Nikon 60mm Macro AF trouble

[MrRamonG]

I have a Nikon AF-S Macro Nikkor 60mm 1:2.8G lens and it has the hadest time with auto focus in poor light situations. In some cases it simply wont focus. I can hear the motor and see the focus move out and in, but it simply wont set.
When set to fully auto it focuses fine. In decent to great lighting situations its fine.
Is this just the nature of the lens, do i have some setting off, or do i have a bogus lens?

Does anyone have this lens? What do you think about it?

My current settings on the D80 are:
Apperture priority
AF-S
body and lens set to AF

 

[Overread]

In poor lighting any lens will have trouble focusing - even with a wide aperture the darker conditions can make it very hard for the camera to lock on, even if your eyes have no problem (which is why manual focus is there )
but if your saying that the lens will aquirea focus lock when in auto mode but not in aperture priority whilst in the same dull lighting then I suspect that its the AF mode you are in. Check you manual and you should have several different modes of AF as well as different AF points in the camera to seclect - chances are that you might be using some form of spot af or a continues AF mode which can't get a good enough lock onto anything, but when you shife into auto mode (where AF mode is controled by the camera) the camera is using more AF points and a possibly different type of focusing and thus is able to get a lock onto something

 

[MrRamonG]

In poor lighting any lens will have trouble focusing - even with a wide aperture the darker conditions can make it very hard for the camera to lock on, even if your eyes have no problem (which is why manual focus is there )
but if your saying that the lens will aquirea focus lock when in auto mode but not in aperture priority whilst in the same dull lighting then I suspect that its the AF mode you are in. Check you manual and you should have several different modes of AF as well as different AF points in the camera to seclect - chances are that you might be using some form of spot af or a continues AF mode which can't get a good enough lock onto anything, but when you shife into auto mode (where AF mode is controled by the camera) the camera is using more AF points and a possibly different type of focusing and thus is able to get a lock onto something

Thanks for the reply Overread. My eyesight is not 20/20 so i dont use Manual focus. I know with the D80 I can focus the viewfinder with the diopter adjsutment to suit my vision, but my wife likes to use the camera as well so I have not adjusted the diopter for anything other than 20/20.
I have tried all the auto focus modes, AF-A (automatic selection), AF-S (single servo), AF-C (continuous-servo).
When I was trying to figure the problem out and try different things to correct it, I had the focus area set to the center of the view so that i was sure to be trying to auto focus on one subject.
I think I may have to suck it up and just shoot with my glasses on and use manual focus.

 

[Josh66]

Poor AF performance in less than optimal lighting is pretty much normal for a macro lens.

If it has a limiter switch for the AF (usually like 0-3m or 3m-infinity) that might help.

 

[Overread]

Certianly use the limiter switch, but OIIIIIO is right that macro lenses do tend to have poorer af performance, since most macro work is done through manual focusing.
As for eyesight I would try shooting with your glasses if you can to help things, I know a few people prefer to shoot this way so that when they look up from the camera they can still see clearly (as opposed to having to put the glasses on again). If you can shoot from a tripod that will of course help as well (since you then don't have to hold the camera steady, where resting on the eyesocket helps - something you can't do as easily with glasses). The other option might be to consider contact lenses.
Or ---- get your wife her own camera

 

[Josh66]

I shoot with my glasses on (my eyes are beyond the range of adjustment by the diopter)...

One thing that made shooting with glasses a lot easier for me was to remove the rubber eye cup. That lets my eye get close enough without the rubber thing hitting my glasses.

 

[Overread]

To add they also make diopter adjusters - I forget what powers and I have a feeling that ebay will probably have more scope of range than offical canon makes. But if your eyes aer our of the range of the oncamera diopter it is an alternative to shootingwith your glasses on
*though as OIIIIO avatar is showing its not bad thing to shoot with your glasses on )