My Nikon D3300 Has Issues with Blurry Photos (Lens Problem?)

[whackedout101]

Hello everyone--

I've had my Nikon D3300 since this past July (Summer of 2016) and have found issues whenever I take photos because they come out blurry. It's frustrating me because if I want to get a certain angle/distance of an object, I choose where I stand and such but then the image is out of focus both in the viewfinder and in the picture I take. However, if I adjust the focal length then the picture will start being more in focus.

If my camera is in autofocus then it won't auto focus and the camera will not take the picture because the camera believes the shot is out of focus. However, if I put the camera into manual focus, it will allow me to take a picture, but the picture can be blurry or not blurry depending if I've changed the focal length. But then, I'm caused to move because what I want in the frame is now being changed because of that weird blurriness.

My lens is a Nikon AF-P NikkoR 18-55 mm DX and it was the kit lens that came with my camera. It does not have the switch that allows me to change it to manual focus or autofocus, so I'm kind of at a loss at what to do. Also, if I do anything with the focus ring, nothing changes.

Can any of you experts out there give me some advice and tell me what I'm doing wrong or just what's wrong? I attached a photo of some rocks that I took earlier today at a National Park nearby to show you what the blurriness looks like--because maybe I'm wrong and it has nothing to do with what I think it is. Also, photos that turned out good because I did change the focal length.

I want to get a new lens, but I didn't think there should be the issue of focal length and whether or not the picture is in focus.


Out of focus/Blurry


More in focus, but much farther away (and it will not be in focus if I change the focal length to something higher)


Out of focus--friend tried to capture a beautiful picture and we got this instead.


In focus picture--different focal length. (not as sharp as I hoped, but better)


Much more in focus photo, still had to change focal length and change where I was standing to take this photo today.

 

[Labe]

what are the focus settings that you are using?

AFA, AFC, AFS or manual focus (selectable in menu) single focus point or multi?

 

[Snow Crow]

Is it possible you are zooming in or out after the camera has already acquired focus? Make sure the shutter button is fully released while zooming, and than a half press to acquire focus again. The only time you can half press the shutter button and zoom is when continuous AF is enabled!

If a half press of the shutter button don't focus the camera, and you bought this camera used, it's possible that the previous owner was using back button focus. In that case, you should reset the camera to its factory default setting, so everything else they may have changed is reset too!

--
Big Chief "Run-a-muck

 

[bobn2]

Hello everyone--

I've had my Nikon D3300 since this past July (Summer of 2016) and have found issues whenever I take photos because they come out blurry. It's frustrating me because if I want to get a certain angle/distance of an object, I choose where I stand and such but then the image is out of focus both in the viewfinder and in the picture I take. However, if I adjust the focal length then the picture will start being more in focus.

If my camera is in autofocus then it won't auto focus and the camera will not take the picture because the camera believes the shot is out of focus. However, if I put the camera into manual focus, it will allow me to take a picture, but the picture can be blurry or not blurry depending if I've changed the focal length. But then, I'm caused to move because what I want in the frame is now being changed because of that weird blurriness.

My lens is a Nikon AF-P NikkoR 18-55 mm DX and it was the kit lens that came with my camera. It does not have the switch that allows me to change it to manual focus or autofocus, so I'm kind of at a loss at what to do. Also, if I do anything with the focus ring, nothing changes.

Can any of you experts out there give me some advice and tell me what I'm doing wrong or just what's wrong? I attached a photo of some rocks that I took earlier today at a National Park nearby to show you what the blurriness looks like--because maybe I'm wrong and it has nothing to do with what I think it is. Also, photos that turned out good because I did change the focal length.

I want to get a new lens, but I didn't think there should be the issue of focal length and whether or not the picture is in focus.


Out of focus/Blurry


More in focus, but much farther away (and it will not be in focus if I change the focal length to something higher)


Out of focus--friend tried to capture a beautiful picture and we got this instead.


In focus picture--different focal length. (not as sharp as I hoped, but better)


Much more in focus photo, still had to change focal length and change where I was standing to take this photo today.

The EXIF on the blurry shot of the rocks says autofocus was turned off. With the D3300, the AF control is on the lens. Make sure it's set to 'M/A' not 'M'.

--
Bob.
DARK IN HERE, ISN'T IT?

 

[Labe]

the Nikon AF-P kit lens doesn't have the switches on the lens body. Its done through the menu instead via a firmware update .

 

[bobn2]

the Nikon AF-P kit lens doesn't have the switches on the lens body. Its done through the menu instead via a firmware update .

Didn't know that. Anyway, it's turned off. Presumably he needs the firmware update.

That's pretty poor design by Nikon, once they decided to go with lens switches, and leave the AF mode selector off the low end models, they should have stuck with that.

--
Bob.
DARK IN HERE, ISN'T IT?

 

[Labe]

the Nikon AF-P kit lens doesn't have the switches on the lens body. Its done through the menu instead via a firmware update .

Didn't know that. Anyway, it's turned off. Presumably he needs the firmware update.

That's pretty poor design by Nikon, once they decided to go with lens switches, and leave the AF mode selector off the low end models, they should have stuck with that.

 

[FingerPainter]

The EXIF on the blurry shot of the rocks says autofocus was turned off. With the D3300, the AF control is on the lens. Make sure it's set to 'M/A' not 'M'.

Bob, which EXIF tag were you relying on to make that determination?

I see that CDAF is turned off, but it would be whenever one is not in live view.

I don't see any tags indicating PDAF is turned off, but my EXIF reader doesn't display all tags.

 

[FingerPainter]

Unlike Its more advanced brethren, the D3x00 series of cameras provides no menu setting that prevents the camera from releasing the shutter if focus has not been achieved. Therefore it is up to the user to make sure that the camera has indicated it has achieved focus before fully depressing the shutter release. The camera makes this indication by lighting an in-focus indicator dot in the lower-left part of the viewfinder, and, In AF-S mode, by emitting a beep.

 

[bobn2]

The EXIF on the blurry shot of the rocks says autofocus was turned off. With the D3300, the AF control is on the lens. Make sure it's set to 'M/A' not 'M'.

Bob, which EXIF tag were you relying on to make that determination?

Quite a few point to it

Focus Mode : Manual

Focus Distance : 8.41 m

Contrast Detect AF : Off

Phase Detect AF : Off

AF Points Used: (none)

Auto Focus: Off

Got them with Exiftool

I see that CDAF is turned off, but it would be whenever one is not in live view.

I don't see any tags indicating PDAF is turned off, but my EXIF reader doesn't display all tags.

Sometimes they get lost in all the other tags

Exit Pupil Position: 70.6mm

Shutter Count: 851

CFA Pattern: [Red, Green][Green,Blue]

Circle of Confusion: 0.020mm

Bank Account Number: ......

 

[bobn2]

the Nikon AF-P kit lens doesn't have the switches on the lens body. Its done through the menu instead via a firmware update .

Didn't know that. Anyway, it's turned off. Presumably he needs the firmware update.

That's pretty poor design by Nikon, once they decided to go with lens switches, and leave the AF mode selector off the low end models, they should have stuck with that.

 

[Labe]

the Nikon AF-P kit lens doesn't have the switches on the lens body. Its done through the menu instead via a firmware update .

Didn't know that. Anyway, it's turned off. Presumably he needs the firmware update.

That's pretty poor design by Nikon, once they decided to go with lens switches, and leave the AF mode selector off the low end models, they should have stuck with that.

 

[bobn2]

the Nikon AF-P kit lens doesn't have the switches on the lens body. Its done through the menu instead via a firmware update .

Didn't know that. Anyway, it's turned off. Presumably he needs the firmware update.

That's pretty poor design by Nikon, once they decided to go with lens switches, and leave the AF mode selector off the low end models, they should have stuck with that.

 

[Mark S Abeln]

The D3300 needs a firmware upgrade before it will work with that lens.

 

[bobn2]

The D3300 needs a firmware upgrade before it will work with that lens.

He says it was the kit lens the camera was supplied with. If they are sending out kits for which the camera needs a firmware upgrade, they need to buck up their ideas.

 

[BBbuilder467]

As pointed out, you seem to be using manual focus.

That is exactly what I would expect using extension tubes with a zoom lens for macro.

I'd use manual focus and just zoom and change distance to frame and compose. It looks like you are doing the same thing on a larger scale.

Did you try using the focus ring to bring the subject into focus?

 

[FingerPainter]

The EXIF on the blurry shot of the rocks says autofocus was turned off. With the D3300, the AF control is on the lens. Make sure it's set to 'M/A' not 'M'.

Bob, which EXIF tag were you relying on to make that determination?

Quite a few point to it

Focus Mode : Manual

Focus Distance : 8.41 m

Contrast Detect AF : Off

Phase Detect AF : Off

AF Points Used: (none)

Auto Focus: Off

Got them with Exiftool

That seems pretty definitive. I gotta figure out why I didn't get Exiftool when I was looking for an EXIF reader, and probably get it now.

I see that CDAF is turned off, but it would be whenever one is not in live view.

I don't see any tags indicating PDAF is turned off, but my EXIF reader doesn't display all tags.

Sometimes they get lost in all the other tags

Exit Pupil Position: 70.6mm

Shutter Count: 851

CFA Pattern: [Red, Green][Green,Blue]

Circle of Confusion: 0.020mm

Bank Account Number: ......

--
Bob.
DARK IN HERE, ISN'T IT?

 

[whackedout101]

Alright, the camera (the body) itself was set to MF because if I set it so any of the others AF-S, AF-C, or AF-A then the camera will not take the photo at all because it believes that the image is not in focus (which indeed is true).

On the other hand, if I put the camera on AF-S and halfpress the shutterbutton the camera should tell me that the autofocus has worked by giving me a beep (as somebody already said), but I found out last night as I was playing around with the camera, there is NO beep that occurs when I halfpress the shutter button which I think means that the autofocusing never occurred. I do NOT try and change the focal length (the zoom) when I'm trying to take a photo unless the photo isn't clear to begin with. I really don't think the autofocusing is working but I wanted other opinions because I'm really a beginner who knows nothing about cameras.

I did NOT buy the camera used, I bought it new from a website (which I don't remember now). The lens was the one that came with it and I'm pretty annoyed with it at this point.

I have reset my camera to default settings after I, myself, have messed around with it and still haven't gotten any changes in results, even though this was the way it was when I bought it back in July.

Also, again: If I do ANYTHING with the focus ring, NOTHING happens. I can turn it as much as I want and the viewfinder shows that the image is still out of focus.

New photo from today:



shutter speed: 1/400
f-stop: 3.5
iso: 1600

Also, the camera was set to AF-S and it was taken on manual mode. The ONLY way I got this to take was if I was moving the focus ring when I pressed the shutter button down. The photo would NOT take otherwise (meaning, if I halfpressed the button to get it to autofocus nothing would occur, so I tried to FULLY press the down the shutter button and the picture would NOT take).

 

[whackedout101]

As pointed out, you seem to be using manual focus.

That is exactly what I would expect using extension tubes with a zoom lens for macro.

I'd use manual focus and just zoom and change distance to frame and compose. It looks like you are doing the same thing on a larger scale.

Did you try using the focus ring to bring the subject into focus?

Yes, I did use the focus ring to bring the subject into focus and nothing occurred. The viewfinder showed the photo was still blurry.

As I said before, I don't want to change the focal length of a photo to get a clear, sharp image. I want a certain subject (landscape) in frame and then I want to focus the photo either using AF or the focus ring but NOTHING happens on either end, so therefore, I'm left changing the focal length to focus the image.

 

[whackedout101]

The D3300 needs a firmware upgrade before it will work with that lens.

He says it was the kit lens the camera was supplied with. If they are sending out kits for which the camera needs a firmware upgrade, they need to buck up their ideas.