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Nikon tele focus problems

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I just purchased the Nikon teleconverter for my 950 and it works great... most of the time. Sometimes, the camera just won't focus. I set the camera to infinity (the little mountain) and somtimes it works, and other times it doesn't. Last night I shot some pictures that were out of focus, and this morning I shot more and they were in focus. Granted the light was a little lower last night then this morning, but would that matter? I was NOT using auto focus, which had problems in low light. Does appature/shutter effect the focus when using the teleconverter and it's set to (little mountains)?

See these two picturs for a comparison:

(add http://www . in-front of the URL, I didn't want the fourm software to imbed the pictures.)

romeozulu.com\infocus.jpg
romeozulu.com\outfocus.jpg

The houses you see in the distance where about 1.5 miles away.
 
Ron Gilbert said:
I just purchased the Nikon teleconverter for my 950 and it works great...
most of the time. Sometimes, the camera just won't focus. I set the
camera to infinity (the little mountain) and somtimes it works, and other
times it doesn't. Last night I shot some pictures that were out of
focus, and this morning I shot more and they were in focus. Granted the
light was a little lower last night then this morning, but would that
matter? I was NOT using auto focus, which had problems in low light.
Does appature/shutter effect the focus when using the teleconverter and
it's set to (little mountains)?

See these two picturs for a comparison:

(add http://www . in-front of the URL, I didn't want the fourm software to imbed
the pictures.)

romeozulu.com\infocus.jpg
romeozulu.com\outfocus.jpg

The houses you see in the distance where about 1.5 miles away.
Click to expand...
Aperture affects focus dramatically. The fact that the lesser focus is tied to the lesser light level is significant. The internal optics may have a problem and if they aren't doing the job otherwise, their setting of infinity may not be doing its job, either. The little mountains should be AT infinity so this shouldn't have been the result.

I'm assuming that the camera was nice and stable for the tele shot.

To check autofocus at a scale where obvious comparisons can be made, use the digizoom to enlarge the image on the monitor screen. It's not good for shooting but it makes a dandy image enlarger at tele settings to see how things are shaping (and focusing) up.

If the problem doesn't clear up with practice and experience, it may be time for NikonTech.com.

-iNova

PS romeozulu.com/outfocus.jpg has the slash in the right direction...

-iNova
 
Ron Gilbert said:
I just purchased the Nikon teleconverter for my 950 and it works great...
most of the time. Sometimes, the camera just won't focus. I set the
camera to infinity (the little mountain) and somtimes it works, and other
times it doesn't. Last night I shot some pictures that were out of
focus, and this morning I shot more and they were in focus. Granted the
light was a little lower last night then this morning, but would that
matter? I was NOT using auto focus, which had problems in low light.
Does appature/shutter effect the focus when using the teleconverter and
it's set to (little mountains)?
Click to expand...
frankly I've noticed that with the 950 getting distant landscapes in focus can be hit and miss. Haven't seen it yet with my teleconverter but I expect I will. It seems to happen to me when there are large areas of water or blue sky. The camera is on autofocus and doesn't seem to know where to focus.

Since you're using manual focus this is probably not the same thing, but the results look similar.

your shots do not look like camera shake to me, just off focus.

I remember visiting a web site..not sure which one...which suggested the manual focus modes on the coolpix were not accurate. The page indicated that the settings varied even more when using the telephoto converter.

The page owner's comments were based on tests he had made.

whether this is fact or not I cannot say.

cheers
al
 
Al Eastman said:
Ron Gilbert said:
I just purchased the Nikon teleconverter for my 950 and it works great...
most of the time. Sometimes, the camera just won't focus. I set the
camera to infinity (the little mountain) and somtimes it works, and other
times it doesn't. Last night I shot some pictures that were out of
focus, and this morning I shot more and they were in focus. Granted the
light was a little lower last night then this morning, but would that
matter? I was NOT using auto focus, which had problems in low light.
Does appature/shutter effect the focus when using the teleconverter and
it's set to (little mountains)?
Click to expand...
frankly I've noticed that with the 950 getting distant landscapes in
focus can be hit and miss. Haven't seen it yet with my teleconverter but
I expect I will. It seems to happen to me when there are large areas of
water or blue sky. The camera is on autofocus and doesn't seem to know
where to focus.

Since you're using manual focus this is probably not the same thing, but
the results look similar.

your shots do not look like camera shake to me, just off focus.

I remember visiting a web site..not sure which one...which suggested the
manual focus modes on the coolpix were not accurate. The page indicated
that the settings varied even more when using the telephoto converter.

The page owner's comments were based on tests he had made.

whether this is fact or not I cannot say.

cheers
al
Click to expand...
I think you're on to something, Al. These are crops out of two large shots made under low, low contrast hazy sunset conditions of a building miles away. (you can see how much the sun has crept up the side of the building in B) Both are pixel for pixel 100% size here.

One was made with autofocus one with lil' mountains (forced infinity) and the aperture was wide open in both.



Which is which? A is autofocus on. (Single not continuous) No post anything was added except the low compression from Photoshop.

Obviously the fixed infinity position is less accurate than the one that was trying to lock onto contrast features. That may be fine for the depth of field of the regular lens but the tele converter just exacerbates any error. Fortunately the camera can compensate.

-iNova
 
I did some more tests tonight. I went to the baseball game and was standing way out in center field (well, not IN center field, Griffey would have had a problem with that) and took the following pictures. I took several shots to make sure it wasn't camera movement, they all turned out the same.

Settings: A priority, F4.0, shutter 1/30

Top: Used autofocus
Middle: Used little mountains
Bottom: Used 3m manual focus

I'm confused? 3 meters? I took a lot of tele pictures and 3m worked just about all the time, where as INF and LM (little mountains) never worked out.



Ron
 
Ron Gilbert said:
I did some more tests tonight. I went to the baseball game and was
standing way out in center field (well, not IN center field, Griffey
would have had a problem with that) and took the following pictures. I
took several shots to make sure it wasn't camera movement, they all
turned out the same.

Settings: A priority, F4.0, shutter 1/30

Top: Used autofocus
Middle: Used little mountains
Bottom: Used 3m manual focus

I'm confused? 3 meters? I took a lot of tele pictures and 3m worked
just about all the time, where as INF and LM (little mountains) never
worked out.
Click to expand...
MY REPLY:

Hi Ron,

Interesting! I also heard similar results from others when comparing AF, the mountain symbol (which forces focus to infinity) and some manual focus setting. The latter one (manual focus setting..somewhere on a mid distance range) seems to do best when focusing on objects at infinity..but what setting to use seems to depend on whether you have firmware version 1.0 or 1.1 believe it or not. Which version does your Nikon 950 currently have when you tried this test?

What I can't seem to figure out is whether the Nikon focus sensor is "through the lens" or a little window besides it. Even with the tele lens screwed in to the camera....the camera still seems to AF most of the time (and not on the back of the lens either). If the sensor is one of those little window besides the lens...I wonder how it gets around the back of the lens which is blocking the little windows? Clearly there seems to be a focusing problem especially at infinity...wonder if someone tried putting the camera in total manual focus...and testing all the various distances while focusing on an object at infinity> This would have to be performed with both 1.0 and 1.1 firmware Nikon 950's. Just some thoughts. Thanks!

Dave
 
I guess one question is what do they consider "infinity" to be? When I was in the outfieled, I was about 400 feet from the people in the shot. With the teleconverter, is that infinity? Maybe not?

Ron
 
Ron Gilbert said:
I just purchased the Nikon teleconverter for my 950 and it works great...
most of the time. Sometimes, the camera just won't focus.
Click to expand...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ron,

Can't speak for the teleconvertor. But one day my #950 just stopped focusing as if I dropped it off the roof. Most obvious in tele mode. Bright sun,

tripod shots etc. Heard from another user, same story. They replaced his "lens unit". Sent mine in two weeks a go. Seems repairs are now at least a

three week deal. Eventually the lens unit can go bad anytime and for no reason or warning. Day before, sharp photos. It may have nothing to do with

your teleconvertor, only you can find out. Posting this as a warning to all. Read the reciept letter from Nikon, repairs only guaranteed for 6 months!

Seems there are a lot of problems with the camera design overall, wish I knew before. Software bugs are something we all live with now with most

products having computers inside them, but the sudden loss of focus for all my pictures was a shock, and I can have no faith in this camera since I

have been given no reason or excuse as to why it can happen at any time. If you think it can't happen to you (collective "you") that is just what I thought.

It will be real fun when it happens the day after the warranty runs out. One more strike against this camera that takes great pictures "when it wants to".
The next time I will drop it off the roof, who knows, maybe that's the f
 
I'm a new user (about 3 weeks), and some shots are great, and some are just disappointing. I'm trying to understand what "infinity" is, and what the camera does when it's pointed at a distant object. I'm beginning to think the camera is (potentially) really good for close ups, and progessively fails as my subject gets more distant.

If any of you veteran users could post how you handle shooting subjects more than 30 feet off, that would be great. I'd assumed that setting the camera at "mountains" (forced infinity) would make the camera focus on all objects farther than 30 ft., and that objects at, say, 40 ft, would be quite clear/sharp, and that objects at 1/4 mile would be in focus, but relatively indistinct because they are so "small" to the CCD. But it doesn't seem to work that way consistently. I wonder if Nikon could fix this in software?

BTW, I haven't upgraded to firmware 1.1 because I read online somewhere, that Fisheye focusing gets worse with the "upgrade". Anyone know about this? Could these problems be related?

Also, the recent post about out-and-out focus failure, and Nikon's limited willingness to warranty its fix sounds ominous, to say the least.

Brucie
Member said:
One was made with autofocus one with lil' mountains (forced infinity) and
the aperture was wide open in both.
Click to expand...
Member said:
Which is which? A is autofocus on. (Single not continuous) No post
anything was added except the low compression from Photoshop.

Obviously the fixed infinity position is less accurate than the one that
was trying to lock onto contrast features. That may be fine for the
depth of field of the regular lens but the tele converter just
exacerbates any error. Fortunately the camera can compensate.

-iNova
Click to expand...
 
Al Eastman said:
Al Eastman said:
Al Eastman said:
I remember visiting a web site..not sure which one...which suggested the
manual focus modes on the coolpix were not accurate. The page indicated
that the settings varied even more when using the telephoto converter.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
I just foun the web site I referred to her a while ago...

http://www.globaldialog.com/~biggers/html/manual_focus_error.html

for anyone who might be interestd.
Click to expand...
That's not the only one.
http://www.globaldialog.com/~biggers/html/tc-e2_.html
He's got some nice sample pictures demonstrating the problem with the TC-E2
and manual focus.
Apparently Nikon tried to fix it going from Fimeware 1.0 to 1.1.
In 1.0 manual 10 feet = Infinity
In 1.1 manual 30 feet = Infinity and Infinity isn't quite as bad.

The chart shown in the link you posted seems inconsistent with the
sample pictures from Bryan's CP950 page too. Interesting stuff.
Al Eastman said:
cheers
al
Click to expand...
ian
 
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