Nikon 70-200mm 2.8 VR WHAT AM I DOING WRONG!!!

[cdteo]

Hello everyone,



Thanks for looking at my post. I just recently saved up and purchased a brand new Nikon 70-200 2.8 with VR. I have taken over a thousand pictures with the lens and just about every one is out of focus. I'm using a Nikon D70 body with it. I'm guessing I have some setting in my camera way off or something not setup properly. Does anyone having any suggestions on what I might be doing wrong? Any help would be greatly appreciated. The picture below was shot in RAW I took it straight from the camera and saved in for the web in PS.



Here were the settings for this picture



Shutter Speed 1/320 sec

Exposure Program Manual

F-Stop f/4.0

Aperture f/4.0

Max Aperture f/2.8

ISO 1600

Focal Length 70.0mm

[Nagasaki]

That's not a great shot to judge what's going on. It doesn't look far out of focus and there could be motion blur in there as well. It's low contrast so taht doesn't help.

Have you tried taking shots in better lighting to see what effect that has.

What AF setting are you using. I'd guess AF-C which requires you to set the focus by pressing the shutter halfway down. If you use AF-C and press the shutter all the way down the camera will take the shot regardless of whether it is in focus or not. AF-S will only take the shot when it is in focus but it's not ideal for this sort of action shot.

[jtgraphics]

Hard to tell from this photo but a few things, one lighting doesn't look all that great so you may need to take it to f/2.8 and play with different shutter speeds to find a happy medium, this may allow you to drop the ISO slightly if you can keep a decent shutter speed this will also help noise. Work on holding the camera and lens combo and panning technique and nice easy pressing of the shutter release, I'd also turn off VR for these shots.

[cdteo]

Thank you all for your help. You mentioned turning off VR for these shots. Was'nt VR designed for hand holding action shots? Or am I way off? Thanks again for any help.

Chad

[cowboy43]

The VR lens will help clear up your shots. But the one thing that stops action is LIGHT (Flash) .. no matter what lens you have. I shoot the same lens on the D2h and a sb 800 flash on the cameraand usually two mounted away from camera with pocket wizzards apature 2.8 shutter 1/250 sync speed and ISO 200.. I belive the D-70 will do 1/500 sync speed with is even better than the D2H... Have you tryed it ouside in bright sunshine.. it should be fine there if not you may be moving to much and expecting to much of the lens. Try it on a monpod with VR on and off and them compare.. Good Luck Dale http://www.pbase.com/cowboy43

[jtgraphics]

VR would be a help if your using slow shutter speeds say anything below 1/60th or slower, but then again this will only do you good if the subject is not moving. Also for fast moving subjects having VR on will add to the focus speed and that time it takes for VR to lock may be enough time for to be off slightly focus.

Now for the shot you showed at 70mm I don't think you need to use VR and with a shutter of 1/320 sec you'd really have to be a shaky handed person to need it. Even at 200mm if you have proper holding technique you will find VR isn't needed in most cases when shutter speeds are decent

[JOHNCHAP2]

Is the AF working? It needs to be set on lens as well as camera.

How come 1000 shots if focus was not good?

As others have suggested, go outside in bright sun and shoot photos at 2.8 near to far and check results for a pattern in performance.

Also, how are your other lenses doing?

[erichlund]

I've seen several people mention VR off, but have you tried putting it in panning mode, which is VR on and NORMAL. VR ACTIVE will think you are taking a static picture. NORMAL turns off the vertical axis (it's smart enough to know which way you're holding the camera) so it doesn't fight you as you pan horizontally.

Even w/o VR at 70mm (105eq) you only need about 1/100 to get a sharp image. You could probably reduce the ISO significantly to get less noise and maybe better contrast. A good flash (SB800) would also give you better lighting conditions.

Cheers, Eric

i have the minolta 80-200 f2.8 apo and found the same problems AT FIRST



this class of lens is extremely tricky to focus ESPECIALLY on auto focus mde



try selecting only the center AF spot on the camera, using AF-S mode, turn OFF VR when panning



to test lens - mount on a good tripod (or 'beanbag') in decent light, let AF focus on a 'flat' subject at f16 and f2.8, repeat on a subject with depth, then repeat focussing manually



good luck, it took me 6 months to learn my 80-200

[paulz]

I have a 70-200VR and it is great for handholding. As mentioned keepVR on normal unless you are using a tripod. Drop your iso down for most shooting. Are you waiting for VR to settle lens down? You will notice viewfinder becoming steady. Make sure your autofocus settings are "focus" (only takes picture when in focus). Good luck.

______________

Paul