Am I alone in finding the 5700 auto-focus basically broken?

[Russell Garner]

Sorry, but I've just paid nearly nine hundred quid for this camera and to say that I'm disappointed that it won't auto-focus on most things in anything less (apparently) than direct sunlight would be an understatement. I could live with this if the manual focus mechanism wasn't anything less than hyper-fiddly.

Is it just me, or does anyone else think the AF is just plain pants? Should I be thinking about returning the camera and getting a 7i instead? Is the firmware just beta?

Russ

 

[Steve Yankovich]

Hi Russ, don't know why people are not jumping on this thread as I think most will agree the 5700 is a bit on the weak side with respect to auto and manual focus...but I personally think it is the only weakness and worth living with in order to get the rest of the package.

One thing you might be suffering from is Continuous AF which is the auto focus mode the camera comes in out of the box....it hunts constantly with little movements of the camera in that mode and that just exacerbates the 5700's AF weakness. See page 113 in the manual about moving to Single AF mode which is the default I use. In Single AF I don't have much trouble with focusing in most light...but it is somewhat poor in light that you wouldn't expect....for example reasonably well lit room at night and trying to focus on a face....you have to give it several goes while moving the center point to try and find enough contrast for the camera to lock on.

Again, it is all worth it to me...Steve

Sorry, but I've just paid nearly nine hundred quid for this camera
and to say that I'm disappointed that it won't auto-focus on most
things in anything less (apparently) than direct sunlight would be
an understatement. I could live with this if the manual focus
mechanism wasn't anything less than hyper-fiddly.

Is it just me, or does anyone else think the AF is just plain
pants? Should I be thinking about returning the camera and getting
a 7i instead? Is the firmware just beta?

Russ

 

[Russell Garner]

One thing you might be suffering from is Continuous AF which is the
auto focus mode the camera comes in out of the box....it hunts
constantly with little movements of the camera in that mode and
that just exacerbates the 5700's AF weakness. See page 113 in the

Thanks, Steve. I'm already using single AF, I've got the manual 5-zone contraption set up (to try and avoid further auto hell), and I've got Focus Confirmation turned on. I can't believe the camera is so weak in this area - even my cheapo Olympus C900Z (probably about 60 quid street value these days!) does a better job than this.

You're absolutely right about the situations that it has difficulty operating in. Sometimes it can lock a subject in extreme low light and other times it has trouble at only moderate settings (particularly, as you mention, with flesh tones). I've noticed that sometimes after one unsuccessful attempt to lock a second half-press of the shutter release can suddenly magically do the trick (not much consolation if you've just missed your shot!).

I'm considering writing to Nikon and asking if there will be a firmware update to correct this issue - after all, Minolta doubled the speed of the Dimage 7's AF with a quick update.

Just out of interest, what is it about the camera (apart from this) that you find particularly outstanding? Personally the only thing I'm keeping it for is the macro mode at the moment

Thanks again,

Russ

 

[Steve Yankovich]

What did I find particularly outstanding so as to accept the poor AF? It's a bit hard to answer...the first thing is I am mostly interested in daytime outside shots (big golfer and like to shoot different courses) so the low light AF issue isn't a big one for me. I read a few early reviews of the 5700, liked the glass (again especially for the shooting I like), liked the design and so just bought it. I find it hilarious how so many of the people on this forum debate endlessly Nikon vs. Canon vs. Minolta vs. Sony and so on. You can pick apart any complex piece of mechanical/electrical equipment...go look at the D100, D60, Contax and other multi-thousand dollar forums about all the "major" problems they are talking about. In the end I make a very quick buy decision and expect to upgrade about every 6-12 months. I reaslize that not everyone can invest $1k-$2k for all the goodies then just do it again so often but toy buying is one of my hobbies. If tomorrow someone came out with a 6Mp, 12X zoom in a package I like I would put in an order.

One thing you might be suffering from is Continuous AF which is the
auto focus mode the camera comes in out of the box....it hunts
constantly with little movements of the camera in that mode and
that just exacerbates the 5700's AF weakness. See page 113 in the

Thanks, Steve. I'm already using single AF, I've got the manual
5-zone contraption set up (to try and avoid further auto hell), and
I've got Focus Confirmation turned on. I can't believe the camera
is so weak in this area - even my cheapo Olympus C900Z (probably
about 60 quid street value these days!) does a better job than this.

You're absolutely right about the situations that it has difficulty
operating in. Sometimes it can lock a subject in extreme low light
and other times it has trouble at only moderate settings
(particularly, as you mention, with flesh tones). I've noticed
that sometimes after one unsuccessful attempt to lock a second
half-press of the shutter release can suddenly magically do the
trick (not much consolation if you've just missed your shot!).

I'm considering writing to Nikon and asking if there will be a
firmware update to correct this issue - after all, Minolta doubled
the speed of the Dimage 7's AF with a quick update.

Just out of interest, what is it about the camera (apart from this)
that you find particularly outstanding? Personally the only thing
I'm keeping it for is the macro mode at the moment

Thanks again,

Russ

 

[frank108739]

You are not alone. Yesterday I posted two messages about slow autofocus. That is my first impression on 5700 because I received yesterday evening. I cant believe that nikon has to go through what Minolta did on Dimage 7i. Nikon should drop its noble attitude and listen more to what customer thinks

I will write to nikon complain to them too and return the 5700. Maybe I will wait for a while for sony 708 or go for minolta D7i.

One thing you might be suffering from is Continuous AF which is the
auto focus mode the camera comes in out of the box....it hunts
constantly with little movements of the camera in that mode and
that just exacerbates the 5700's AF weakness. See page 113 in the

Thanks, Steve. I'm already using single AF, I've got the manual
5-zone contraption set up (to try and avoid further auto hell), and
I've got Focus Confirmation turned on. I can't believe the camera
is so weak in this area - even my cheapo Olympus C900Z (probably
about 60 quid street value these days!) does a better job than this.

You're absolutely right about the situations that it has difficulty
operating in. Sometimes it can lock a subject in extreme low light
and other times it has trouble at only moderate settings
(particularly, as you mention, with flesh tones). I've noticed
that sometimes after one unsuccessful attempt to lock a second
half-press of the shutter release can suddenly magically do the
trick (not much consolation if you've just missed your shot!).

I'm considering writing to Nikon and asking if there will be a
firmware update to correct this issue - after all, Minolta doubled
the speed of the Dimage 7's AF with a quick update.

Just out of interest, what is it about the camera (apart from this)
that you find particularly outstanding? Personally the only thing
I'm keeping it for is the macro mode at the moment

Thanks again,

Russ

--
Frank

 

[Andrew Curatola]

Hi Russ, don't know why people are not jumping on this thread as I
think most will agree the 5700 is a bit on the weak side with
respect to auto and manual focus...but I personally think it is the
only weakness and worth living with in order to get the rest of the
package.

One thing you might be suffering from is Continuous AF which is the
auto focus mode the camera comes in out of the box....it hunts
constantly with little movements of the camera in that mode and
that just exacerbates the 5700's AF weakness. See page 113 in the
manual about moving to Single AF mode which is the default I use.
In Single AF I don't have much trouble with focusing in most
light...but it is somewhat poor in light that you wouldn't
expect....for example reasonably well lit room at night and trying
to focus on a face....you have to give it several goes while moving
the center point to try and find enough contrast for the camera to
lock on.

Again, it is all worth it to me...Steve

Hi Steve, I tried the settings you mentioned about using Single AF and I like it. I will also use it as my default setting.
Thank you
Andrew

Sorry, but I've just paid nearly nine hundred quid for this camera
and to say that I'm disappointed that it won't auto-focus on most
things in anything less (apparently) than direct sunlight would be
an understatement. I could live with this if the manual focus
mechanism wasn't anything less than hyper-fiddly.

Is it just me, or does anyone else think the AF is just plain
pants? Should I be thinking about returning the camera and getting
a 7i instead? Is the firmware just beta?

Russ

 

[Martin Beck]

For me, it's simple... I'll return my poor 5700 to the store and get back my 7i... just no comparaison between those two !!!

When you say AF problem, do you what to say real BIG AF problem, case me it's what I have to say.

For me, putting it in single AF instead of continuous AF is not a solution. Yesterday, I wanted to take shots of my girl playing soccer... forget about it !!!

Here in Canada, this babe cost 1898.00$ while the 7i cost 1498.00$.

I will write to nikon complain to them too and return the 5700.
Maybe I will wait for a while for sony 708 or go for minolta D7i.

One thing you might be suffering from is Continuous AF which is the
auto focus mode the camera comes in out of the box....it hunts
constantly with little movements of the camera in that mode and
that just exacerbates the 5700's AF weakness. See page 113 in the

Thanks, Steve. I'm already using single AF, I've got the manual
5-zone contraption set up (to try and avoid further auto hell), and
I've got Focus Confirmation turned on. I can't believe the camera
is so weak in this area - even my cheapo Olympus C900Z (probably
about 60 quid street value these days!) does a better job than this.

You're absolutely right about the situations that it has difficulty
operating in. Sometimes it can lock a subject in extreme low light
and other times it has trouble at only moderate settings
(particularly, as you mention, with flesh tones). I've noticed
that sometimes after one unsuccessful attempt to lock a second
half-press of the shutter release can suddenly magically do the
trick (not much consolation if you've just missed your shot!).

I'm considering writing to Nikon and asking if there will be a
firmware update to correct this issue - after all, Minolta doubled
the speed of the Dimage 7's AF with a quick update.

Just out of interest, what is it about the camera (apart from this)
that you find particularly outstanding? Personally the only thing
I'm keeping it for is the macro mode at the moment

Thanks again,

Russ

--
Frank

 

[John37158]

One thing you might be suffering from is Continuous AF which is the
auto focus mode the camera comes in out of the box....it hunts
constantly with little movements of the camera in that mode and
that just exacerbates the 5700's AF weakness. See page 113 in the
manual about moving to Single AF mode which is the default I use.
In Single AF I don't have much trouble with focusing in most
light...but it is somewhat poor in light that you wouldn't
expect....for example reasonably well lit room at night and trying
to focus on a face....you have to give it several goes while moving
the center point to try and find enough contrast for the camera to
lock on.

Again, it is all worth it to me...Steve

Sorry, but I've just paid nearly nine hundred quid for this camera
and to say that I'm disappointed that it won't auto-focus on most
things in anything less (apparently) than direct sunlight would be
an understatement. I could live with this if the manual focus
mechanism wasn't anything less than hyper-fiddly.

Is it just me, or does anyone else think the AF is just plain
pants? Should I be thinking about returning the camera and getting
a 7i instead? Is the firmware just beta?

Russ

Steve and Russ:

I took the 5700 to Chucky Cheese (pizza for kids) and took some pics of the grand kids under a variety of lighting conditions. I was fairly disappointed with the performance of the camera using the onboard flash for a number of reasons:

1. There were a number of occasions when it could NOT focus in low light and I had to re-compose to try and get it to focus. Really inconsistent results that caused me to miss a number of shots.

2. Even with the onboard flash, I got a half dozen or more pictures that were badly undexposed for no apparent reason. Unfortunately, I found myself deleting them immediately after taking the picture when the quick review came up because I was so frustrated. I thought perhaps I was not allowing enough time for the onboard flash to recharge, but I KNOW that some of these were seconds (10 or more) apart and they still were badly underexposed.

I've had a number of occasions when the 5700 simply would hunt and peck too much. And yes, I've turned off continuous focus. (Why they default to this I'll never know?)

I must admit that I've gotten some stellar shots from the 5700, but I've also gotten some stellar shots from the 7i and haven't had the problem with focus.

--
John in Omaha

 

[Carmen Towles]

Hi Russel,

Have you tried turning AF area mode off, setting the AF to single and the zoom speed to high. This helps a great deal.. I use a 4 watt night light in my room and the 5700 comes through with flying colors in AF. I found that the manual focus works pretty good if you use keep the shot confirmation on. This gives you a sharp outline as to what is focus and what is not.

Carmen

Sorry, but I've just paid nearly nine hundred quid for this camera
and to say that I'm disappointed that it won't auto-focus on most
things in anything less (apparently) than direct sunlight would be
an understatement. I could live with this if the manual focus
mechanism wasn't anything less than hyper-fiddly.

Is it just me, or does anyone else think the AF is just plain
pants? Should I be thinking about returning the camera and getting
a 7i instead? Is the firmware just beta?

Russ

 

[Rich S.]

So how low of lighting does the problem start occuring? I am looking at buying a 5700 or a D100. The main use is for taking studio shots of furniture using strobe lights. My current N70 has some difficulty with low lighting but when i turn on the studio lights it is fine. this is not very bright lighting, much less than a public resturant as someone mentioned.

Thanks Rich

 

[John37158]

Hi Russel,

Have you tried turning AF area mode off, setting the AF to single
and the zoom speed to high. This helps a great deal.. I use a 4
watt night light in my room and the 5700 comes through with flying
colors in AF. I found that the manual focus works pretty good if
you use keep the shot confirmation on. This gives you a sharp
outline as to what is focus and what is not.

Carmen

Carmen:

Can you explain to me how the zoom speed would affect the camera's ability to focus in low light??? Assuming you have the continuous focus off, that is.

--
John in Omaha[/S]

 

[frank108739]

I have shop light (fluorenscent) with 2 40w in it. The room is just a small living room. The light is on the wall and the subject (my girl) is in the middle of the room. That is what auto focus problem happens. More than half of the time it hunts from one end to the other and focus on the wrong subject finially. That is when you use longer zoom (> 100mm, eq). If use tele, it is OK. Sucks, You cant shot any action. Also the flash is not that strong, less than D7i.

So how low of lighting does the problem start occuring? I am
looking at buying a 5700 or a D100. The main use is for taking
studio shots of furniture using strobe lights. My current N70 has
some difficulty with low lighting but when i turn on the studio
lights it is fine. this is not very bright lighting, much less
than a public resturant as someone mentioned.

Thanks Rich

--
Frank

 

[Steve Yankovich]

I just tried Carmen's suggestion (always have my camera in my laptop bag) and did some quick experiments on my tan leather laptop bag while lower the light in my office....definitely better...but as most would agree not stellar. Again for me this is acceptable...thanks for the tip Carmen.

Have you tried turning AF area mode off, setting the AF to single
and the zoom speed to high. This helps a great deal.. I use a 4
watt night light in my room and the 5700 comes through with flying
colors in AF. I found that the manual focus works pretty good if
you use keep the shot confirmation on. This gives you a sharp
outline as to what is focus and what is not.

Carmen

Sorry, but I've just paid nearly nine hundred quid for this camera
and to say that I'm disappointed that it won't auto-focus on most
things in anything less (apparently) than direct sunlight would be
an understatement. I could live with this if the manual focus
mechanism wasn't anything less than hyper-fiddly.

Is it just me, or does anyone else think the AF is just plain
pants? Should I be thinking about returning the camera and getting
a 7i instead? Is the firmware just beta?

Russ

[/S]

 

[Martin Beck]

What about sports shot ?

Need continuous AF... any solution ?

Have you tried turning AF area mode off, setting the AF to single
and the zoom speed to high. This helps a great deal.. I use a 4
watt night light in my room and the 5700 comes through with flying
colors in AF. I found that the manual focus works pretty good if
you use keep the shot confirmation on. This gives you a sharp
outline as to what is focus and what is not.

Carmen

Sorry, but I've just paid nearly nine hundred quid for this camera
and to say that I'm disappointed that it won't auto-focus on most
things in anything less (apparently) than direct sunlight would be
an understatement. I could live with this if the manual focus
mechanism wasn't anything less than hyper-fiddly.

Is it just me, or does anyone else think the AF is just plain
pants? Should I be thinking about returning the camera and getting
a 7i instead? Is the firmware just beta?

Russ

[/S]

 

[Russell Garner]

Hi Russel,

Have you tried turning AF area mode off, setting the AF to single
and the zoom speed to high. This helps a great deal.. I use a 4
watt night light in my room and the 5700 comes through with flying
colors in AF. I found that the manual focus works pretty good if
you use keep the shot confirmation on. This gives you a sharp
outline as to what is focus and what is not.

Hi Carmen,

Yes - tried all of the above, I keep the focus confirmation on all the time. The point is, the AF fails in normal daytime indoor light. It's impossible to fire off quick shots with this camera. Sure, the manual focus works but using the command wheel on every shot is not only far from ideal, it's hyper-fiddly and just not what you expect from a camera costing nearly a thousand pounds. By the time you've managed to squint your way to a decent focus, more often than not my subjects (spiders, flies, birds, dogs) have moved on.

I've written to Nikon. Hopefully they are working on a fix. If not, it's back to the shop and a DImage 7i for me. This would be a great shame - the rest of the camera is great. Unfortunately it's fundamentally broken with respect to a very basic feature.[/S]

 

[Russell Garner]

What about sports shot ?

Need continuous AF... any solution ?

If in sunlight you may be OK. The 5700 seems to have trouble when contrast is as low or lower than normal indoor daytime light conditions.

 

[Chris Butler]

Thanks, folks...

You exemplify the promise of the web -- honesty and hands-oin feedback.

I've followed another thread that says studio strobes still don't work reasonably with the CP5700, and you've pointed out AF problems Despite many slams against the CP5000, Nikon seems to have produceda nother feature-challenged machine, hoping nobody would notice.

More and more, I'm finding the opinions of hands-on users like yourselves to be more valuable than the exhaustive-but-incomplete reviews of Phil Askey, et al.

Hopefully, Nikon and other manufacturers will begin to appreciate this reality. There's nowhere to hide anymore, so produce smart products or find another line of work.

Cheers,

Chris Butler
http://www.AcmeEnterprises.com

 

[Steve Yankovich]

I realize the AF behaivor is unacceptable for some of you but I wonder if people expet too much. I see that on the Minolta forum there is a thread called "Things are getting blurry" where the weakness of the 7i's AF are the topic. My previous digital was a Canon S20, it had AF problems areas as well, but again a tradeoff for the small form factor made it worth living with that (among others) flaw. I also have an F5, and the wife has an N90, and we share several nice lenses...they both do way better in all the situations people have talked about (low light, action shots, etc.)...but I expect that performance from those body/lens combinations...oh well, can't please everyone I guess.

Hi Russel,

Have you tried turning AF area mode off, setting the AF to single
and the zoom speed to high. This helps a great deal.. I use a 4
watt night light in my room and the 5700 comes through with flying
colors in AF. I found that the manual focus works pretty good if
you use keep the shot confirmation on. This gives you a sharp
outline as to what is focus and what is not.

Hi Carmen,

Yes - tried all of the above, I keep the focus confirmation on all
the time. The point is, the AF fails in normal daytime indoor
light. It's impossible to fire off quick shots with this camera.
Sure, the manual focus works but using the command wheel on every
shot is not only far from ideal, it's hyper-fiddly and just not
what you expect from a camera costing nearly a thousand pounds. By
the time you've managed to squint your way to a decent focus, more
often than not my subjects (spiders, flies, birds, dogs) have moved
on.

I've written to Nikon. Hopefully they are working on a fix. If
not, it's back to the shop and a DImage 7i for me. This would be a
great shame - the rest of the camera is great. Unfortunately it's
fundamentally broken with respect to a very basic feature.

[/S]

 

[John37158]

Thanks, folks...

You exemplify the promise of the web -- honesty and hands-oin
feedback.

I've followed another thread that says studio strobes still don't
work reasonably with the CP5700, and you've pointed out AF problems
Despite many slams against the CP5000, Nikon seems to have
produceda nother feature-challenged machine, hoping nobody would
notice.

More and more, I'm finding the opinions of hands-on users like
yourselves to be more valuable than the exhaustive-but-incomplete
reviews of Phil Askey, et al.

Hopefully, Nikon and other manufacturers will begin to appreciate
this reality. There's nowhere to hide anymore, so produce smart
products or find another line of work.

Cheers,

Chris Butler
http://www.AcmeEnterprises.com

Chris:

Interesting point of view and perhaps one we should consider more carefully. Nikon, Canon, and Sony can hype their products and features all they want, but the weaknesses will show up when in the hands of knowledgeable users.

Regretfully, they may be producing products that require more expertise than the average photographer with $ 1000 in his pocket can provide.
--
John in Omaha

 

[Jim K53618]

Sorry, but I've just paid nearly nine hundred quid for this camera
and to say that I'm disappointed that it won't auto-focus on most
things in anything less (apparently) than direct sunlight would be
an understatement. I could live with this if the manual focus
mechanism wasn't anything less than hyper-fiddly.

Is it just me, or does anyone else think the AF is just plain
pants? Should I be thinking about returning the camera and getting
a 7i instead? Is the firmware just beta?

Russ

There's no question the AF is slow, about where the G2 is, may be even a little slower at times. It's definitely slow in low light or at full tele. I would not say it's horrendously, but certainly on the slow side! This will no doubt be the single most issue complained about. I'm still working on my review of the camera, I still have the ISO, resolution, and noise test to do, but your welcome to check out what I have so far (subject to change), it's a new page I'm working on launching soon, snd still very much work in progress : )

http://digitalphotonews.ws/cp5700.html

I give it a 4 star rating (out of 5), I'd be suprised if Phil gives it a Highly Recomended. He will probably give it a Recomended Rating, and comments such as "it's a slight improvement over the CP5000...", I personally believe the quality is up to par, CA is under control, there is much less clipping, however some jaggies on diagonal lines. Noise is verry reasonable up to ISO 400, and I'm glad it goes to ISO 800 for those times when getting the image is more important. My only complaints other then the slow AF, is that Nikon still has not supported their D-TTL Speedlight Flashes! And there is still no AF assist light, and the MF can be a lot better too. Despite these short comings, I consider it to be a great camera worthy of consideration. Be interesting to see Phil's review next.

Regards,
Jim K

--
Every Camera Has Short Comings,
some camera's fall short of coming!