrs ago my husband bought me a D7100. I absolutely hate it! I’ve never owned a camera that has such soft focusing. My d80 was tack sharp.
I recently was on assignment & literally out of 2000 shots I believe about 50 are spot on. I’m so distraught over this. its like my focus square was not acknowledging where I was placing it. I literally was focusing on eyes yet the building to the right on the same plane is tack sharp! WTH!!!! I now have to sharpen all the pics in photoshop. I have performed the micro adjustments for each lens. I’m so irritated with this camera! I really want the d850 however I’m gun shy due to this problem. I realize the camera I have & the one I want are not even in the same playing field.
One other note I’ve had it in to Nikon 2x for focusing problems, both times they have replaced parts.

Sorry I guess I’m just venting!
Okay something's not adding for me in your description: "I literally was focusing on eyes yet the building to the right on the same plane is tack sharp!" What I'm not clear on is how the building you mention is on the same focal plane as the eye's of your subject.

Could you post one of these photos? Seeing one might help us diagnose the problem you're having.
 
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Danno

Senior Member
WinkAbout®️;714473 said:
Hi & thank you for the add.
I’ve been using Nikons for over 25+ yrs. My first DSLR was a d80. 2 yrs ago my husband bought me a D7100. I absolutely hate it! I’ve never owned a camera that has such soft focusing. My d80 was tack sharp.
I recently was on assignment & literally out of 2000 shots I believe about 50 are spot on. I’m so distraught over this. its like my focus square was not acknowledging where I was placing it. I literally was focusing on eyes yet the building to the right on the same plane is tack sharp! WTH!!!! I now have to sharpen all the pics in photoshop. I have performed the micro adjustments for each lens. I’m so irritated with this camera! I really want the d850 however I’m gun shy due to this problem. I realize the camera I have & the one I want are not even in the same playing field.
One other note I’ve had it in to Nikon 2x for focusing problems, both times they have replaced parts.

Sorry I guess I’m just venting!

I am going to make a different kind of suggestion. Not discounting the 7100 or the 850. I have a D7200 and a D700. I have pretty much quit using them both since I purchased a Z6. If you are considering an upgrade I would at least rent a Z model with the 2.01 firmware to see what you think. I have been amazed by mine. Between the IBIS and the fact that focus is made directly on the sensor I have found my images to be much sharper. The other thing that is amazing is the WYSIWYG in the Electronic View Finder. Also on sunny days you can check your image in the View Finder including zooming to the focus point.

If you are going to stay with your 7100 I think you might want to invest in Focal for your lens fine tuning. It does do a good job automating the process.

What ever you do I wish you well and Welcome to the forum.
 

Bikerbrent

Senior Member
Welcome aboard. Enjoy the ride.
We look forward to seeing more posts and samples of your work.

Sorry about your issue. Have you tried a factory reset? One other thought is that if the D7100 was purchased 2 years ago, was it a used camera? Perhaps this is why the previous owner go rid of it.
 

nickt

Senior Member
WinkAbout®️;714476 said:
Hi DangerousSpouse
Thank you for your reply. Yes I’m using S-AF, along w/bb focus. I usually don’t recompose shot, but when I do I absolutely hold shutter 1/2 way.
Does s-af mean af-s? If you are in af-s and using bbf, that is unconventional and could be the problem. Some people do it, but that is not how the technique is normally used. Holding your shutter button half way is not going to help if you are set up for the back button and trying to recompose. Either turn off the back button and shoot normal, using the half press to recompose. OR... set up bbf correctly. That would be af-c with menu a1 set to release priority. That is a must. From there, I SUGGEST single point focus. To use the technique, hold the back button to have continuous focus release the back button to stop focusing. As an example, hold the bb. Focus the single point on an eye. release the back button. Recompose and press the shutter button. The beauty of the technique is that when set properly, you get af-c and by releasing the button you get a simulated af-s mode so you can focus and recompose without changing modes.
 

nickt

Senior Member
Have you disabled the shutter button focus? I do that when using BBF.
That happens automatically on the d7100 when you set the back button to af-on. The d7200 has a menu a4 that must be set to 'off'. That made me a little crazy when I first got the d7200.
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Okay something's not adding for me in your description: "I literally was focusing on eyes yet the building to the right on the same plane is tack sharp!" What I'm not clear on is how the building you mention is on the same focal plane as the eye's of your subject.

Could you post one of these photos? Seeing one might help us diagnose the problem you're having.

Yeah, I've got the same question about that statement. It almost sounds like the focus plane is off. I'd also ask what lens they're using and if they'd ever done a serious focus calibration with it? Perhaps there's an issue with the lens and not the camera? Really hard to tell.
 

Patrick M

Senior Member
WinkAbout[emoji2401 said:
;714473]Hi & thank you for the add.
I’ve been using Nikons for over 25+ yrs. My first DSLR was a d80. 2 yrs ago my husband bought me a D7100. I absolutely hate it! I’ve never owned a camera that has such soft focusing. My d80 was tack sharp.
I recently was on assignment & literally out of 2000 shots I believe about 50 are spot on. I’m so distraught over this. its like my focus square was not acknowledging where I was placing it. I literally was focusing on eyes yet the building to the right on the same plane is tack sharp! WTH!!!! I now have to sharpen all the pics in photoshop. I have performed the micro adjustments for each lens. I’m so irritated with this camera! I really want the d850 however I’m gun shy due to this problem. I realize the camera I have & the one I want are not even in the same playing field.
One other note I’ve had it in to Nikon 2x for focusing problems, both times they have replaced parts.

Sorry I guess I’m just venting!

I had the D7100 for four years before I got the D7500. In that time I never had a focus issue that was the camera’s fault...not saying it’s you, but you may have a faulty camera.
The D7500 is magnificent! The D850 is simply the best DSLR in the world right now. If there were issues, of any kind, that wouldn’t be the case.

If you’re using back button focus, then you definitely should not be pressing the shutter half way ... your settings are wrong. And with BBF use AF-C ... I’ve been using it all these years without issue.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
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Skwaz

Senior Member
Hi Wink , you had the 7100 two years , have you had problems with it all that time , have you been using bbf for some time ,
if your saying you definitely keep the shutter button half pressed to recompose then your using bbf wrongly
with the greatest respect I suspect user error . If you have not used bbf very long look up some vids
If im way off no probs just trying to help
 

spb_stan

Senior Member
Has the problem existed since you first got it?
When you use Live View, on a tripod of a still subject, is it sharp?
Live View will indicate whether it is a lens or AF calibration problem since LV does not use the mirror and phase detection sensor.
Can you post a typical out of focus image with EXIF data intact?
I usually do not recommend fine tuning of camera/lenses because unless the procedures are followed accurately, the results are worse for all the focal lengths other than the one used on zooms.
After seeing the results of Live View photos we can make a more logical diagnosis.
 
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