New D7100 Focus problem

Hi, I just upgraded from my D3300 to the D7100 because i liked the build/Feel of the body better. I had no issues as far as IQ with my D3300. Today at a car meet was my first time really using it other than around the house. I noticed I am getting a lot of out of focus pictures, even just playing around the house. It was a nice day so I was using decent shutter speed, most shots were around 125 or faster, F8-F11 ISO 100. I used 2 lenses a Nikon 35mm 1.8, and Tamron 18-270mm, had the issues with both. Is this just me getting used to the camera? It worries me because I never had this with the D3300.Other than that I love the camera, feels way better in my hand than the D3300. The button layout and ease of use is much better, even though Im still getting used to it. Hope Thanks for any help.

Welcome to the club (focus problem club, that is). Do a search, there are a few of us that seem to have D7100 focus lock issues in either low light or low contrast situations (I've noticed it with 6 of my Nikkor lenses ).

bwoodahl said:

Welcome to the club (focus problem club, that is). Do a search, there are a few of us that seem to have D7100 focus lock issues in either low light or low contrast situations (I've noticed it with 6 of my Nikkor lenses ).

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At least I'm not the only one. The focus locks fine, the images just are not in focus. Is that the same issue you have?

Here is a picture to show what Im talking about. My focus was locked on the badge. When i look at it 1:1 it is very soft/fuzzy. I have several pictures from the same spot and they all the the same. This was shot RAW.

I don't see it out of focus from this pic. At a shutter speed of 1/60th, I don't think you're going to get tack sharp at a 100% crop. (1:1)

Try something else at a higher shutter speed, and see what happens.

Blacktop said:

I don't see it out of focus from this pic. At a shutter speed of 1/60th, I don't think you're going to get tack sharp at a 100% crop. (1:1)

Try something else at a higher shutter speed, and see what happens.

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Ok Thanks for the advice. I will take some pictures tomorrow from my tripod. It is probably just me expecting to much.

A couple of things to check. You say you are shooting in RAW, What are you doing in post processing to sharpen the photos? Have you set the back focus fine tune for all your lenses yet? What focus mode are you using for your shooting? Single, 9,21,51 AUTO, continuous.

The D7100 is so much better than the lesser cameras including the D7000 which I also have that you have to make sure you have all your setting correct and be aware of what you are doing. Once you get everything all set then it is as easy as any of the other cameras and you will get great results.

There was no sharpening done to the posted photo. I did try a little to sharpen it using the lightroom sharpening section, but it still looked soft to me. I was using single point focus all day, and just moved it as needed. I checked the focus on my Nikon 35mm 1.8, and it looked fine to me. Granted I just used a focus scale I printed, but i could see where the focus started and stopped.
I agree, it is a great camera. I think it may be error on my part. I appreciate the help.

RAW photos must be sharpened.

mattj86 said:

There was no sharpening done to the posted photo. I did try a little to sharpen it using the lightroom sharpening section, but it still looked soft to me. I was using single point focus all day, and just moved it as needed. I checked the focus on my Nikon 35mm 1.8, and it looked fine to me. Granted I just used a focus scale I printed, but i could see where the focus started and stopped.
I agree, it is a great camera. I think it may be error on my part. I appreciate the help.

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Could be front/back focus. I needed to do some fine tuning on most of the lenses I use on my D7100. It's kind of a pain to to do, but once it's done, it's done for good. The difference in sharpness I got for the trouble was *significant*.

This is the procedure I used as outlined on the Nikon website; I tried it and it worked really well.

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Don Kuykendall said:

RAW photos must be sharpened.

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Ok, I will do some research on the forums, on proper sharpening technique and see if I can get better results.
Thank you

Unless you're using tripod/ VR/VC or a flash, 1/60 is pretty slow, regardless of focal length. I'd shoot for 1/160 th as a minimum for handheld, bump up your ISO and did you really need f8 for that shot?

Horoscope Fish said:

Could be front/back focus. I needed to do some fine tuning on most of the lenses I use on my D7100. It's kind of a pain to to do, but once it's done, it's done for good. The difference in sharpness I got for the trouble was *significant*.

This is the procedure I used as outlined on the Nikon website; I tried it and it worked really well.

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Ok, I will follow that procedure tomorrow with my lenses.

Horoscope Fish said:

Could be front/back focus. I needed to do some fine tuning on most of the lenses I use on my D7100. It's kind of a pain to to do, but once it's done, it's done for good. The difference in sharpness I got for the trouble was *significant*.

This is the procedure I used as outlined on the Nikon website; I tried it and it worked really well.

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I have just printed the procedure so I can try it.with my 50-1.8 How does it go with zoom lenses?

Philnz said:

I have just printed the procedure so I can try it.with my 50-1.8 How does it go with zoom lenses?

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What I did with my zooms was test them at three different focal lengths and always wide open. What you have to be careful about is not mistaking softness for front/back focus. My Nikon 18-140mm needed a little adjustment but was very soft at 18mm. My big Sigma 50-150mm needed the most adjustment but was sharp at all focal lengths. The 18-140mm was tested at 18mm, 85mm and 140mm while the Sigma was tested at 50mm, 100mm and 150mm. The other thing is depth of field... Since a lot of zooms are, for instance, f/5.6 wide open at maximum focal length, depth of field can make it hard to determine if there's significant front/back focus going on. You just have to try and see what you find. You can always revert the settings back to "0" or simply shut off the AF Fine Tune option all together so there's no danger in playing with the setting.

There are other methods for confirming and correcting autofocus (like the Dot Tune Method) but I found the procedure listed on the Nikon website the easiest one to do quickly. Still, you might want to look around and see what some of the other options are.

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