NIKKOR AF-S Micro 40mm. Autofocus problem

Philip Jones

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The lens itself is very good. I use it with the Nikon D3100 to do a lot of timelapse of flowers opening. That's from bud to fully open flower. A single session can take several hours so everything gets bolted down solid in a quiet room with no disturbance.

Not much latitude for focal-depth so I'm careful to select an aperture that will keep everything in focus while allowing for the movement of the flower itself. Flowers move a lot of their own accord.

Here's the rub: Even when the lens is set to manual focus, the lens sometimes remains on autofocus.

Has anyone any experience with this? Is this a problem with the mechanical switch on the lens? The lens itself was bought new about a year ago.
 
How do you know the lens is remaining in AF? Don't forget, there's an AF mode selector in-body as well as the lens control. Are both set to 'M'?
 
How do you know the lens is remaining in AF? Don't forget, there's an AF mode selector in-body as well as the lens control. Are both set to 'M'?

I was under the impression that the switch on the lens would "force" the lens into manual focus no matter what else?
 
How do you know the lens is remaining in AF? Don't forget, there's an AF mode selector in-body as well as the lens control. Are both set to 'M'?

I was under the impression that the switch on the lens would "force" the lens into manual focus no matter what else?
Absolutely, or at least it is supposed to do that. I suppose in some unlikely event if the switch on the lens was a bit dodgy and the in-body control was set to AF-S/AF-C something could happen. Seems VERY unlikely, but...
 
How do you know the lens is remaining in AF? Don't forget, there's an AF mode selector in-body as well as the lens control. Are both set to 'M'?

I was under the impression that the switch on the lens would "force" the lens into manual focus no matter what else?
Absolutely, or at least it is supposed to do that. I suppose in some unlikely event if the switch on the lens was a bit dodgy and the in-body control was set to AF-S/AF-C something could happen. Seems VERY unlikely, but...


"Dodgy" is an expression I learned from my English coworkers. Just like "wonky" and "fiddly bits"...
 
You need to set the switch on the body to M.
Perhaps the switch in the lens is not working properly , that would be my guess.
 
How do you know the lens is remaining in AF? Don't forget, there's an AF mode selector in-body as well as the lens control. Are both set to 'M'?

Many thanks for all the responses. The switch on the lens should disable autofocus. Mine used to but doesn't anymore. Looks like I'm going to have to get it fixed. I rely on the switch because I don't like touching the camera once it has been set up.

As for Manual Focus on the D3100, it is not an option that appears on the normal menu. Not on mine at least and I do have the latest software update.

To set Manual Focus on the D3100, you have to go via the "I" button, move the cursor to the focus setting and select from there. I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't know that. I assumed that all options were available via the Menu button.

Anyway, I can continue. Many thanks to all.
 

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