Nikon 18-55mm AF-S/ VR lense shudder?

Hi Anna,

In order for your Nikon to auto focus correctly, you need to have several things:

First - focus indicator. In your viewfinder, locate it on the bottom row of the status information bar; you should see a small, green circle in the left-most position. This will BLINK when you partially depress the shutter release (or back button focus - depending how you focus your D5000) whenever the subject is OUT of focus. It will switch to "STEADY ON" when the subject is IN focus. Please note that you will not be able to release the shutter any time it is blinking unless you make a change to the setting that will allow you to release the shutter when the camera is out of focus (not recommended).

Second - light. You must have enough light entering the camera for it to detect areas of different contrast on the selected focus point. If there is not enough light there is too little contrast for the camera to autofocus and no matter how close or how far (and everywhere between) the focus is set resulting in the camera "hunting" near and far to find it. The green circle will not stop blinking. Have you tried in a well lit room or outdoors in daylight?

Third - minimum focus distance. All lenses have a minimum focus distance. Acording to Nikon, yours is rated at 3.6' (1.1m) (see: http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Nikon-Products/Product/Camera-Lenses/AF-S-DX-VR-Zoom-Nikkor-55-200mm-f%252F4-5.6G-IF-ED.html for full specs on this lens). This means your subject needs to be at least 3.6' away to be able to focus on it - manually or aut0matically - it makes no difference. There are lenses that do "very close" focussing that are called "Macro" (but curiously Nikon branded versions of these lenses are called "Micro"), that are also telephoto lenses. Your lens is not a macro/micro type.

Lastly - operational equipment. It is possible that there is an issue with the D5000 camera body or lens (or even both). Try another lens to see it it works as expected. No other lens? Go to camera store with your camera and lens and "shop" for a new lens. Ask to try it out in the store and see if it it works. Maybe the counterperson will identify another issue with your set up.

I hope this helps & good luck!

Make sure the A-M switch on the lens is set to A for autofocus.

Also make sure the AE-L button is set to on (pg 144 of your manual) in your menu's otherwise the half-press of the shutter won't allow it to focus.

go into settings an change the lighting

The D5000 does not have a focus motor in the body, relying on the lens to have one. The old 70-300mm G lens does not have a focus motor, relying on the camera to have one. Thus, this combination will not autofocus.
The newer 70-300mm AF-S G lens, as well as the even newer 70-300mm VR AF-S lens, do have the autofocus motor and thus will autofocus on the D5000.

Welcome to the real world of photography, using the viewfinder is a whole new experience in the crating of fine photographs. Aside from this what you are actually seeing is the VR turning on and locking onto the target, you should actually feel this happening as well (if you are holding the camera correctly) What you are experiencing is normal. Thank you for the excellent description

You can reset the camera by using a paperclip and pressing the reset button

Charles, I can save you the effort. The D200 lacks the menu item I suggested and will not show any symbols in the viewfinder or LCD to indicate which VR setting you have the lens set to.

But Ken Rockwell's guide to the lens has a big clue: VR takes a moment to stabilise, so you ideally need to half press the shutter release and wait a second or so before firing the shutter.

I don't want to plagiarise his excellent article, so instead suggest that you click here to read what the man has to say himself. He discusses the benefits of your lenses VR early in the article, but you may want to skip right down the page to the heading, "How to use the VR".

Ken has also created an excellent alternative D200 users' guide, click here.

Good luck, and please take a moment to rate my reply.

P.S. If the hotlinks don't work then the 18-200 lens review is at:-

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/18200/18200-vr.htm

and the D200 guide is at:-

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d200/users-guide/d200-users-guide.pdf

Most professional photographers use spot focussing...just the center dot. You focus on the subject...hold the shutter button half-way and recompose..press the rest of the way.

The D5000 needs an AF-S lens to autofocus.
Nikon have not fitted the mechanical focus drive to the D5000.

The lenses have a focus motor built into them.when the camera is set to auto focus, once you press the shutter button, the motor activates to set the correct focus. VR is for motion stabilization. Turn off AF on lenses and camera and see if noise stops.