Hi all! A while back I'd posted on my D7000 and the various focus issues (mostly be VERY careful about my focus being spot on only to look at the photo later and discover that the subject is blurry and the background is sharp). The jury was still out as to whether this was the camera or user error. Well yesterday I had a private tutoring session with my photography teacher and he concludes that it's the camera and I need to take it it.

While we were out we spent three hours fiddling with it trying to get it to work properly, here's what we found.
*First, he tried to use the camera and also couldn't get it to focus on the subject. It looks like it in the viewfinder but it's definitely not on the screen
*It does OK with very close up but anything more than a foot or two and it gets off, the further away your subject the more off the focus is
*it doesn't matter what lens I use though some are worse than others
*he tried to fine tune the focus and it helped with one lens (but it's still not perfect) but not the other that we tried
*we set the camera to "beep" when focus is on and I do NOT get a beep when in AF-S or AF-C ONLY in AF-A mode
*I seem to only be able to get sharp focus when in AF-A mode, not at all in the other modes

I do plan to get the camera in as soon as I can but I was wondering if these symptoms ring any bells with anyone here and if the problem got resolved. Thanks!

I am having similar problems. I have had my d7000 since Christmas and have had some shots tac sharp but I have been disappointed with others that were soft on what I thought I was focussing on. I am using af-s with center focus point and still this will happen and I thought it was my grandchildren moving too fast for me to focus fast enough or some other user error. However my shutter speed was 1/250 and even at wide apperture it didn't make sense that the background was more in focus than the focus point. I then tried some more test shots with "live view" versus viewfinder and found the live view right on target with subject in focus and the background slightly out- which is what should be. I have concluded that it is back focusing in some cases so I contacted Nikon and sent examples and they will be getting back to me because I may need a calibration. In the mean time I fine tuned to -14 and the focus has improved. Now just tonight I tried another experiment. When I used to shoot film and had to manually focus, I would zoom in tight on the subjects eyes and focus on and eye, lock the focus, pull back on my zoom and compose and press the rest of the way down to take photo. I did this tonight ( without fine tuning) and it worked and the subject was in focus when I magnified the screen- But when I took the same picture from backed off and focused from a distance ( like you were talking about) the subject is not focused as clearly when I later magnify the photo. Then to add to this I used fine tuning ( the -14 ) and now both ways are clear even when I take the photo from the non- zoomed focus. So I either have to have my camera calibrated or use fine tuning. I feel like you, that when the camera is tight it focuses okay, but from a distance it can be hit or miss. Sorry this was so long- just trying to be clear .

If you are shooting anything that is moving, then you should be shooting in AF-C. AF-S is for static objects or portraits.

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my camera was rear focusing and i sent it back what a world of difference line up some bottles with labels on and focus on the center and see what is clear you can adjust for this but nikon made my right but still charged me because i was out of warranty .

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You have given me a little hope here. I have contacted Nikon ( I am still under warranty) and they requested examples, which I sent. It has been 2 days and I haven't gotten a reply yet. For the last 3 months I thought that I was messing up because so many posts were about user error on this back focus thingy. Well I don't believe it is me anymore. I am not a professional but I have been shooting slr ( film) for over 40 years and dslr for the past 7 or 8 years and have gone through the d70, d90 with no problems and now having upgraded to d7000. I only wish I had gone back to the store the first month to get another but waited so I could "practice" more? ha ha. My only hope is to have it calibrated and be done with it. Fine tuning to -14 seems to help the problem or shootin with live view, but I would like to have it right without this finetuning and i don't like live view! I wanted larger megapixels so that I could crop and retain resolution. What good is a crop if the image isn't sharp? I want my d90 back! BOO HOO

I'm glad your camera was fixed, that's reassuring! It's too bad you had to pay. Mine is still under warranty but really, Nikon knows this is a problem for this camera (from all I've read they can't possibly not know). Why can't they have recalls like auto makers when there's a fixable defect in a model and just take care of it.

How long did they have your camera?

I am still waiting to hear from Nikon. This process has been super annoying. First they made me reset to factory settings, then take pictures and e-mail them to them. Then they said the couldn't read the metadata and wanted new pictures. I e-mailed them back to find out what they wanted me to do so the problem wasn't repeated and I got nothing back. A few days later I finally called. A rep told me I needed to shoot in RAW. Well, Nikon, YOU'RE the ones who told me to reset the settings and THEN take the pictures and never told me I needed to shoot in RAW. *sigh* I've retaken pictures and sent them in and now I'm waiting to hear back again.

>I'm glad your camera was fixed, that's reassuring! It's too
>bad you had to pay. Mine is still under warranty but really,
>Nikon knows this is a problem for this camera (from all I've
>read they can't possibly not know). Why can't they have
>recalls like auto makers when there's a fixable defect in a
>model and just take care of it.
>


Hi Julie,

Sorry to hear you're one of the D7000 owners with a focus issue. I can sympathize, but not relate to your focus problem because luckily my D7000 focuses sharp with all my lenses.

There are several lengthy posts discussing focus problems that were fixed by returning the camera to Nikon - so there must be a few that were adjusted or assembled with defective parts at the factory. But, considering how many has been sold it must be a very small percentage and Nikon probably feels it is best to fix them using a case-by-case evaluation.

I recently asked the same Nikon recall question as you, and by the answers I received it is clear there is a feeling from some Nikonian members that cameras are not like automobiles when it pertains to defects (maybe because safety is not a issue) or just don't see the scope of the issue justifing a recall.

Hopefully, Nikon will fix your focus problem quickly. Let us know what happens.


The referenced thread is linked below:

http://www.nikonians.org/forums/dcboard.php?az=set_threaded_mode&forum=329&topic_id=16794&prev_page=show_topic&gid=16794#16798


Jerry

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>Nikon knows this is a problem for this camera (from all I've
>read they can't possibly not know).

Do they really? If I were in their shoes, I wouldn't...

If you're sure your camera has an issue, then just send it in for repair. Why wait? And please, why not post some images here?

www.billkeane.zenfolio.com

I'm a bit confused, have you read the thread? Nikon did confirm there are issues with my camera and I did send it in. I'm waiting for it to be returned.

I wish it was just that simple LOL
I am speaking of shots with af-s and center focus point as well as using focus release priority. "live view" has sharp focus on the same scenerio shot, but AF for viewfinder is back focusing on shots from wide angle to approximatley 60 mm focal length. I am aware of af-C and have no problem with af-c with tracking 3d or other. This is a back focus problem with certain focal lengths using af-s that is not telephoto. Zooming in at 150mm or more and shooting tight has no problem with af-S getting the focus. It is the wider shots that don't focus properly. Thanks for your try though.

Well, all, I wanted to give an update. I did e-mail Nikon and sent in photos, they asked for the camera. I shipped it off on Friday. Hoping for a quick turn around and getting a camera back that's right as rain. I'll update everyone as I know more.

Thanks for everyone's input and assistance!

I just got my camera back -- the entire process took less than two weeks door to door. The information in the threads on this forum were extremely helpful in that I was able to take and provide proper sample images to Nikon right in the beginning of the process. Customer service saw the images and recommended that I send the camera in. I'm in Connecticut so UPS ground delivered to Melville in one day. Camera was received on March 27, and arrived back at my front door on Good Friday. All lenses are now tack sharp, except the Nikkor 50mm f1.4G, which needs an AF fine tune of -4. Overall I was very happy with my experience with Nikon customer service.

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Thanks! That's great to hear! I'm hoping to have a similar experience.

I'm not sure now if I read it somewhere on this site or elsewhere but when I thought my D7000 had focus issues I ran across a procedure that has greatly increased my "keepers". Basically, I set the camera up on a tripod and hooked it up to my Mac via CaptureNX. I then aimed it at an ISO target mounted vertically on the wall of my office. By using Capture I focused each lens I have on the target using LiveView. Then for each lens, I went to the camera and using standard auto focus, I refocused the camera noting how much and which direction the lens focus ring would move. Using Fine Tuning, I repeatedly adjusted the camera until there was no difference in focus ring movement between Live View and auto focus.

The result was that none of my Fine Tuning adjustments went more than -6. When I was just trying to "wing it" by taking test shots I had some lens maxed out at -20 and none below -10. Its no wonder I had fuzzy results. Also by using this procedure I have found Fine Tuning numbers that have worked on my zooms across their range. Before my zooms might be OK at one end of the range but out on the other.

I'm not saying this procedure will sort everyone's D7000. But because it does not rely on an angled target and it is using LiveView, which most here have seemed to indicate focuses reliably, as a benchmark; it might be a viable solution for some who are having focus difficulties.

Cheers,

Bill

Thanks! I'll keep this tucked in the back of my mind for when my camera comes home. Could be useful.

sent my camera to nikon and back focus is now fixed. It needed calibration. No more messing with fine tuning! took 12 days

Thanks, good to know!

I heard from Nikon, they received the camera and wanted me to approve the charge for repairs. Um, NO! It's under warranty thankyouverymuch. Another tidbit that Nikon failed to inform me of, registering the camera with them wasn't enough, I needed to send my receipt with the camera. *sigh* I hope they're better at fixing my camera than they are at giving me information up front. This is the 3rd or 4th item they've failed to mention with this process. I could have had my camera back by now if they'd just remember to tell me everything I need to know the first time.

>they received the camera and wanted me to
>approve the charge for repairs. Um, NO! It's under warranty
>thankyouverymuch. Another tidbit that Nikon failed to inform
>me of, registering the camera with them wasn't enough, I
>needed to send my receipt with the camera. *sigh* I hope
>they're better at fixing my camera than they are at giving me
>information up front. This is the 3rd or 4th item they've
>failed to mention with this process.

Hmmmm, to be fair to Nikon, my experience was a bit different than yours. Wellblessed, did you send your camera to Nikon Service or one of the NARS? Did you use the web site to print your shipping label and packing list?

I used the Nikon USA web site to initiate my claim and garner the information on how to send my camera in. I was a bit unclear in the initial information I recieved via the e-mail exchange, so I called the tech line and even the representative I talked with on the phone sent me an e-mail with a link to that site and told me to follow the instructions there. The web site pretty much spelled out what I should and shouldn’t send in to them. I then filled in the online form which then printed out a shipping label with shipping instructions as well as a packing list. In the instructions it clearly states that if the camera is under warranty I need to include a photocopy of the purchase receipt and Nikon Warranty. Although that was a bit confusing in that I did not recall having a Nikon Warranty certificate but I had registered it with the Nikon USA web site. And although my camera was technically out of warranty, being that I was pleading a case for it being covered under warranty I included the photocopy of the purchase receipt along with a letter pleading my case (as I was instructed to by the rep on the phone).

Being a registered user of the Nikon USA site I did receive an e-mail with a PDF attachment of the Estimate/Acknowledgement document before receiving a hard copy in the mail. But I will admit I was at first I was a bit confused and thought they weren’t covering it under warranty (after all my unit was 3 months past warranty period) when I received that until I read the “NO APPROVAL IS REQUIRED FOR WORK PERFORMED FOR ALL NO CHARGE ORDERS”. And being there was an amount of 0.00; I assumed it fell under the “NO CHARGE ORDERS” statement. But I was perplexed by the direction to see reverse side, but unfortunately the PDF version only included the front side and I had to wait till I received the hard copy to see the reverse side. Did your Estimate/Acknowledgement include a price of repair, or the 0.00?

All in all my experience was positive with Nikon Service even with the 3 week parts hold. Although I feel there is room for improvement in communication with the customer on the parts hold thingy. But every phone call to them during this period was handled professionally and resolved all my issues each time. So I’m sorry to hear that your experience thus far has not been as pleasurable as mine was (even with the occasional confusion). Hopefully your camera will be back to you shortly in tip top working order.

Pete

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Wellblessed, I have to agree with Pete. All the instructions were very clear and everything went without hitch. I did not talk to anyone, just followed the instructions. The instructions on the website were spot on. Sorry you had some issues.

Charles

It is the "room for improvement in communication" that I'm talking about. I was always speaking to a live person and they never referred me to any online instructions. Every time I was speaking to someone in person and every time they left out an important piece of information. I feel that if the person I was speaking to had been better at giving me ALL of the information I needed up front the multiple delays that occurred would not have happened. I'm simply sharing a frustration, I never said that across the board Nikon is horrible and no one will ever experience different. Just talking about my experience alone, that I wish they had been better with their verbal instructions.

The receipt is all that is needed for any warranty for just about any product by law. Registration is not activating your warranty only your receipt does that. Registration is for getting some information about who bought the product, for their own promotion and market research. To encourage people to register, manufacturers or distributors sweeten the deal by offering something like discounts on future purchases, or extended warranty. I doubt there is a description anywhere on the Nikon web site or warranty related literature that does not mention using your receipt as your ticket to warranty coverage of a repair.
I am sure they will take care of it for you.

Stan
St Petersburg Russia

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That requirement is stated up front, and should have been repeated in the communication asking you to send the camera in.

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My D7000 does not focus properly with several lenses. I sent the body to Nikon and it came back with a note there are no issues with it. But it still can't focus some lenses, the 16-35, 24-70, among them.

It seems like the DX lenses focus much better than the FX lenses.

It really is a pretty worthless camera when it comes to focusing. It cannot do any kind of follow focus with the 24-70.

Carl E. Feather
Feather Multimedia

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I have been reading about focus issues with D7000 and likely cause being photographer. After taking 37000 images with some nice pictures I started to question why my close up photos are not so sharp. I did not have this problem with D80. I set up the camera on tripoid and used remote to take picture of 5 boxes soups set at stepped distance of 10mm. I took a photo of middle box with single focus point. Using 35mm f/1.8 my 5th box was the sharpest. After adjusting in camera AF fine tune at -20 middle box was sharpest. Trying 18-200 lens had the same result. This camera is out of adjustment and has been from day 1. Does Nikon have Quality control? This camera is going in for service. Please do not accept (this is all photographers fault)comments and put up with out of focus photos. I did and have many lost oportunity photos. Only distant scenery is any good. When I look at my past D80 photos it upsets me that D7000 results are so poor.

I agree. At the very least it's worth sending a pic to Nikon to see if they want to check the camera.

Not all D7000s will have the problem but enough do that it doesn't hurt to really test the camera's ability to focus. I know two other people with this camera, one is a pro who has had problems all along and is realizing all his fine-tuning hasn't solved the problem and another is a semi-pro who is in denial. I've seen her pictures, there's a focus issue for sure and I've known her long enough to know it's not all her. So off all the photogs I know personally three of us have the D7000 and all of us have focus issues to some degree. All I can do is hope that my camera comes back right as rain, I sure love that thing. It's great but what good is a camera that won't focus properly.

I have to revisit my post with some new findings and ask for advice. My D80 and 18-200mm were perfect mach. This same lens with D7000 was never right. Today I did AF fine tune and it works well at -8. My new 35mm lens was bad and is now sharp at -20. 18-55mm lens did not need tune. 10-24mm did not need tune. 50mm did not need tune. Should I have done AF fine tune all my lenses when I purchased the camera? Is this what everyone does? So if some lenses are OK should I have camera checked by Nikon?

I wouldn't if I were you, but I'm not you.

I also came up from a D80, and I would ask you to quantify how you are comparing the results. A lens can only focus on a single plane in an image field, everything else falls under relative sharpness. If viewing images on screen at 100% view, small imperfections in focus that can occur with any auto-focus system might go unnoticed with D80 images, but will become glaringly apparent with the D7000 images.

Also home testing of this issue is difficult at best. You need to insure everything is set up properly with good light and a proper high contrast target. If you are meticulous with your setup and all your lenses need -20 adjustment, then it could be surmised that your camera is out of adjustment and needs recalibration. If some lenses are ok while others are not, then it's most likely not the camera.

Bottom line is that if you feel something is wrong with your camera,send it in. Although some people have fine tuned their lenses as a full time general rule and feel they get good results across the board, it is contrary to Nikon's recommendation on how it should be used.

Pete

Edited to add:

In regard to the 18-200 being a perfect match to the D80 and not the D7000, if you haven’t read it already you may find this article at LensRentals.com of interest.
This lens is soft and other myths

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This may be too basic for the problems being discussed, but I'm curious anyway if it would be a helpful test.

I just mounted my Nikon 105mm f2.8 Micro onto my D7000. I then pointed my camera down about 45 degrees from level and pointed the lens at a Nikon lens cap which was about 8 inches from the lens hood and laying on the desk. The lens cap has "Nikon" in silver paint across it. One N of the word was closest and the other N was furthest from me. I had the camera set to AF-C and AF engaged by pushing the AF-On/AE-L button on the rear of the camera body. I have AF also set to spot mode (center sensor only). I then slowly swept the center AF sensor further and closer across the writing on the lens cap while holding the AF-On button. During the whole time the AF mechanism of the 105mm f2.8 lens was chattering away as it tried to achieve focus. Every time the sensor swept across an edge of the letters on the lens cap or some other surface feature, the lens snapped into what looked like perfect focus at the focus point. Correct focus was reasonably easy to discern as the depth of field in this setup is very shallow. This would seem like desirable and normal operation.

My question: does your presumably faulty D7000 fail this kind of test? I would guess it would given the symptoms already described.

Cheers,
Peter

After spending the weekend testing the camera and lenses using ruler at 45 degrees and sorting through the photo archive I have found that in January 2012 images started being bad. No image is crisp clear. It looks more like disposable camera image. I have printed out samples and test results with and without AF fine tune. Interesting that Live View focusing is spot on. I also have some spots on sensor so I am taking the camera to Nikon for service.
Looking back at my images before December and were sharp and clear. Only last 3 months I just can't get acceptable focus.

Assuming nothing else has changed in terms of equipment or technique it would seem the D7000 has become faulty since January. Do let us know what Nikon says if you send it in. Peter

Took the camera to Nikon with all my printed samples. I was told that it is back focusing. I am now waiting for cost and then I will decide if repair is worth doing or just adjust the lenses to suit. New camera is also an option possibly D5100. Doing Alaska in May so need reliable camera.

I was quoted $174 which included return S&H to fix mine before the receipt was provided. If that helps give you a ballpark idea of repair cost.

Could you please give me a bit of info on the target you used? What size? And where can you get one, and the cost?
I've searched both B&H and Calumet, the most likely sources, for 'ISO chart' and 'ISO target', and gotten no hits.
Thanks.

SantaFeBill

"My photos were more interesting before I learned the rules."

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>for 'ISO chart' and 'ISO target', and gotten no hits.

ISO stands for International Organization of Standardization. I don’t believe there are focus charts per se, but most people use resolution charts for the purpose.

A good resolution chart is quite expensive to buy commercially. If you do a net search for “resolution test charts” you will come up with a number of hits that will provide charts you could print out yourself that would be sufficient for the purpose.

Pete

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>>for 'ISO chart' and 'ISO target', and gotten no hits.
>
>ISO stands for International Organization of Standardization.
>I don’t believe there are focus charts per se, but most people
>use resolution charts for the purpose.
>
>A good resolution chart is quite expensive to buy
>commercially. If you do a net search for “resolution test
>charts” you will come up with a number of hits that will
>provide charts you could print out yourself that would be
>sufficient for the purpose.
>
>Pete
>

As an example, here is a link to an ISO 12233 chart (http://www.graphics.cornell.edu/~westin/misc/res-chart.html) which is what I have been using and it has worked out pretty well in getting my lens fine-tuned. A search can also find the Google images page (http://www.google.ca/search?q=iso+resolution+chart&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=bJWWT8DfPMn26AGugo27Dg&ved=0CEEQsAQ&biw=1634&bih=877&sei=AJaWT4vnDeTC0AGpwanFDg) which has a number of usable possibilities.

Cheers,

Bill

I got my D7000 back a few days ago. Today I shot my son's birthday party and I'm very pleased with the results. In that past I'd have only a handful of photos where the subject was in focus. This time I shot 100+ photos and every one was focused exactly where I put.

I still have to test it with my 90mm because the back focus problem was the worst with that one but so far so good.

I picked my camera today from Nikon. Mirror assembly did not require replacement. Auto Focus adjusted, Shift focus adjusted, sensor cleaned. Cost quite reasonable. I checked the camera and feel that focus is lot better. Main thing is that I have clean sensor and confidence in the camera before important trip.

>I got my D7000 back a few days ago. Today I shot my son's
>birthday party and I'm very pleased with the results. In that
>past I'd have only a handful of photos where the subject was
>in focus. This time I shot 100+ photos and every one was
>focused exactly where I put.
>
>I still have to test it with my 90mm because the back focus
>problem was the worst with that one but so far so good.

Same problem with my D7000 maybe 1 in 50 photos if I am lucky was in focus. ANd even then the images were not great.. I gave up and got the Canon 5D MarkIII but would love to get my D7000 Fixed. How much did Nikon charge for this?

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That's too bad. My camera was still under warranty but before they had the receipt the charge was $174 and that included S&H for them to send it back. I also had to pay to send it to them which was about $50. I probably could have shipped it cheaper but that included packing and insurance.

I hope you get it worked out.