michealj Loc: West Virginia

I have been a Nikon user since I purchased a New F2 Photomic way back when. I have a Nikon D300 with I love but wanted to upgrade (I Thought) to the D7000 which I have seen great reviews on. I purchased 2, one with very low shutter count and one new with lens. To my surprise, neither cameras has accurate focus :hunf:. It seems to me a shame that Nikon would put a camera on the market with this problem. I tried several different lenses on these 7000's with no difference. Shot in auto and manual to no avail. Can any HOG member suggest a Nikon upgrade that has accurate focus right out of the box?? Maybe I will be switching to Sony!
Thank you all for your advice.
Mike J.

davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel

Mike, in most instances of focus problems the fault lies with the operator. From your photograph it is easy to see that your depth of field is too shallow to record the entire image in focus. The odds of you eliminating your problem by switching to another brand are quite high. Whatever it is that is causing focus problems will carry over to any other camera. Perhaps and afternoon with Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure" might help eliminate your problem. It is a possibility to be considered. GL

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

Could you repost the photo and check "store original". That will allow full size viewing and a better look at your focus issue. What was your focus setup? Single center point? Multiple points? One shot or AI Servo? I shoot Canon so I am not familiar with Nikon's system but their cameras are definitely capable of spot on focus. My guess is that the problem is with the settings you are using, not the camera. Also, how much of the photo were you trying to get in focus? Aperture would make a big difference there.

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

Repost this (and other) example pictures being sure to check the box that will allow us to download and truly analyze the image and its EXIF details. E.g., what ISO, aperture, shutter speed --> depth of field.

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

Don't even need a picture to know where the problem lies. Hint: It's not the camera, and it's not the lens!

michealj Loc: West Virginia

I am new to the D7000 but not to photography. Here is a few more photos. thank you all for the help! :-D Mike J

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rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

Do you recall the exact spot within the image you locked your focus point onto? That's what really matters. This is a difficult scene to establish focus, with pedals protruding toward the camera, in addition to your choice of shallow depth of field. Switching to manual focusing may have perhaps made this an easier task. There are situations when auto focus just doesn't cut it.

jr168

Are you using AF-S, AF-C, or Auto. Also, if you are in AF-C, what focus mode are you in? Single point, dynamic 9 point, 21 point, 39 point, or 3-D? All of these will make a huge difference. Other things to pay attention to, especially when shooting close-ups of flowers, is what is the minimum focus distance of the lens you are using? With cameras and lenses being massed produced, you may need to use the auto-focus fine tuning feature to dial in your lens/ body combination.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

Each picture you posted was shot with an aperture of 5.6. I don't have a depth-of-field calculator at hand (I wonder if I could find something for my cell-phone), so I still go back to my pre-autofocus Pentax, which has appropriate markings on the lens barrel. It is hard to read exact values of course, but the (50mm) lens shows at 6' and f/5.6, only objects within 5.5' and 6.5' would be in focus. If I went out to f/16 (and diffraction weren't an issue), the range would become roughly 4.3' to 9.0'. Of course, move closer and the range becomes tighter in each case.

Looking carefully at the pictures, you can see that some petals are in focus - namely the ones within the appropriate depth-of-field. Your lens is working correctly - you can't expect any more from it. You could improve your situation by plunking down more bucks for a "macro" lens.

added:
When I posted my "spring flowers" picture
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-304637-1.html
only the upper corners are clearly not in focus. There are several reasons for that, including the fact that I was using my Pentax Q7, which has a smaller sensor so the lens issues are different, and I chose an angle that would minimize DoF issues.

I often "preach" that you need to think in the field because some things cannot be fixed in post-processing, and this is one example of that.

Math78 Loc: Scottsdale, AZ

There is clearly a part of the picture which is in focus. The rest of the picture is outside of the "depth of field". The metadata shows lens was 60mm and f-stop of f/5. Using a subject distance of 4 feet, the online DOFMaster calculator says DOF is only from 3.87 to 4.13 feet for D7000. That's not a lot.

Set you f-stop to f/22 and increase ISO to keep shutter speed short, and see if you like that result better.

Math78 Loc: Scottsdale, AZ

What do these subjects look like when taken with your D300 under identical conditions: 60 mm focal length and f/5? I would expect them to be almost identical with repect to depth of field.

sinatraman Loc: Vero Beach Florida, Earth,alpha quaudrant

clearly if you wanted all in focus, you shot with the wrong f sto. f16 f11 f22 will give you large deth of field. if you wanted only a shallow amount of focused the maller fstop numbers will give you that. I also recommend the brian pererson understang exposure to even expierenced photograhers. I review the fundamentals every 6 months

JD750 Loc: SoCal

The center of the image posted is in sharp focus but it does appear to be front focusing quite a lot.

You could buy a Sony and if that solves the problem, then your done.

You could also read the manual, download a focus chart, and try making a focus adjustment.

Your choice.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Can you tell us where in the photo the issue is? Which focus points did you use and which area do you think should have been in focus, but is not?? The images are sharp in certain areas so until we know where the focus was its hard to analyse any issues.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

It's front focusing.