VR and fast shutter speeds: I am having strange, random focus problems with my 55-300mm VR zoom on a Nikon D7100. I had VR on, focal length at 300mm, aperture set to f/13 and shutter...

photon56 Loc: North America

I am having strange, random focus problems with my 55-300mm VR zoom on a Nikon D7100. I had VR on, focal length at 300mm, aperture set to f/13 and shutter speed at 1/6400 sec. I would use autofocus on my subject. At f/13, I figured I had enough DOF to get a decent focus. But the image is fuzzy from, what looked like, camera shake or some movement. At that fast of a shutter speed, I would think camera shake would not be an issue.

This has been plaguing me off and on and hasn't been consistent. I think I finally figured it out. Doing some research on this forum lead me to some interesting discussions about when to use VR. Bottom line, when I disable VR when shooting fast shutter speeds, my photos are consistently much sharper now.

Does this resonate with anyone?

Erik_H Loc: Denham Springs, Louisiana

I haven't heard anything about VR causing problems with fast shutter speeds, I have the same lens for my D7000, I'll have to try it out. I'll be keeping an eye on this to see what other people say about it.

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

Please post a Directly Out Of Camera image, and check the box labeled (store original).

oldtigger Loc: Roanoke Virginia-USA

photon56 wrote:

I am having strange, random focus problems with my 55-300mm VR zoom on a Nikon D7100. I had VR on, focal length at 300mm, aperture set to f/13 and shutter speed at 1/6400 sec. .....

It must be a pretty bright scene

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

photon56 wrote:

I am having strange, random focus problems with my... (show quote)

"The first and most important rule of VR is this: never turn VR on unless it's actually needed.

Yes, this rule flies in the face of what most everyone in the world seems to do and what Nikon implies with their advertising and marketing. The simple fact is that VR is a solution to a problem, and if you don't have that problem using VR can become a problem of its own."

Read the whole article at: http://www.bythom.com/nikon-vr.htm

"

ebrunner Loc: New Jersey Shore

At long focal length on warm days you can get heat shimmer which will look like out of focus image. Happens all the time when I'm photographing at the races. Don't know if this was your situation.

juicesqueezer Loc: Okeechobee, Florida

I've had that same lens, but have shot with no vr when in continuous shooting mode. Faster in my opinion for what I am shooting at the time. However, why are you shooting at 1/6400 shutter speed? Just curious! I take photo's of fast moving jets and prop planes and normally shoot around 1200 to 1600.

Mr PC Loc: Austin, TX

You weren't on a tripod, were you?

Db7423 Loc: Pittsburgh, PA

joer wrote:

"The first and most important rule of VR is this: never turn VR on unless it's actually needed.

Yes, this rule flies in the face of what most everyone in the world seems to do and what Nikon implies with their advertising and marketing. The simple fact is that VR is a solution to a problem, and if you don't have that problem using VR can become a problem of its own."

Read the whole article at: http://www.bythom.com/nikon-vr.htm

"

Very interesting article. Just what I needed., something else to think about. ;)

RTFM

joer wrote:

"The first and most important rule of VR is t... (show quote)

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

joer wrote:

"The first and most important rule of VR is this: never turn VR on unless it's actually needed.

Yes, this rule flies in the face of what most everyone in the world seems to do and what Nikon implies with their advertising and marketing. The simple fact is that VR is a solution to a problem, and if you don't have that problem using VR can become a problem of its own."

Read the whole article at: http://www.bythom.com/nikon-vr.htm

"

Excellent comment. :thumbup:

SonyA580 Loc: FL in the winter & MN in the summer

With that high shutter speed and small aperture I'm wondering if there is sufficient light for the AF to work consistently??

oldtigger Loc: Roanoke Virginia-USA

SonyA580 wrote:

With that high shutter speed and small aperture I'm wondering if there is sufficient light for the AF to work consistently??

i'll never know if the 7100 auto focus works at those settings cause i won't point my sensor/eye at anything that bright

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

Mr PC wrote:

You weren't on a tripod, were you?

That is the question that popped into my mind as well.

amehta Loc: Boston

SonyA580 wrote:

With that high shutter speed and small aperture I'm wondering if there is sufficient light for the AF to work consistently??

The AF system gets all the light the lens can gather at maximum aperture. With this exposure, there is a lot of light to autofocus.