D3200 focus problem with zoom

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dh photography

Senior Member
Hi all. New member here but a frequent reader.

I'm new to the d3200 platform, but have a little camera background. I'm pretty flustered at the moment with an issue I just cannot figure out.

All seemed well yesterday while shooting, but this morning is a different story. While using a 55-200 lens and zooming in on distant objects, the camera refuses to focus; either automatically or manually. I can extend the zoom all the way out and get items within 20ft from me to focus fast and fine, but anything farther away will not come into focus.

I have tried each if the differing focus point settings and nothing has helped. Also made sure that the lens was on auto. In manual focus, I can't even get it to focus clearly on distant items.

The camera is a week old and focused perfectly fine yesterday.

Please help. I'm sure it's probably me missing something here. I'm on vaca right now and it killing me not being able to take good pics.

Thanks!

Dave
 
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Eyelight

Senior Member
The auto-focus and rangefinder that assists in manual focus can both be affected by the object(s) they try to focus on (Page 36 of the manual)

When you say it will not focus manually are you relying on the rangefinder (little green light) or just using the focusing screen (sharpness of the image in viewfinder)?
 
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WayneF

Senior Member
Dhopper71 said:
Hi all. New member here but a frequent reader.

I'm new to the d3200 platform, but have a little camera background. I'm pretty flustered at the moment with an issue I just cannot figure out.

All seemed well yesterday while shooting, but this morning is a different story. While using a 55-200 lens and zooming in on distant objects, the camera refuses to focus; either automatically or manually. I can extend the zoom all the way out and get items within 20ft from me to focus fast and fine, but anything farther away will not come into focus.

I have tried each if the differing focus point settings and nothing has helped. Also made sure that the lens was on auto. In manual focus, I can't even get it to focus clearly on distant items.

The camera is a week old and focused perfectly fine yesterday.

Please help. I'm sure it's probably me missing something here. I'm on vaca right now and it killing me not being able to take good pics.

Thanks!

Dave
Click to expand...



The first question would be: "What is your Focus Mode?" D3200 manual page 35 (to page 43).
Searchable manual is available here: http://support.nikonusa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/17792

You can set Manual focus mode with a switch on the lens, or with a menu in the camera. Check both, see if either is set to Manual focus?
Manual focus mode means it will not attempt to auto focus.
If it is not Manual focus mode, what focus mode is it?
 
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Englischdude

Senior Member
wierd, assuming the light conditions are ok and the camera is not hunting due to lack of light, the camera on auto focus point setting should focus to infinity without problem. If it is only a week old, bring it to the shop. Diagnosing such a problem through the forum is tricky withut knowing the complete settings of the camera the conditions you are shooting in and the motiv you are trying to shoot. Keep us informed of your findings.
 
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dh photography

Senior Member
Wow. Thank you all for such fast replies! Love it!!

I was in both auto mode, as well as tried manual mode on the lens. Just would not seem to pick up enough info to focus on anything at a distance greater than 20'. Definitely had me perplexed.

I ended up taking a break from the whole deal. I reset all functions back to factory settings, then plugged the battery up to do a long full charge.

Just started her back up a few minutes ago and viola ... problem has gone away. Now it's back to fully functioning in each mode whether zooming in at a long range or up close for a macro.

I have no clue as to what was going on, but I'm smiling again. Looks like we'll have some nice family vaca pics after all.

If it happens again, I'll be sure to chime in!

Now, I need to get over and do a proper intro and dig into a lot more info to learn from. So glad I found you all.

Regards from the beach,

Dave.
 
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Englischdude

Senior Member
Dhopper71 said:
Wow. Thank you all for such fast replies! Love it!!

I was in both auto mode, as well as tried manual mode on the lens. Just would not seem to pick up enough info to focus on anything at a distance greater than 20'. Definitely had me perplexed.

I ended up taking a break from the whole deal. I reset all functions back to factory settings, then plugged the battery up to do a long full charge.

Just started her back up a few minutes ago and viola ... problem has gone away. Now it's back to fully functioning in each mode whether zooming in at a long range or up close for a macro.

I have no clue as to what was going on, but I'm smiling again. Looks like we'll have some nice family vaca pics after all.

If it happens again, I'll be sure to chime in!

Now, I need to get over and do a proper intro and dig into a lot more info to learn from. So glad I found you all.

Regards from the beach,

Dave.
Click to expand...

glad you got it sorted dave, welcome! So just so I got it straight, you had to shut-down, do a complete reset and then start up again? Is yur D3200 windows based by any chance ;)
 
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dh photography

Senior Member
LoL. Might just be, Martin!!

Been shooting fine now. Taking lots of pics in bright light out in the beach; action shots of kids in the surf, boats, birds, etc.. I have it in the M mode with the lens on auto. It's set with shutter speed of 1/400 and f7.1 or 8. ISO is set at 100. AF-A, auto white balance, auto focusing area, and metric metering.

So far so good now.
 
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