focus problem (Page 2): There is no motor in the D3100 camera body. The focusing motors are in the lenses. You said you checked and that the lenses are on "A", so it isn't that. The...

MtnMan Loc: ID

There is no motor in the D3100 camera body. The focusing motors are in the lenses. You said you checked and that the lenses are on "A", so it isn't that. The fact you are having the problem with both lenses suggests something in your camera body or the lens connections. It is very unlikely both of your lenses would fail.

You have a setting that controls when the camera will take a photo. I believe the default is to require both focus and exposure to have stettled before allowing the shot. That would give the "dead" you feel with the shutter release.

I have the D5100 so it may differ but I suspect not on this. If you have set the focus lock to demand that the camera is in focus before it will shoot and it can't focus it will behave as you describe.

[quote=CocoRoger]Yes to both. I know about the A and M switch. When I put it on A the shutter won't open as in it's dead. The lenses don't try to focus at all. ... So I'm thinking maybe the motor in the camera body is dead,. uote]

CocoaRoger Loc: Cocoa Florida

I have the book and am reading it, and tried to find info in it about this, what page is it on?

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

MtnMan wrote:

It is on the lens.

MT Shooter wrote:

Number 1 looks like you may have manually focused all the way to infinity. At infinity the lens will actually overfocus. The second looks like you focused properly.
Are your lenses the AF-S kit lenses? You may have inadvertantly turned off your AF, I don't know where the control is on a D3100, but it might be something to check.

The switch on the lens is for the AF-S motor and has nothing to do with the body function.
I was asking the OP because every Nikon AF Body I have ever owned (6) have all had an AF/M switch on the body irregardless of a switch on the lens. If that switch is in M mode the switch on the lens will have no effect. I have not used an intro body like the D3100 though so I had to ask.

CocoaRoger Loc: Cocoa Florida

madcapmagishion wrote:

Which AS-S lens were you using?

I have the kit lens: 18-55 DX SWM VR and Tamron AF 70-300MM TELE-MACRO. And yes I do think it's the camera because the auto focus was working during the hike and I was experimenting with the settings and I think that's when I did something because that's when the camera stopped working and I just assumed it was a dead battery

Joyfullee Loc: South FL

CocoRoger wrote:

I have the book and am reading it, and tried to find info in it about this, what page is it on?

The explanation of the Auto-focus system starts on page 74. The part I quoted starts at the bottom of page 76.

madcapmagishion

CocoRoger wrote:

madcapmagishion wrote:

Which AS-S lens were you using?

I have the kit lens: 18-55 DX SWM VR and Tamron AF 70-300MM TELE-MACRO. And yes I do think it's the camera because the auto focus was working during the hike and I was experimenting with the settings and I think that's when I did something because that's when the camera stopped working and I just assumed it was a dead battery

The lens you probably have is the Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX VR which comes with the D3100 as the kit lens. SWM stands for Silent Wave Motor, which I believe all AF-S motors are ... S standing for Silent. And I tend to agree with Mtn Man above that it is probably a connectivity problem between the body and the lenses. As for the Tamron, I have no clue as I haven't acquired any aftermarket lenses yet. And yes I too have the D3100 and fortunately no problems with it at all. Look in the manual for how to reset the camera to it's default settings and hopefully that fixes it.

Joyfullee Loc: South FL

If you're shooting in auto, there is a place in your camera menu (focus mode) make sure that setting is NOT on MF, for that is what you would choose if you wanted to shoot in Manual as well as the M switch on your lens.

I generally use the AF-S or AF-C mode.

If you click on the last button on the left hand line of buttons on the camera, you can change the settings from there. Clicking the button twice so that you may change your settings from there.

Hope this helps.

CocoaRoger Loc: Cocoa Florida

Well I got it working. I have no idea how. I don't think I did anything different than before. I reset the settings again, 3 rd time. I hit the AF lock/ AE lock again and it's on AF-C and the auto focus is again working. Thanks!

Joyfullee Loc: South FL

CocoRoger wrote:

Well I got it working. I have no idea how. I don't think I did anything different than before. I reset the settings again, 3 rd time. I hit the AF lock/ AE lock again and it's on AF-C and the auto focus is again working. Thanks!

I was fairly sure your camera/lens was not broken, because I have experienced the same difficulty when I first got my camera and came to the same conclusion as you did.

I have also found that when I'm at the wide open f stop that many times the photo is not as sharp as I would like it to be. Sometimes it works OK, but mostly, no. So I close it down just a stop or two.

Glad to be of some help.

madcapmagishion

CocoRoger wrote:

Well I got it working. I have no idea how. I don't think I did anything different than before. I reset the settings again, 3 rd time. I hit the AF lock/ AE lock again and it's on AF-C and the auto focus is again working. Thanks!

Congratulations!

CocoaRoger Loc: Cocoa Florida

I think it had something to do with the AE-L/AF-L button. Because although I have tried messing with it in the past 3 weeks of this problem I did something different, I held it down while I depressed the shutter button and the light came on and then it started working again. I don't know if holding the shutter button halfway down locks or unlocks something but all I can say is that when I did it started working.

madcapmagishion

I believe holding the shutter release 1/2 way down locks your focus when taking a picture, when you hear the ding your locked in.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

There had to be a body release somewhere. Glad you got it fixed. I would still check for a firmware upgrade though, you never know what it might do to improve your camera, and may eliminate glitches you were unaware of.

coatachrome

Hello Coco, Coatachrome here.

For your focus problem, try changing your focus to a single point area. This should be found in the autofocus menu under AF Focus Mode. You should have three choices, Single point, Dynamic Area, and Auto Area. The other two modes are good, and have their uses, but the most consistent will me the Single Point focus mode.

After you have selected it you should be able to change the focus point by using your multi-selector switch and watching the display next to the AF-S indicator on your cameras LCD Display.

By the way, you should set your camera to the AF-S mode and leave it there, that is the most reliable mode to shoot with. You can do this by pressing the AF button on top of the camera and rotating the rear thumb dial.

Let me know if that works, and if you need other help.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

If you set your camera on manual focus, and back your lens to just off infinity, shouldn't objects a mile distant all be in focus?

Y'all correct me if I remember incorrectly, but with a distant object, there shouldn't be a big problem with focus. Just set your focus to just off infinity and zoom in.