Nikon guys, need some help.

zwalk · September 29, 2014

So I have a D3200, my 40mm f/2.8 macro came in today, and I've noticed during low light shooting, and sometimes during regular shooting I will hold down my AF, and then when I go to release the shutter (press all the way through) my camera won't take the shot.

I love this camera, bought it refurbished not too long ago...just not sure why I can't change a setting (or maybe I just can't find it) that let's me shoot no matter what when I depress my button fully...

I know I can hold down my AE-L/AF-L and make it shoot but is there a setting I can change? The Canon XSi I started on was nothing like this...

For example today I tried to take a picture of a small screw just messing around, it would focus, and I was shooting 1:1, then when I depressed the shutter it wouldn't take the picture.

Any help is appreciated!

zwalk · September 30, 2014

D3200 Help: Nikon Guys?
My D3200 hasn't been letting me focus in low light scenarios or when I am trying to take very focused shots. When I hold down AE-L/AF-L the shutter will release however...any ways I can remedy this? It also occurs if I try to do open exposure sometimes, or if I try to paint with light or just shoot a picture in the dark...

Any remedies/advice/settings I could change?

My girlfriends D5100 seems to have no issues

MODERATOR NOTE: I merged your two threads together.

ziggy53 · September 30, 2014

You appear to have two lenses. Does the problem occur with just the macro lens?

zwalk · September 30, 2014

It occurs with both the 18-55 and the 40mm

zwalk · September 30, 2014

Thank you Moderator! My phone didn't show that one posted and then all the sudden I had two. It occurs with both. More with the macro though because I'm closer.

cab.in.boston · September 30, 2014

I think you are having an issue with your shutter/focus settings. If you are set to Focus Priority (which is usually the default on the Single Servo AF), the camera won't take a picture if it thinks it's not in focus. This is to ensure that you don't take an out of focus shot. The other alternative is Release Priority (the default for Continuous Servo AF), which will take the picture whenever you press the shutter, whether or not the camera thinks it's in focus. Are you getting solid focus confirmation when it's not releasing the shutter? Depending on what you're focusing on, and particularly with macro shots where the DoF can be so thin, the focus point you've selected (or the camera selected if you're in auto mode) just might not think it's in focus. I'd guess that when you press AF-L, that overrides the Focus Priority setting and lets you take the shot. On my D300, you can change the Priority for Single Servo (or what I do is shoot with the rear AF-ON button - you don't have one of those on the D3200, but can reprogram the AE-L/AF-L to that mode if you choose.

I just scanned DPReview's writeup on the D3200, and you may not have the option of changing to Release Priority on Single Servo AF. But you can switch to Continuous mode, so that the camera will shoot when you tell it to, regardless of if it thinks you're in focus or not. Or switch to manual focus (and maybe use Live View, particularly if you're doing macro on a tripod), then it should shoot when you tell it to, no matter what.

zwalk · September 30, 2014

So continuous shooting should override? I'll probably do that. I was hoping upgrading my software might allow me to change those settings. Bummer that nikon hasn't changed that...kind of turns it into a noob machine and it's a great camera in terms of photo quality compared to my XSi.

zwalk · September 30, 2014

So would I be better off shooting on continuous servo?

Thank you guys so much btw, I've been looking for a great photography forum

T. Bombadil · September 30, 2014

zwalk wrote: »

So would I be better off shooting on continuous servo?

Thank you guys so much btw, I've been looking for a great photography forum

I'm pretty sure the release priority is independent of whether you have chosen continuous servo (at least, on the first exposure), so you want a more complete understanding of the camera (or maybe it wants repair).

Nikon manuals are quite tiresome to read (so many over-long names of features, so many features with similar-sounding names) but you should take a look (I think you can download a copy from nikonusa.com)

Look in your manual for "release priority" (or peruse the camera menu and see if you can find it). Set Priority Selection to "Release Priority" to cause the camera to release the shutter even if the image is not in focus.

On my Nikon D800, there is an AF-C Priority Selection, and an AF-S Priority Selection, so there is a behavior modification possible under either. Not certain if that is true for your camera, but I suspect it is.

cab.in.boston · September 30, 2014

Perhaps I need to clarify. It's not continuous shooting, it's continuous focus.

Single Servo will achieve focus once and then lock, and you should get a little beep and a green dot will light up in the viewfinder.

Continuous Servo will just keep on cranking the focus motor, it's for tracking moving objects. The green dot should show up, but I don't think it will beep.

If you're in Single Servo mode (called AF-S, not to be confused with Nikon's AF-S designation on their lenses... that's not at all confusing), it won't let you take the picture unless and until it acquires focus.

When you're in Continuous Servo mode (AF-C), it should let you take the picture no matter what. The default on the D3200 is apparently AF-A (auto - the camera uses AF-C if it detects subject motion, AF-S if it detects the subject is still). The difference in shutter release modes is intentional and not something that they would "fix" in a software update; you don't necessarily want to be shooting if the camera thinks it's not in focus ... most of the time. Sometimes the scene will fool the camera, so you need to be able to override it. Manual focus will do this easily, but then of course you have to do all the focusing yourself (the green dot should still show up in manual focus, as a visual aid to let you know the camera thinks it's in focus, even though you're driving it).

It's not quite as simple as on some of the other bodies, because the D3xxx series is their entry level body, or as you put it, the "noob machine." A lot of the manual intervention is a bit more difficult because this is typically a camera used by people moving up from a fully automatic point & shoot into a DSLR. So some things that are easy on higher-spec bodies are a little more involved or flat out not possible on the D3xxx.

I searched and found this guide that discusses focusing on the D3200. The whole page is probably a good read about how the AF system works, but go ~2/3 of the way down and it discusses the different Servo modes and how/why/when to choose them under the heading "Changing the Focus Mode Setting."

All that said, this may or may not be your issue, it just struck me as possible. I know I've been stymied by trying to take a photo only to have the camera balk because it didn't think it was in focus. I eventually got tired of that and just started using AF-C mode all the time and the back button for AF instead of the shutter button. Now that is by far my preferred way of shooting, but it's very confusing if I ever hand my camera to someone else who is not used to it.

I would advise putting yourself in a position where it's not shooting, then simply switch the lens to M and try again. If it works, then I'd guess that you're in a situation where the camera won't shoot because it doesn't think it's in focus. So then it's just up to you to convince that camera that yes, indeed, you do mean to take the picture.

cab.in.boston · September 30, 2014

T. Bombadil wrote: »

On my Nikon D800, there is an AF-C Priority Selection, and an AF-S Priority Selection, so there is a behavior modification possible under either. Not certain if that is true for your camera, but I suspect it is.

That's what I thought too, as my D300 performs the same way as your D800 in this (and perhaps only this

) regard. However, on further investigation on DP Review and other dark corners of teh interwebz, it seems that this is not a menu setting on the D3200, and can only be accomplished via the info screen... It explains it on the link I provided in my previous post. It's part of Nikon creating an "entry-level" body and removing or watering down lots of useful features. A great sensor in an affordable package, but with some hoops through which one must jump to accomplish things that are more readily available in the higher-up bodies.

zwalk · September 30, 2014

Nikon guys, need some help.
It definitely has AF-C... I'll need to look more when I'm at home I played with it some on my lunch break but I'll get back to you guys on it.

I mean I like the great sensor and all that jazz but watering it down is a waste of tech...i don't know I'll look into it more and check their link

Pardon if I appear to be asking the same questions or the like, still learning some of this stuff

My Flickr!

Feel free to add me, I would love to see your photos

Matthew Saville · September 30, 2014

Yes, on some Nikon cameras you can "disconnect" both AF-S and AF-C from "release priority", so that you don't have to worry about switching from AF-S to AF-C in order to allow the shutter to fire at a moment's notice.

Unfortunately, some of the beginner Nikons may not have this option, but if the D3200 does have it, it'll be towards the top of the AF menu options. Look for something called "release priority".

However, this is not what I would recommend, in this situation. If you want to be able to click shots at will, but still want reliable focus, I'd much rather recommend taking the time to master the use of "Back-Button Focus", also known as AF-ON to Nikon users. This option allows you to use AF-S when you want the accuracy and finality of single focus, (I even turn on the beep, cuz I like it) ...and yet still have the "shoot from the hip" ability of AF-C at your fingertips when you want to fire away.

It does take a lot of getting used to, and it's annoying to have to dig through a menu to switch from AF-S to AF-C on a beginner DSLR, but then again that's what advanced DSLRs like the D7100 are for.

ALSO NOTE, by the way, that if your camera will NEVER fire in AF-S mode, and simply refuses to lock focus, then your camera may simply need service. If it only refuses to fire some of the time, well, that's simply your camera's way of telling you that you're not using the best focus / shooting technique, and you need to either give the camera more stability to work with, or focus on something with more contrast / texture, or whatever.

Good luck!
=Matt=

ziggy53 · October 1, 2014

You might try "trap focus" with the macro lens. Frame the shot and half-press the shutter button to set focus, as before. Press the shutter button all the way down and move the camera toward and away from the subject, to see if the camera detects focus and fires the shutter.

zwalk · October 1, 2014

I have it setup now where my shutter will shoot if it is depressed and my AE-L button autofocuses...seems to be working for now.

Ziggy that was working for a while but artistically I feel like that's not allowing me to decide how the shot looks, it's waiting for the camera to deem it 'acceptable'

My Flickr!

Feel free to add me, I would love to see your photos

ABS34 · October 1, 2014

Of course your D3200 has the green light in your prism which tells you the lens IS in focus which I feel you have discovered
This has long been a feature of Nikon SLR's

T. Bombadil · October 8, 2014

cab.in.boston wrote: »

That's what I thought too, as my D300 performs the same way as your D800 in this (and perhaps only this ) regard. However, on further investigation on DP Review and other dark corners of teh interwebz, it seems that this is not a menu setting on the D3200, and can only be accomplished via the info screen... It explains it on the link I provided in my previous post. It's part of Nikon creating an "entry-level" body and removing or watering down lots of useful features. A great sensor in an affordable package, but with some hoops through which one must jump to accomplish things that are more readily available in the higher-up bodies.

ah, interesting. that fact, and my non-clarity-inducing earlier reply made for a confusing situation (sorry about that).

i do wish nikon (and others) would use more consistent menus across the range. (in fact, if we are complaining about nikon - well, i am anyway - my only real complaints are software related.)

Nikon guys, need some help.

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