Back Focus

Three months after I purchased my D5200, I gave up trying to get tack sharp pictures. I tried all settings ISO100, f8-16, 1/200-500 and still I get soft pictures. At first I thought it was the lens but the same problem occurred using faster and better lens. I brought my camera to the service center and they told me it has problem on back focus. I thought D5200 never has internal focusing system. But since they said it has problems, I am counting on them to fix it. Too bad though, I bought the camera for a family occasion and all I get are sub standard pictures.

I remember reading an article somewhere (I can't find it) that mentioned that the D5200 may suffer some backfocus issues, like the D7000, when shot through the viewfinder. Unfortunately you cannot adjust for it yourself as you can with the 7000 series and up. You may want to try using LiveView and seeing if you get better focus there. Regardless it should be sent back for recalibration. Sorry you're having issues with it.

I also read about it that's why I got an idea that somehow my camera has a problem. Even though I am a novice DSLR user, I know a good picture when I see one. My mistake was that it took me a long time to realize the problem and our dealer only has 7 days replacement policy. So it went straight to the service center instead. It's comforting somehow to know that it is just a calibration problem. Thanks.

What lense are you using? If your using the Kit 18-55, it is only really sharp from f8-f11 with a shutter speed above 1/60 or so. The other thing i noticed with mine, I would get better results with single focus mode with one focus point and center weighted metering.

mauckcg said:

What lense are you using? If your using the Kit 18-55, it is only really sharp from f8-f11 with a shutter speed above 1/60 or so. The other thing i noticed with mine, I would get better results with single focus mode with one focus point and center weighted metering.

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Hi mauckcg, yes I am using the standard 18-55 Kit lens. I also tried the best aperture and shutter speed but still the images are not really that sharp. That is why I searched google for a clue on my problem. This is how I found out about the focus problem of D5200. Thanks.

I have the D5100 and I use the 18-55 kit a lot. I get good results at all apertures. You would have to get into serious pixel peeping to see any difference in wide open and f8.

Tracsoft - Don Kuykendall said:

I have the D5100 and I use the 18-55 kit a lot. I get good results at all apertures. You would have to get into serious pixel peeping to see any difference in wide open and f8.

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Thanks Don,

I read that the sharpest setting would be around the middle range of the aperture. The difference might not be noticeable but they say you get clearer pictures around the middle. Thanks.

NikUser said:

Hi mauckcg, yes I am using the standard 18-55 Kit lens. I also tried the best aperture and shutter speed but still the images are not really that sharp. That is why I searched google for a clue on my problem. This is how I found out about the focus problem of D5200. Thanks.

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This is the best explanation I have found, and follows with my own experience with my 3 month old D5200. A Thousand Words A Picture: Does the Nikon D5200 Have a Focus Issue "Like the D7000"?

For me I had to work on technique more than anything else. My second race outing with my 5200 has produced stellar results i had trouble getting my first time out at a race. If your as new to dSLR's as I am, there is so much I need to learn till the quality of my pictures starts to approach that of the experienced photographers here.

mauckcg said:

This is the best explanation I have found, and follows with my own experience with my 3 month old D5200. A Thousand Words A Picture: Does the Nikon D5200 Have a Focus Issue "Like the D7000"?

For me I had to work on technique more than anything else. My second race outing with my 5200 has produced stellar results i had trouble getting my first time out at a race. If your as new to dSLR's as I am, there is so much I need to learn till the quality of my pictures starts to approach that of the experienced photographers here.

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Yes I agree, there is still so much to learn to achieve results comparable or even nearly comparable to professionals. But I brought my unit to the service center and they confirmed that there is a problem on the focusing. This only proves that even if the unit is used by a professional, I will not get the result that I expect from a DSLR camera. Thanks for the link.

After almost 3 weeks, I got my camera back from the Nikon service center. I'd say my D5200 is giving me good pictures now. Before, even the white balance is so off that I would have to calibrate first before I can get the correct colors. But now everything works okay. I can now confirm that my camera really had a Back Focus problem. I hope other people would not get units with the same problem when they buy.