Won't focus I was out shooting some sports the other day and all of a sudden my camera (D70 with a 200mm lense) would not focus and started going a little crazy. however, it would still take a shot occasionally. when i tried to change the menu, the menu itself on the monitor was jumping around and wouldnt let me select anything. then suddenly it worked again. then again, just as suddenly, it stopped working. this has never happened before and I'm at a total loss other than to take it to a dealer. any suggestions??? THANK YOU...

you can try to format the memory card and then reinsert it to your camera again to try.

Check whether your camera is focusing or not. unless it focuses and its locked , the shutter wont get released.

it can be due to improper light or distance of the object, or even problem with your camera internally.

check if there is any noise while focusing,a jam can also cause such a result for some cameras.

Replace the broken ribbon cable in the lens

if other auto-focus lenses work, then it is likely that this particular lens has a defect I suggest you send it in to Nikon for servicing

Simplest answer is that you may have accidentally flipped the focus switch (A/M) on the lens to M. This turns off autofocus for that lens (which you might need to do if autofocus just can't resolve the image). Try turning it back to A.

Another possibility is that you're using an autofocus target different from the one you're expecting. The problem would be apparent regardless of lens choice, by being in focus in a different part of the image. You can press the arrow keys (while holding shutter release down halfway) to change AF targets, or change a menu setting to simply choose the closest target.

The shooting modes have no effect on focusing ability.

The camera would likely detect other focus-related problems (like servo failure).

If the AF is set to release then the camera will release the shutter before focus is attained. Set it to focus only and see if it improves. Don't leave it like that, you will miss pictures.
Shoot some pictures with the center AF point only in single release and see if the focus is consistently landing in front of or behind what you wanted in focus. A penny on the sidewalk shot at a 45 degree angle in aperture priority with the lowest A number possible is a good quick one. For super fine tuning with a f2.8 or faster use a fuzzy plant branch like a tomato plant. If whats in focus is always in front of or behind what you focused on then you need too adjust the focus(back focus) in AF fine tune until it lands where it should. It's an annoying process that involves shooting, adjusting, shoot again, see if its better or worse, adjust, shoot and repeat. On zoom lenses use the middle on the zoom range because it will usually go from back to front focusing on the long and short end. The camera remembers each lens and the process must be repeated for each lens.
Last thing I can think of is the one that no one wants to hear and is most likely the problem, Camera Handling. People have a tendency to get sloppy after getting use to a camera. I have noticed that the VR lenses don't like people that stab the shutter button. It wants to remove fine vibration and a harsh stab makes it jump back to center and if the shutter opens at the same time it will put fine motion blur in the picture and looks out of focus.

have you got your camera set to continuse focus this will cause this set the camera to on shot

This might be a problem with the lenses' mechanism... Maybe you hit the camera (having the lenses extended, eventually). You have to pay a visit to the local service.

And in the future, use the protection that came with the camera (the black cilinder). It protects the lenses and also offers you the possibility to mount the lens cap without having to switch off the camera.

Hey PopPop1,
The N2000/F301 should be a manual focus only camera. The autofocus version of this camera was called the N2020/F501. The lens you have should still work on the camera, but you should have to focus the camera manually. I have an autofocus camera and whenever I shoot macro images I would much prefer manually focusing anyway.

Sincerely,
Allan
Go Ahead. Use Us.

Talked to canon support, they suggested to send lense in for review/repair. They said it could be the motor, I think it was a gear problem based on the noises and jerkiness of the focusing action while in manual focus (manual focus gave out as well). Cost TBD - "would definately be more than $50. I shopped around and elected to buy a new lense rather than try to hassle with the repair, shipping, insurance, and the wait, etc. Besides, I have a deadline that I need the lense for, so repair at Canon really became a non-option. I think the cost would've been pretty much the same in the end as the new lense, since this wasn't one of the costlier of lenses to begin with.

Brush off any lose dirt from both the lens and bayonet mount and the autofocus drive shaft . If you are still not getting camera to auto focus your lenses have an expert look at the body : this is not an expensive problem to repair on these Pentaxes either a small mechanical problem or the connection to the pc board is bad. In either case only the front of the camera has to be dismantled ( +- 1 hour of labour to do the whole job ).