NIKKOR Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S lens focus resets to infinity during interval shooting

[heu3becteh]

I'm trying to photograph plant growth with the NIKKOR Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S macro lens, but during the interval shooting the focus resets to infinity at some point. I don't notice this with other lenses.
I'm using a Nikon Z8 camera with a USB Type-C PD cable for power.
The lens switches are set to manual focus and focal length 0.29-0.5m.
Focus position saving is enabled in the camera settings.
The interval shooting works fine for a few hours, but after that the focus is lost, everything is blurry.

Is there a way to do interval shooting with the NIKKOR Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S lens? Or should I just use a different lens for this task?

Best regards,
Alexander

 

[vtpeters]

I'm trying to photograph plant growth with the NIKKOR Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S macro lens, but during the interval shooting the focus resets to infinity at some point. I don't notice this with other lenses.
I'm using a Nikon Z8 camera with a USB Type-C PD cable for power.
The lens switches are set to manual focus and focal length 0.29-0.5m.
Focus position saving is enabled in the camera settings.
The interval shooting works fine for a few hours, but after that the focus is lost, everything is blurry.

Is there a way to do interval shooting with the NIKKOR Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S lens? Or should I just use a different lens for this task?

Best regards,
Alexander

Have you set the AF in the camera to AF-M (manual focus)?

Could it be that (significant) temperature changes have affected the parts in the lens to either shrink of expand a little, enough to cause this?

 

[heu3becteh]

Have you set the AF in the camera to AF-M (manual focus)?

Could it be that (significant) temperature changes have affected the parts in the lens to either shrink of expand a little, enough to cause this?

Yes, the camera (Z8, maybe I will also try Z30...) switches to MF mode anyway when the lens switch is in the M position.

The plant is in a pot within the room, temperature fluctuations should be minimal. Also, the lens has not been exposed to extreme temperatures since purchase (and the lens shoots normally, not counting the problems with long interval shooting).

 

[heu3becteh]

I don't see this issue with the Z30 with the same lens and the same timelapse task (even though it's DX, because the Z30 is APS-C). It seems to be specific to the Z8 and the 105mm macro lens.

 

[PLShutterbug]

I can set this up and run the same sequence today, if you let me know exactly how the camera is set up.

• Are you using the camera’s interval timer settings, or an external intervalometer?
• What are the interval settings?
• Manual exposure or auto?
• Are you using extension tubes too, or just the lens?
• Does focus distance seem to matter? What is it set on in your trials?
• Using just the battery, or external power?
• How are the power-off/sleep settings set up?
• Anything else?

Others may as well. Then we can compare notes and let you know if it seems to be normal behavior (we all experienced it) or if it is something else.

 

[TheNextThing]

Do you have "Save Focus Position" in the Setup menu turned on?

 

[PLShutterbug]

I don't see this issue with the Z30 with the same lens and the same timelapse task (even though it's DX, because the Z30 is APS-C). It seems to be specific to the Z8 and the 105mm macro lens.

Wait a minute - wait, wait, waaaaaait.

In the thread title you write "interval."

In this post you write "timelapse."

Both the Z8 and the Z30 can do both "interval timer shooting" and "time-lapse video", but they are two different menu choices in the Photo Shooting menu, and they may exhibit different behavior.

Let's make sure that we are asking a question about the specific shooting task you are attempting.

Which of these two are you trying to do? Please use the specific Nikon term you are choosing, as displayed in the Nikon camera's menu structure.

 

[SoCalAngler]

Something to check out of curiosity:

Although you wrote that you were configured for manual focus I would check the "Focus before each shot" setting. This setting is in the setup menu for both interval shooting and time-lapse video shooting.

Since you are in manual focus, I wouldn't expect this to make a difference but if you have this set to "On" then maybe the camera is doing something funky and incorrect (i.e. a bug).

Also try focusing with autofocus and ensuring this value is set to "Off" and see if the same thing happens.

I don't have a Z8 or that lens. I have done some intervals with my Z5 and Z50 with both auto and manual focus and have always set this value to "Off".

 

[heu3becteh]

Thank you for all the replies~

~ Gear ~
Camera: Nikon Z8.
Lens: NIKKOR Z MC 105mm f/2.8 VR S. No extentions.
This is the only lens/camera combination I have had a focus reset issue with.
The lens switches are set to manual focus and focal length 0.29-0.5m.
The camera has two fast memory cards, both SDXC and SFexpress. It writes to C/X, then starts writing to SD when C/X is full, but I haven't had that happen yet.
I use COMMO 100W Station Charger plugged into a home outlet with PD100 USB Type-C-Type-C 100W cable (I dunno about cable quality, I have Olmio and Essager cables). Now I will try 45W charger too.

~ Task settings ~
Interval Timer Shooting task. I take individual photos and then edit them myself to create a video.
I have 1 minute interval, 9999x1 shots (I would set it to shoot forever until the cards are full if there was such a setting).
Exposure smoothing = ON. A mode (aperture priority), aperture f/16 (I tried different values, but generally didn't go wider than f/8, I need some depth of field for macro photography), longest shutter speed set to 30 sec, ISO 640 (for the current test I'll set ISO to auto, before it was 640 without auto mode).
"Focus before each shot" setting is off. I tried it but the focus jumps back and forth without making it the right way.
The focusing distance is about 0.3-0.4m. I haven't tested other distances with this camera yet (with the Z30 it works fine at all distances).
"Save Focus Position" in the Setup menu is turned on.
Right now I did't find any power off/sleep settings, but the camera goes to sleep fairly quickly when not in use, and the screen dims fairly quickly.

I tried focusing with autofocus and running the task with "Focus before each shot" = OFF. In fact, that was the first thing I did to notice the problem.

 

[heu3becteh]

I updated the firmware of the Z8 camera to version 2.10 released on February 26, 2025. After that, the interval shooting lasted unexpectedly long once, I even had hope. But now again the lens loses focus after a few hours.
It looks like the problem is related to a short-term loss of power to the lens. The effect is similar to what happens if the lens is rotated in the bayonet while the camera is working. The lens loses power, when it comes back - the focus is reset, but the camera continues to work as if nothing happened.
So, at the moment, my solution for interval shooting in aperture priority mode is to strangle the lens so that it loses power and becomes a glass without a will, which is what it should be, and not act up. Crude, but it works.

I still hope that there is a better solution, because sometimes you may need to change the aperture during interval shooting. However, for this I have other lenses and another camera, everything works, except for the described combination of Z8 and 105mm macro lens.

 

[NNL33543]

Have you tried cleaning the contacts in the camera and the lens
Tony

 

[monte12345]

Yeah, go ahead and slap yourself in the forehead and say "DUH". Homer moments do happen and you just experienced one. Don't feel bad about that, every one of us has their Homer moments except those who think that claims of never having a Homer moment will actually be believed. Put the camera in Manual Focus and it won't ever re-focus unless you physically turn the focus ring on the lens. BTW, I am not totally trusting of the lens switch, it's just another switch than can malfunction. However if you want the belt and suspenders approach put both camera and lens in MF.

I am assuming that Focus Stacking won't work during interval shooting because Nikon won't allow 2 different applications to have access to the shutter release at the same time. If you have figured out some workaround for this we all would be fascinated on how you did this.

 

[heu3becteh]

Have you tried cleaning the contacts in the camera and the lens
Tony

That did help, thank you!

I assumed that wasn't the problem because this lens worked fine with another camera, this camera worked fine with other lenses, and the contacts themselves looked perfectly clean. However, when I cleaned the contacts with a cotton swab and isoprene alcohol - the focus distance reset stopped happening during interval shooting.