Focus and tilted image issues with my new D3100?

effytwo

New member
Hi,
Took my two month old D3100 out for it's first real shoot last week, and I've discovered two issues with it.
The first is that it sometimes will not auto focus, a white background seems to cause this problem most often?
The second issue is more serious; upon downloading my images, I discovered that they were all tilted to the right? Thinking that perhaps it was my grip, or that I was moving the camera when I depressed the shutter at the low shutter speeds, I set up a test when I got home. I placed the camera on my tripod, and then carefully aligned the images in the viewfinder using the dots and viewfinder boarder. I used the release timer to insure that there was no camera movement, and sure enough, as you can see all images are tilted to the right?
I'll send it in for repair, but I was wondering if anyone else has heard of these issues with the D3100?

Thanks,

Paul test pics b d3100 027a.jpg


test pics b d3100 034a.jpg
 
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Joseph Bautsch

New member
I can't help with the slant to the right problem. It could be any number of things. If it is a consistent problem then sending it in to be looked at is probably the best thing to do. Using the auto focus so that the camera focuses the way you want it to is something that takes practice. A DSLR camera, a Nikon or any other, depends on contrast to lock focus. Thats why when trying to focus on a white wall the camera will not lock on. Not enough contrast in a white wall. This is also a problem in low light. When this happens you can go to manual focus or try to find an area around your subject that has more contrast that the camera will lock on.
 

Rick M

Senior Member
The D3100 Manual notes that you may have a focusing problem with subjects which lack contrast, have regular geometric patterns, or the background dominates the subject. These may apply above. As far as the tilt, have you tried this test with differents lenses? Also, were you exactly perpendicular to the subject, any slight angle will skew the results.
 
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effytwo

New member
Thanks for the feedback guys. I appreciate the info re. the auto focus, I guess that leaves the tilted image issue... ?
I had taken about 200 shots on the weekend, all were tilted right. I've now done three separate test series using my tripod (indoors and out), and all images are tilted right.
Unfortunately I only have the one auto focus lens, but I do have a couple of lenses from my FE2 that I could try. I know that the metering won't work, but worth a shot or two...
I had a thought since my first post, and I'll look it up, but is the focusing screen removable? Maybe it's skewed and not locked down correctly? I noticed quite a bit of image movement in the viewfinder when the timer hits the release, is this normal?

Thanks again,
Paul

PS. I shudder to think that I had made the same typo twice in the first post. ;)
 

fotojack

Senior Member
I think you're doing the right thing by sending it in to be repaired. Sounds like the focusing screen might be out of alignment. On the work order, tell them EXACTLY what your concerns are, attach any photo proof of the problem, and submit to a professional Nikon repair centre in your area. Let us know how it turns out.
 
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