HELP! D700 not staying focused in manual mode.

U

ulyssis31

Senior Member
I was trying to do some time lapse photography last night but I was having some issues with the camera staying focused.

Since I was doing time lapse shots, I went ahead and setup my camera in manual mode. Everything from exposure to focusing was manual:

Shooting Mode: M
Aperture: f2.8
Shutter Speed: 1"
Focus: M
AF Selector: Single point

So I get my first shot composed and focused. Everything seems fine. I look through the viewfinder and my focus indicator is showing that the area I have selected is in focus (dot is showing). I turn on Interval Timer Shooting, set up my parameters and press "OK" to start the time lapse. The camera fires off the first shot but loses focus by the second shot. I know this because I was looking through the viewfinder, more specifically at the Focus Indicator icon, and it changed from being a dot (in focus) to the 2 arrows pointing at each other. I tried several times to correct this, but had no luck. It kept jumping out of focus for some reason.

Anyone know why my camera keeps losing focus even if everything is setup manually?

The equipment I was using:

D700
24-70mm f2.8 (this lens does not have VR so I didn't have to turn that off. Also, I set the focus setting on the lens to manual as well)
Gitzo Carbon Fibre Tripod
Markins Ballhead Q20 (more than enough to support the weight of my equipment. no creeping)
 
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
ulyssis31 said:
I was trying to do some time lapse photography last night but I was having some issues with the camera staying focused.

Since I was doing time lapse shots, I went ahead and setup my camera in manual mode. Everything from exposure to focusing was manual:

Shooting Mode: M
Aperture: f2.8
Shutter Speed: 1"
Focus: M
AF Selector: Single point

So I get my first shot composed and focused. Everything seems fine. I look through the viewfinder and my focus indicator is showing that the area I have selected is in focus (dot is showing). I turn on Interval Timer Shooting, set up my parameters and press "OK" to start the time lapse. The camera fires off the first shot but loses focus by the second shot. I know this because I was looking through the viewfinder, more specifically at the Focus Indicator icon, and it changed from being a dot (in focus) to the 2 arrows pointing at each other. I tried several times to correct this, but had no luck. It kept jumping out of focus for some reason.

Anyone know why my camera keeps losing focus even if everything is setup manually?

The equipment I was using:

D700
24-70mm f2.8 (this lens does not have VR so I didn't have to turn that off. Also, I set the focus setting on the lens to manual as well)
Gitzo Carbon Fibre Tripod
Markins Ballhead Q20 (more than enough to support the weight of my equipment. no creeping)
Click to expand...
And everything in your shot is staying absolutely stationary? You might try obtaining focus and then flipping the focus lock switch on the camera body.
 
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U

ulyssis31

Senior Member
Horoscope Fish said:
And everything in your shot is staying absolutely stationary? You might try obtaining focus and then flipping the focus lock switch on the camera body.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I tried that, but it still loses focus.

However, upon trying that I did discover a much bigger problem. I tried to use my camera in auto-focus mode and it does not work. I press the shutter button halfway to obtain focus, camera locks like it has achieved focus (I can tell it hasn't though by looking in the viewfinder. the subject was still blurry). I take a shot anyways and it is way out of focus.

I think I may have bigger issues here.
 
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
ulyssis31 said:
Thanks, I tried that, but it still loses focus.

However, upon trying that I did discover a much bigger problem. I tried to use my camera in auto-focus mode and it does not work. I press the shutter button halfway to obtain focus, camera locks like it has achieved focus (I can tell it hasn't though by looking in the viewfinder. the subject was still blurry). I take a shot anyways and it is way out of focus.

I think I may have bigger issues here.
Click to expand...
Does this occur with all your lenses or just one in particular? Also, can you achieve proper focus using Live View?
 
U

ulyssis31

Senior Member
Horoscope Fish said:
Does this occur with all your lenses or just one in particular? Also, can you achieve proper focus using Live View?
Click to expand...

Yup, it looks like its happening with more than one lens. I tried my 50mm f1.4, 70-200mm f2.8, and my 200mm f1.4 macro and they are all having problems grabbing focus using auto focus mode. Live view does not work either.
 
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
ulyssis31 said:
Yup, it looks like its happening with more than one lens. I tried my 50mm f1.4, 70-200mm f2.8, and my 200mm f1.4 macro and they are all having problems grabbing focus using auto focus mode. Live view does not work either.
Click to expand...
Well I'm certainly no expert but this is not sounding good... I guess if it were me, I'd double and triple checking all my buttons, switches and settings to make sure I'm not doing something stupid before I had a professional take a look at my camera. I'm not really sure what else to suggest.

Good luck to you! I hope it's something simple that someone else will point out.
....
 
J

J-see

Senior Member
ulyssis31 said:
What's impossible? That the lens was in manual mode too? Or that there was no wind?
Click to expand...

It's impossible your lens changes focus when it is set to manual since the cam does not AF with it when set as such. If I put a lens in manual and focus it manually (live or view), it'll remain like that until something external affects it; wind, tremors, gravity.

If your focus shifts when the lens is set to manual it has to be an external force.

It'd be rather improbable the lens or cam is defective since not only would the manual on the lens need to be defective, the cam should also AF without anyone touching it for this to happen.
 
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J

J-see

Senior Member
Btw, if you're using live-view to focus, don't pay too much attention to the focus arrows and dot. It's entirely possible that you set the lens to perfect focus and the cam considers it out of focus. That's why we fine-tune all our lenses.

Set it to manual, focus in live-view at max magnification and take a shot. Then some later take another and check if it is still in perfect focus. Do NOT point the lens upward or downward while doing so since it might extend or contract because of its weight. Zoom lenses do this.
 
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