long distance out of focus: I was shooting photo's on a lake with my D3100 with 55-200mm lens in shutter,aperture,and manual modes at f11,1/250,iso 100.My long shot's were either blury...

timepass Loc: Yardley,PA

I was shooting photo's on a lake with my D3100 with 55-200mm lens in shutter,aperture,and manual modes at f11,1/250,iso 100.My long shot's were either blury or out of focus.They were in focus when I composed the shot,but out after I took the pic.I was using Auto-area mode and Continuous-servo focus.Nothing seemed to help.All my closer shots 60-70 yds were in focus.Any advice what I've done wrong would be of great help.

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GENorkus Loc: Washington Twp, Michigan

After you know the correction, some cameras let you modify how it operates a lens. That might be the thing you need to do. Look into that.

tradio Loc: Oxford, Ohio

I would think you should use a faster shutter at the longer focal lengths.

TheDman Loc: USA

Why would you use Continuous-servo focus on a subject that isn't moving? For landscapes I focus manually. That way you have total control over the exact focal point. I'm guessing that the servo focus was continually hunting while you were taking the shot.

huskyrider705 Loc: Phenix City, Alabama

Sometimes humidity, heat waves or other conditions can cause longer distance objects to look out of focus. The farther away an object is the better chance it will not be sharp.

timepass Loc: Yardley,PA

Thanks I'll give it a try.

timepass Loc: Yardley,PA

Some of the shots were of wind-surfers,who were moving quite fast. But I didn't change the mode when I was shooting farther out on subject's that were moving slowly.This is probably were I went wrong.Thanks for your help.

timepass Loc: Yardley,PA

I'll have to remember that next time I'm shooting long distance,thanks for the advice.

timepass Loc: Yardley,PA

Thanks for the advice.

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

timepass wrote:

I was shooting photo's on a lake with my D3100 with 55-200mm lens in shutter,aperture,and manual modes at f11,1/250,iso 100.My long shot's were either blury or out of focus.They were in focus when I composed the shot,but out after I took the pic.I was using Auto-area mode and Continuous-servo focus.Nothing seemed to help.All my closer shots 60-70 yds were in focus.Any advice what I've done wrong would be of great help.

I had a similar problem with my first auto-focus lens. Solved it with a drop of super glue - kept the AF switch from accidentally sliding off of M.

amehta Loc: Boston

timepass wrote:

I was shooting photo's on a lake with my D3100 with 55-200mm lens in shutter,aperture,and manual modes at f11,1/250,iso 100.My long shot's were either blury or out of focus.They were in focus when I composed the shot,but out after I took the pic.I was using Auto-area mode and Continuous-servo focus.Nothing seemed to help.All my closer shots 60-70 yds were in focus.Any advice what I've done wrong would be of great help.

Using AF-C takes some care, because the camera keeps trying to autofocus on the "subjects" while you have the shutter pressed half-way. If your subjects are stationary, AF-S mode might work better.

bgucfa2014

This sounds like an equipment problem.
Do the images look like they are blurry from focus or movement? Usually the difference is evident.
Have you ever dropped the lens?
Try putting the camera with the suspect lens on a tripod. Get comfortable in a chair and focus your distant subject.
When you think it is clear, keep looking through the lens and touch it slightly to see if the focus suddenly jumps out. This could mean the lens movement mechanism is damaged. Try a few different situations. The lens should move smooth with no jumps no matter how small they seem.
Your camera settings seem a little slow for the subjects (i.e long distance). I would have used a little faster shutter,500+ and ISO (800+). and a tripod or monopod if available.
Hope this advice helps. Good luck! In the end you'll win!
Bill G.

timepass Loc: Yardley,PA

Thankyou for the advice,I will certainly give it a try and see what happens.

DavidPine Loc: Fredericksburg, TX

I would use AF-S or switch to manual focus.

timepass Loc: Yardley,PA

Thanks,I'll give them both a try.