Problems focusing

Jamieyoho

Hello, my name is Jamie. I found your email on a website that had to do with Nikon D3100 dslr. I have a Nikon D3100 and I absolutely love it. I've had it for almost 2 years now and I just recently started having some problems with it focusing. I was wondering if you've ever had any issues like this? When I go to take a picture, it tries to focus and stops, and will not take a picture. I'll refocus it manually, then try to take a picture, and it just tries to focus and stops. I have been trying to figure out what's going on, and no one I know has any idea! I hope you can help! I'm so frustrated with it, and it's making me lose interest in my favorite hobby. Thanks!
Jamie

bruto

First of all, make sure whenever you manually focus you take it out of AF at the lens. The kit lens for this camera cannot override auto focus when it is on, and it may break the lens if you try.

Try leaving the lens switched to MF and then see if you can achieve focus with it still on manual. The camera operates on "focus priority" and will not fire in AF unless it focuses, but in manual focus mode it will fire regardless. See if you can focus it all the way and get a fairly clear picture. If it cannot focus manually, then I suspect the lens is damaged and needs repair (or replacement - a good used one may be cheaper than a repair).

If the lens operates correctly in manual mode, and seems not to have any glitches, then check the camera's auto focus by switching to Live View (with lens set back to AF). Live and viewfinder views use entirely different autofocus mechanisms. In viewfinder view, it's done with mirrors and AF sensors carefully adjusted to match the focal plane. In Live View, it's done by reading the image on the image sensor itself. If you get focus in Live View but not viewfinder view, the camera's AF innards are in need of cleaning or repair.