Autofocus issue on D3200

Hey everyone, I guess I'll do a short into here and ask this question. I spent close to 1 1/2 years researching DSLR's (specifically the Nikon D3200) before I actually made my purchase. I am new to photography, and enjoy shooting in a lot of different environments. Here's my question: Was shooting in Baltimore the other day when all of a sudden the camera stopped shooting and would not focus (shooting in P mode). Checked lens to make sure it was set to AF, which it was. After a while of trying to get the D3200 to shoot it started making faint clicking noises as if it was trying to focus but could not. Still worked fine if I switched the lens to M focus. Later that night it started working again and since then it has been preforming without issue. Any ideas of what it could have been? I'm very careful with my stuff, camera hasn't been bumped into anything or dropped. *Luckily I have GeekSquad so I'm planning on taking it to them to have it checked out, pretty glad I got the 3 year warranty.

GSXR_Rider said:

Hey everyone, I guess I'll do a short into here and ask this question. I spent close to 1 1/2 years researching DSLR's (specifically the Nikon D3200) before I actually made my purchase. I am new to photography, and enjoy shooting in a lot of different environments. Here's my question: Was shooting in Baltimore the other day when all of a sudden the camera stopped shooting and would not focus (shooting in P mode). Checked lens to make sure it was set to AF, which it was. After a while of trying to get the D3200 to shoot it started making faint clicking noises as if it was trying to focus but could not. Still worked fine if I switched the lens to M focus. Later that night it started working again and since then it has been preforming without issue. Any ideas of what it could have been? I'm very careful with my stuff, camera hasn't been bumped into anything or dropped. *Luckily I have GeekSquad so I'm planning on taking it to them to have it checked out, pretty glad I got the 3 year warranty.

Click to expand...

First of which lense was mounted. Assuming it was the kit lense, here is waht could have happened.

1. Some times when the contrast is low, the kit lense cannot acquire focus, especially when the light is low. Has happened a lot of times with my D3300 and the kit lense.
2. If the focus is at a distance less than the minimum focusing distance for the lense it will not fire. Some times when you are just at the border line and you are moving a bit, the lense will try to acquire the focus, but in your case it was hunting but not able to get it.
3. If the camera shake is more than the VR can accommodate, then it will try (that is what I think is the clicking noise), and the camera may refuse to fire. Putting it in manual mode over rides the camera's objection and the camera will fire.

In general if the camera refuses to fire, then take these steps one by one in the order and see when it fires
. Switch the VR off.
. Switch to manual focus - switch on the lense.
. Switch to manual exposure - on the "mode dial".

If the camera fires after all the above steps are taken, well and good. If not, then there is some problem with it.

aroy said:

First of which lense was mounted. Assuming it was the kit lense, here is waht could have happened.1. Some times when the contrast is low, the kit lense cannot acquire focus, especially when the light is low. Has happened a lot of times with my D3300 and the kit lense.2. If the focus is at a distance less than the minimum focusing distance for the lense it will not fire. Some times when you are just at the border line and you are moving a bit, the lense will try to acquire the focus, but in your case it was hunting but not able to get it.3. If the camera shake is more than the VR can accommodate, then it will try (that is what I think is the clicking noise), and the camera may refuse to fire. Putting it in manual mode over rides the camera's objection and the camera will fire.In general if the camera refuses to fire, then take these steps one by one in the order and see when it fires. Switch the VR off.. Switch to manual focus - switch on the lense.. Switch to manual exposure - on the "mode dial".If the camera fires after all the above steps are taken, well and good. If not, then there is some problem with it.

Click to expand...

I have the 18-55 lens mounted, however since I purchased the kit that included the 55-200 lens and a bag, my lens' do not have VR. When I switched to M mode (on the lens) it started firing just fine. That was very informative though, so thanks! Anyone else have any ideas?

Just chipped in to say welcome to the forum

mikew said:

Just chipped in to say welcome to the forum

Click to expand...

Thanks! I'm new to DSLR's and still learning as I use the camera, thought it would make sense to sign up on the forum.

GSXR_Rider said:

I have the 18-55 lens mounted, however since I purchased the kit that included the 55-200 lens and a bag, my lens' do not have VR. When I switched to M mode (on the lens) it started firing just fine. That was very informative though, so thanks! Anyone else have any ideas?

Click to expand...

Are you sure. As far as I know, the kit lense with D3200 have VR.

VR or not, all lenses' AF systems can fail from time to time, resulting in occasional focus hunting (and when it happens, if the camera is set to shoot in any of the AF modes that prevent shutter from being released without focus been achieved, the camera will act as if "stuck").

Thanks for the input everyone! I think it was "focus hunting", that said I had my ISO set low (if I remember correctly) and was in a pretty duskish downtown environment. Regardless, it won't hurt to have the camera looked at, even though it's been working just fine since.

Howdy and welcome GSXR_Rider! Always good to see another cyclist here...assuming based on your screen name that you still ride the Gixxer or something similar.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

RocketCowboy said:

Howdy and welcome GSXR_Rider! Always good to see another cyclist here...assuming based on your screen name that you still ride the Gixxer or something similar. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

Thanks! Haha, yes my current sport bike is a 2005 Suzuki GSX-R 750. No good photos of it yet though, soon hopefully! Regarding the camera, I took it to Geeksquad and from the way the guy was holding the camera I knew he had no idea what he was talking about. A BestBuy salesperson was able to explain what happened to me, the issue was that the camera couldn't lock the focus in order to take the shot based upon the conditions. It's been working just fine since then, no problems what-so-ever. Thanks for all the replies and input, much appreciated.

Scratch that, it's happening again. I'm not getting a "lens error" message or anything, so I think it's where I'm shooting (just random stuff in my bedroom).

Edit: It started working a few minutes later, after I removed the battery and let it sit for a few minutes. I put the battery back in and it was working fine.

I should probably say, the BestBuy salesperson (who actually knows a lot about cameras as opposed to geeksquad) told me that the auto-focus does rely on contrast in order to focus. And that if it can not achieve focus it will not take the shot (in A mode on lens). I'm going to take the camera to another very well liked camera shop to have it looked at. So far though, it appears to be environment conditions under which I am shooting which are causing it not to focus and shoot.

Do you have more than one lens to test with?

You mentioned shooting in P mode, and I'm assuming outdoors, but how was your lighting? Could it be too dark for the autofocus to function?

I know my two zoom lenses will behave similarly if I am too close to the subject, like when trying to do macro-like close-ups.

Just a few ideas to maybe help narrow down the problem.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

RocketCowboy said:

Do you have more than one lens to test with?

You mentioned shooting in P mode, and I'm assuming outdoors, but how was your lighting? Could it be too dark for the autofocus to function?

I know my two zoom lenses will behave similarly if I am too close to the subject, like when trying to do macro-like close-ups.

Just a few ideas to maybe help narrow down the problem.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

I haven't actually used my 55-200 lens yet but that is the other lens I have right now.

I was shooting outdoors the first time it happened, lighting was at first just before duskish, and then sort of like when the sun was setting.

Today, when it happened I was indoors in a low light bedroom.

I really just hope that the camera itself is not damaged or anything, it was working a few minutes later in the same room, same light conditions.

Thanks for the input, I'll take it to the shop tomorrow and have it looked at.

Does if focus if you put it in "live view" mode?
That uses the "contrast detect" focus method.
If you are shooting looking into the viewfinder, it uses "phase detect" to focus and relies on the mirrors.

From what I've gathered, if you take it to a camera shop, it will end up being shipped to nikon.

From what you've said, it looks like the problem comes up more with low light and not in bright light? Do you have any filters on the lens? Try Mikee's idea and switch to live view for the different auto-focus algorithm.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Haven't tried it with live view mode just yet, I do have an optically clear UV filter. But really only to protect the lens.

In case anyone is interested, here's some stuff I found from Nikon regarding auto-focus issues.

https://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/48334/~/checklist-for-autofocus-problems

Thought I'd update here with how the D3200 has been working:

It's been a year since I purchased this camera and since the first occurrences of this "focus hunting" issue I have limped the camera along and worked around it, last week I decided I'd had enough. I sent the camera off through Geeksquad for the lens cleaning service and informed the service representative that the issue was persisting and requested they check all focus sensors and inspect the entire camera for anything that may be causing the issue. When I called back in for an update on Monday they read off a long list of repairs that had been made, one of which seemed to be tied to the focus issue but I can't recall what it was exactly. I should be getting the camera back by the end of this week I'm hoping Thursday afternoon if I get lucky and I'll write out the exact repairs they made and hopefully some of the more well informed users on this forum can assist me in identifying what translates to what fixes, because I doubt the Geeksquad service rep will know what any of it means.

Picked it up today, same issue persisted. They decided to replace my camera with a new one of my choice. Going to research between Nikon D3200/3300/5200/5300 and Canon and Sony. Probably going to stick with Nikon but want to explore my options... Any insight into a model I should look into?

GSXR_Rider said:

Picked it up today, same issue persisted. They decided to replace my camera with a new one of my choice. Going to research between Nikon D3200/3300/5200/5300 and Canon and Sony. Probably going to stick with Nikon but want to explore my options... Any insight into a model I should look into?

Click to expand...

Of those you've listed, I'd be all over the D5300. I got one for my girlfriend a while back and it's an amazingly capable camera.
...

Horoscope Fish said:

Of those you've listed, I'd be all over the D5300. I got one for my girlfriend a while back and it's an amazingly capable camera.
...

Click to expand...

I don't think I want to go with another D3200 or the D3300. As of right now I haven't really researched Canon much, and regarding the D5200 or D5300 the D5200 is more in my price range right now. So that may be what I step up to...