Distance Focus Issues - Multiple Lenses

I have been more willing to think I suck at photography, but honestly I just can't go there anymore. I've had other people use my camera with the same results. Here's the details:

I have calibrated my camera with a number of lenses with not great change.
I have sent the camera into Nikon already once.
I have sent in Sigma lenses with my camera to be adjusted/calibrated.
I have used the tripod, multiple lenses, multiple shutter speeds, multiple apertures, and multiple focal choices.
I have "crosshairs" right on the eye and camera giving me the "green light."
Close ups are generally better.
I always shoot RAW + JPEG.
I don't center the focus point - I move it to be over the eye.

BUT: Since I have owned this camera, I cannot... CANNOT get it to focus from a distance (in other words- full body shots are pathetic and embarrassing). I am so DONE with this camera and so done with Nikon and I just simply don't know what to do at this point. I am seriously ready to send this piece of crap back to Nikon in pieces. I have been wondering how I could go from a decent photographer to a crappy one by just purchasing this camera and I have questioned my abilities to the point of just quitting altogether. Does anyone have any ideas? I mean I have tried EVERYTHING and nothing seems to work. Do I just have a lemon? Should I never shoot NIkon again? Pulling my hair out here!

Thaniks.

VictoriaGrayPhoto said:

I have been more willing to think I suck at photography, but honestly I just can't go there anymore. I've had other people use my camera with the same results. Here's the details:

I have calibrated my camera with a number of lenses with not great change.
I have sent the camera into Nikon already once.
I have sent in Sigma lenses with my camera to be adjusted/calibrated.
I have used the tripod, multiple lenses, multiple shutter speeds, multiple apertures, and multiple focal choices.
I have "crosshairs" right on the eye and camera giving me the "green light."
Close ups are generally better.
I always shoot RAW + JPEG.
I don't center the focus point - I move it to be over the eye.

BUT: Since I have owned this camera, I cannot... CANNOT get it to focus from a distance (in other words- full body shots are pathetic and embarrassing). I am so DONE with this camera and so done with Nikon and I just simply don't know what to do at this point. I am seriously ready to send this piece of crap back to Nikon in pieces. I have been wondering how I could go from a decent photographer to a crappy one by just purchasing this camera and I have questioned my abilities to the point of just quitting altogether. Does anyone have any ideas? I mean I have tried EVERYTHING and nothing seems to work. Do I just have a lemon? Should I never shoot NIkon again? Pulling my hair out here!

Thanks.

Click to expand...

So sorry that you are having problems with the D7100. I have one and it was a work horse for me and now my wife is using it with wonderful results. Lots of questions.
What focus mode are you shooting with?
When you shoot in RAW what post processing are you using to sharpen the photo? (RAW photos must be sharpened in post)
It would help us to see the problem if you will post a photo of the problem here. Please follow the directions below.

Guidelines to adding a photo to your post.

1. Resize photo to 1000px on the long side.
2. Resolution set to 72ppi (Pixels Per Inch)

These guidelines will be good for viewing on a computer but will not be good for printing. This will help safeguard your copyright.

Welcome aboard. Enjoy the ride.

I have to agree with Don. Please provide more details and post some samples.

Howdy and welcome to Nikonites!

Another D7100 shooter who has had good results with that body. I did see on one occasion where I had to disable the fine tuning in body one night when the AF started acting up. But that quick fix got me back running fast.


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You're listed as a semi-pro so my apologies if this is old knowledge. In my experience with the D7xxx series I found that when the shutter speed was less than 1/(focal length x 2) mirror slap would degrade clarity ever so slightly. This was corrected by shooting in Quiet mode. There are some old threads around here somewhere that demonstrate this. This isn't a "focus issue" it's a sharpness issue, and I'd ask that you take a hard look at your shots and see if that may be what you're seeing. With a focus issue you'll find that the wrong thing is in focus. With a sharpness issue you'll find that nothing is in focus.

With the 28MP cropped sensor I quickly found that applying the Inverse Focal Length Rule was not enough to get sharpness when the focal length got into triple digits, it was necessary to go to 1/(focal length x 2), regardless of whether or not you're using VR. And with VR, make sure you get a lock before firing.

When the D7000 came out, as moderator of a forum specific for D7xxx series cameras, there was a flood of complaints about not quite sharp focus by photographers who had experience with prior models that at the time topped out at 12mpx. The result was a combination of minor problems, one being the expectation of 100% being a reasonable magnafication for pixel peeping to check sharpness. That was an error in thinking, 100% on the nearer cameras was much more blown up than 12mpx. The same happened again with the D800 with 36mpx came out, but the D7100 has a lot more pixel density than a D800, so 100% view is zooming into a very small cross section of the sensor.
The second problem was seeing vibration radius being so much finer, the same techniques that were fine on film and on 12mpx cameras just was not quite good enough. Tripods needed to be sturdier, shutter speeds needed to be a bit higher, and any lenses that were off in either adjustment or optical quality really showed. The old uncoated lenses often showed their weaknesses. There was also talk of mirror slap but the D7x00 had a pretty non-violent action and in fact my D7000 has about 1/2 the acoustic shutter noise than my D800.
Gradually the complaints dropped off and no changes were made in the cameras, and after a number of months the consensus was that the D7x00 series was the best non-pro camera around.
The first thing to do is try to isolate the defect in the images because assigning attribution to a cause. As suggested, look at your images, how do you see it, when pixel peeping or when view full image on a screen? Do JPGs look better or worse than RAW renderings,
Is anything in the frame in sharp focus?
You mention you notice it more on distance subjects. How are you seeing the distant subjects, by zooming in the monitor, or when seeing subjects which were zoomed optically and fill the monitor?
If you are zooming in with the monitor, and the subjects fill less than 1/3 of the frame, there is a good possibility you are just seeing too few pixels defining the subject. How many pixels span the face for example if the subject is a person? You can zoom in further with higher res sensor but higher res does not make the lens, tripod or camera shake any better so it looks worse when pixel peeping.
Do you see the lack of sharpness when viewing the whole image, not zoomed in, from a normal viewing distance? One word of advice, the habit of pixel peeping causes much more harm than good and causes frustration needlessly, it has no positive. and delays development as a photographer, a habit learned by beginners before they understand what they are looking at and why is has no bearing on whether it is a good image or not.. If it looks good at normal viewing distance when seeing the entire frame, your job is done. It IS good if it tells a story well and looks good at normal distances. The same with any art viewed at the intended viewing distance.
Please post some images that frustrate you, without any post processing and with data intact.

Hey Victoria, we are still waiting for you to provide more details and post some samples.

My guess is she's moved on after venting her problem. There's been no activity since this thread was created.

RocketCowboy said:

My guess is she's moved on after venting her problem. There's been no activity since this thread was created.

Click to expand...

You are probably right. There have been a rash of new posters with strange problems of late who you never hear from again.

The problem with disappointment with zooming in is a common problem however so the thread did not go to waste as others might identify with it.

Well I think that she may also forget that there are many other factors to what is going on than just gear. As much as I loathed the D3000 after I moved on, I sometimes look back and think about the frustration of using a slightly better body (D5300). Bearing in mind, I'm just a hobbyist:

It's entirely possible that the she's expecting the focus points to be surgical. I did this quite a bit when I first started playing with the D3000. My first two lenses were the kit 18-55 and the 50mm f/1.8D. I got better results with the 50 and some of those reasons included was that I expected the AF to pe pin point, dead center in the box, and tack sharp every time. Glossing over how I learned the various ways to chase down disappointment.

I completely understand how "out of the blue" something seems to have gone wrong. I um...may have attempted to clean the mirror and focus screen with a paper-towel on purpose accidentally. I might also have used some finger pressure to "polish" the mirror in the same way one might if they were cleaning the bathroom mirror. Turns out that was not the greatest idea I've ever had, but I spare no expense at some lessons, once. :/ (like the time I used a lens spanner wrench for the first time... who knew the metal was so soft?)

Perhaps, she may have done something slightly out of routine or unnoticed that degraded the overall performance. I've never sent my equipment back to Nikon, but she may get good results by going back and putting the camera in factory default and resetting all settings. Something may have changed and she didn't notice.