Drive Focus Disable?

My 10.5mm fisheye quit auto focusing. My non-drive lenses still focus fine. Is there a disable for the focus drive motor I don't know about or has my lens or body failed?

My focus mode switch (C, S, M) is set to S.

Thanks
ckm

Seeing your AF lens continue to work I think the motor in the fish has stopped working for some reason, have you tried cleaning the points between lens & camera....I do know the motor can fail...

Just to clarify.

AF-s lenses works fine (auto focus).

AF or AF D lenses will not auto focus.

Best way to figure out is "if" you can barrow a similar or a D lens to determine if the lens or the camera is bad. If not, you can send both to Nikon for repair.

Verify that your AF switch on the camera is not in "M" mode just to make sure.

My lens and body are super clean and low mileage. The exposed drive "gear" appears to have no physical damage and is clean. It retracts when I select "M" on the focus mode switch - like it should.

The camera won't let me take a picture in auto-focus mode unless I point the lens at something in the field-of-focus that the lens happens to be set at. The body is acting like it's waiting for the in-focus report and it never gets one unless I point the lens at something at a distance that is in focus.

The same lens/body(D200) worked fine a month ago. My lenses with internal focus motors are working fine. I only have one lens (10.5mm Nikkor fisheye) that uses the body's motor drive. It's the one not working. So it seems to be something to do with the focus drive system.

I do have my focus mode switch on "S". I've tried switching if back and forth also. Nothing helps.

I have a friend with a D200. I'll get with him and see what my lens does on his body.

I was wondering if the D200 has a disable feature for the focus drive system in the menus that maybe I inadvertently turned off? Could I get that lucky? This isn't something dumb I'm doing and just don't have the focus drive system turned on - or something like that?

gqtuazon said:

Just to clarify.

AF-s lenses works fine (auto focus).

AF or AF D lenses will not auto focus.

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I beg to differ, Glenn. All my AF lenses auto focus with my D200. So do all my AF D lenses. The D200 has the built in motor, so lenses without the built in motor are not affected.

On the selection switch: C = Constant Focus

S = Single Focus

M = Manual Focus

The only way to "shut off" the focus drive motor is to set it to "M", on the selection switch and up top on your menu screen.

Thanks fotojack for the clarification. This means I have failed equipment. Now I need to determine if it's the body or the lens.

I love built in motors especially in bulletproof bodies.

ckm said:

Thanks fotojack for the clarification. This means I have failed equipment. Now I need to determine if it's the body or the lens.

Click to expand...

Best way to determine that is to try the lens on a motorized body (doesn't matter which model, as long as it's motorized). To determine if it's the camera body, try another AF lens. If it doesn't focus, it's the body.

Just as an added thought here........I saw a D200 for sale on Kijiji for $265. Kijiji Calgary Classifieds: Free Local Classified Ads for Calgary, Alberta

Problem is finding a motorized body. My closest friend with one is about the same distance as the drive to my nearest dealer - 45 minutes. I have easy access to a D90 - but I understand it is driveless, correct?

ckm said:

Problem is finding a motorized body. My closest friend with one is about the same distance as the drive to my nearest dealer - 45 minutes. I have easy access to a D90 - but I understand it is driveless, correct?

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No the D90 has a Built-in focus motor . If your friend has one you can test and determine if it's the lens or the camera body.

Hope this helps anyone wondering about motorized bodies and non motorized bodies:

This is great news. I must have been thinking of the D60. I'll run over and check out my suspect lens on my sister-in-law's D90.

Thanks again for the assistance.
Calvin

I tried the lens on a D90 and it works fine.
It appears the focus drive system of my D200 has failed.
Hum... that D600 looks nice!

Calvin

ckm said:

I tried the lens on a D90 and it works fine.
It appears the focus drive system of my D200 has failed.
Hum... that D600 looks nice!

Calvin

Click to expand...

Check to see if your D200 is set to Manual on the bottom front left hand side of your camera. The lens won't autofucus if it's set to M mode.

fotojack said:

Check to see if your D200 is set to Manual on the bottom front left hand side of your camera. The lens won't autofucus if it's set to M mode.

Click to expand...

I have checked my focus mode switch several times - that isn't the problem, but thanks for the suggestion just the same. If I manually focus the lens say on something 10ft away and then put the camera back in AF mode it will let me take a picture if I point the camera at something 10ft away. However, if I point it anywhere else different than 10ft away the camera knows it's out of focus and won't allow the shutter to fire. It also makes no visible or audible attempt to get in focus.

Fortunately, I use my fisheye lens mostly in manual focus mode anyway, and it's the only lens I own without a drive motor - so it's not the end of the world. On the bright side, it's serving quite nicely as a good excuse to the wife that I need a D600.

Calvin