Is my Nokon 60mm micro working properly?

[Mr Noble]

Had another play with the 60mm f2.8 micro last night and again just now this morning.

It is terrible at focusing on AF! When viewing "normal" things with plenty of contrast in the kitchen for example it can't lock on and hunts the full range (or half if set to limit) about 10 times before eventually getting it right.


I took shots of things like the radiator valve that were 1/8th sec at f 3.3 (2.8 really) and it could not lock on.

All my other lenses have no problem with the same subjects and same light.

Is this a characteristic of the lens or is it busted?

It wakes it impossible to get decent shots of my black cats. If the hunting noise doesn't scare them off, it takes so long to focus that you miss the moment.



If I knew it would be like this I may as well have bought a manual focus lens!


Help please.
Greg

[Mr Noble]

Should I have it on AF-C or AF-S? Seems to work better on C as it lets you press the shuttur when ever you like. On S it will only allow you to shoot once its happy its locked on.

After another go, its not quite as bad as I thought, but its not as good at focusing as the 18-70 kit lens!

For a 500 lens I would have thought it would be more capable.



All help appreciated.
Simpo?

[simpo two]

Mr Noble said:

Should I have it on AF-C or AF-S? Seems to work better on C as it lets you press the shuttur when ever you like. On S it will only allow you to shoot once its happy its locked on.

Thus ensuring a sharp picture

I have the same lens and it focuses fine, but remember that the focusing area needs some contrast or texture to lock onto. Pointing it at black fur will defeat every AF system I've met, assist or otherwise. Try aiming at the eyes then reframing.

Plus, have you got the correct focus segment selected?

For very close work I prefer to use MF and just move the camera.

HTH?

[Mr Noble]

On another thread you talk about AF-S lenses. Do they cost more and if so why. Why are they better? I would have thought that a lens that cound track and keep focused on a moving subject was better and more expensive.


So to put my mind at rest, do you sometimes find the 60mm you have hunting a lot, when there seems to be no shortage of contrasty stuff in the viewfinder?

Thanks Greg

[fergusd]

Mr Noble said:

On another thread you talk about AF-S lenses. Do they cost more and if so why. Why are they better? I would have thought that a lens that cound track and keep focused on a moving subject was better and more expensive.

AFS Lenses have a motor built into the lens, non AFS lenses use the motor in the body of the camera.

whereas

AF-S on the camera means the camera will focus until it achieves focus lock and then stop focussing and
AF-C on the camera means focus continually

(basically - but read the manual for full definitions)

AFS and AF-S are not the same thing ;-)

As Simpo suggests you must verify what focus zone you have selected - not sure of your camera but I found, on my D70, that not all focus zones were as capable as the centre spot in marginal conditions.

Mr Noble said:

So to put my mind at rest, do you sometimes find the 60mm you have hunting a lot, when there seems to be no shortage of contrasty stuff in the viewfinder?

It does sound to me like a lens problem - has it always done this ?

Fd

[Mr Noble]

I have tried using different focus segments but always (usually) stick to the centre one. Not really sure of the benifit of being able to change this anyway!


I got a friend to bring the lens back from Hong Kong for me just before Christmas. It does produce nice results and as far as I can tell it focusses on the correct spot, but I do find myself having to switch to manual quite a lot.







These would never have focused themselves. It functions fine on a normally lit subject more than 3 feet away but is terrible when closer.

Also its really noisy, far more so than my 18-70 kit lens which seems silent by comparrison.

Maybe I need to pop round to KP with it and try another one. One problem with buying from HK I guess!!

Thx
Greg

>> Edited by Mr Noble on Thursday 2nd February 13:01

[simpo two]

Fergus has nailed it - AF-S on a lens (silent wave motor) is not the same as AF-S (single servo focus) on a camera body!

Mr Noble said:

Also its really noisy, far more so than my 18-70 kit lens which seems silent by comparrison.

That's because it's not a silent wave (AF-S) lens: the camera is physically having to drive the focus mechanism using gearwheels and the like. It's normal.

I mentioned the focus area aspect as on a couple occasions I've inadvertently moved this and wondered why the damn thing refused to focus where I was pointing it!

[Mr Noble]

So if the focus area aspect is set to the centre, does it focus only in say a 10% field in the middle of the frame? That may explain the problem.

I usually try to put something contrasty in the middle when focusing, or put a straight line through it ie. edge of the subject. Maybe there will be times when it can't cope as well as the 18-70 kit lens then.


Thanks for the help.
Greg

[simpo two]

Mr Noble said:

So if the focus area aspect is set to the centre, does it focus only in say a 10% field in the middle of the frame? That may explain the problem.

You may be confusing this with metering areas. As far as I can tell it focuses exactly where you put the little red spot (whichever one is selected).

Nots: There are various AF modes which IMHO frankly are too confusing and pointless to bother with.

NB Although, having read the thread title more closely, the reason may be because you bought a Nokon lens, clearly a cheap Chinese copy. What you are experiencing is the 'Nokon' effect...

>> Edited by simpo two on Thursday 2nd February 14:02

[fergusd]

Simplest way to tell what focus zone is selected is to watch which of the wee red squares in the viewfinder flashes when you press the shutter release . . .

Of course there are all those different AF modes - simplest is single point, which is selected by the menu IIRC.

The focus point (ie. the bit inside the wee square thing that flashes) is where the camera looks for contrast and focuses, not anywhere else {in single point mode - YMMV in other modes}.

Fd