Janna Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 All of a sudden my autofocus is not working. I can focus manually, but not on auto. The camera is less than a year old. I called the camera store I bought it from and they said they would have to send it in to Nikon for warranty work. When I tell them that I'm due to have a baby before I'll get my camera back, they basically tell me I'm out of luck. I'm NOT happy. I asked for a replacement camera for the meantime and they said they didn't have one. I asked for a replacement lens and they said they didn't have one. I asked why they can't just exchange either the camera or the lens and send off the broken one to Nikon to fix on their own time and they said because it doesn't work that way. The lady said if my car was broken down and in the shop, I wouldn't have a car until it was fixed. I told her that more than likely they would give me a replacement car. If not, we would still only be talking about a few days in the shop rather than 6-8 weeks. How am I supposed to take a picture of a new baby without a camera? "Sorry" she says. So please tell me you've had this problem and it was fixed without sending it in and what did you do? The battery is fully charged, there is plenty of room on the memory card. I have taken the lens off and put it back on. I have reset all of the settings. I have reset the actual camera. I have changed the shooting modes. Ack! This is frustrating! Help? Btw, sorry for using up board space for this. I have Googled and come up with nothing helpful and I know a lot of you ladies have this particular camera. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beansprouts Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 My photographer dh asked if there is any chance you switched the setting from auto-focus to manual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genie Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 I'm sure you have checked this, but it's the only thing I can think of... is the M/A switch on the lens set to A? I have accidentally switched that without realizing a couple of times as I changed lenses, so that was my first thought. Otherwise, I have no idea. I'm so sorry! Do you have more than one lens? If not, maybe you could try going in to a BestBuy or some similar store with your camera and ask to try one of their lenses, just to see? Sorry I can't be of more help. :confused: That really bites! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassenach Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 Check on the side of the lens. There is a little lever that says a/m. Make sure it's not switched to m. Otherwise, contact nikon. Bummer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janna Posted April 11, 2008 Author Share Posted April 11, 2008 Yes to both of you (beansprouts and genie), LOL. The switch on the actual lens is on A (which now I have to switch to M in order to take a picture) and on the menu screen, it's on AF-A. Thanks for your help, though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich with Kids Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 All of a sudden my autofocus is not working. I can focus manually, but not on auto. The camera is less than a year old. I called the camera store I bought it from and they said they would have to send it in to Nikon for warranty work. When I tell them that I'm due to have a baby before I'll get my camera back, they basically tell me I'm out of luck. I'm NOT happy. I asked for a replacement camera for the meantime and they said they didn't have one. I asked for a replacement lens and they said they didn't have one. I asked why they can't just exchange either the camera or the lens and send off the broken one to Nikon to fix on their own time and they said because it doesn't work that way. The lady said if my car was broken down and in the shop, I wouldn't have a car until it was fixed. I told her that more than likely they would give me a replacement car. If not, we would still only be talking about a few days in the shop rather than 6-8 weeks. How am I supposed to take a picture of a new baby without a camera? "Sorry" she says. So please tell me you've had this problem and it was fixed without sending it in and what did you do? The battery is fully charged, there is plenty of room on the memory card. I have taken the lens off and put it back on. I have reset all of the settings. I have reset the actual camera. I have changed the shooting modes. Ack! This is frustrating! Help? Btw, sorry for using up board space for this. I have Googled and come up with nothing helpful and I know a lot of you ladies have this particular camera. Thanks! My dh said to go to the camera store and try another lens. Maybe they can rent you the lens. If not, you might want to try a rental place in town to rent one. He says it sounds like a lens issue. I hope this helps. He says there are motors in the lens that cause it to focus. If you can find another auto-focus lens to try it will help you diagnose the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janna Posted April 11, 2008 Author Share Posted April 11, 2008 I will do that if I have to, but honestly, if it's a defective product within the warranty period (and the lens is a 5 yr. warranty, this one is less than 1 yr old), I would be upset if I were expected to rent a new lens. Surely that should be reimbursed, or better yet, what I asked the camera store I bought it from for - a replacement lens until the new one came back in. But if I had to rent one and spend my dime for it to be able to take pics of the new baby, I will. Trying out a new lens is what I will need to do, as that has been the info I've gotten from Googling - the motor is in the lens. I will probably take it to the shop tomorrow to "talk" to them about it (but they don't realize they're dealing with a pregnant woman's hormones. I could go one of two ways - get angry with them about it, or (more likely) burst into tears, LOL). Tell your dh "thank you". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacie Posted April 11, 2008 Share Posted April 11, 2008 Janna, Try taking your lens off the camera and cleaning the contacts on both the lens and the camera. You may have some dust particles in between that are preventing the two from "talking." I hope it's simple and it can be fixed quickly. I had to send in my telephoto lens and didn't get it back in time for the kids' first trip to WDW. I know it's not as momentus as the birth of a child, but it was still a big deal to me!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janna Posted April 14, 2008 Author Share Posted April 14, 2008 Just wanted to update about this. After talking to the technical support staff at Nikon directly and doing some troubleshooting (which didn't work), I took it back to the camera store I bought it from. We switched out the lens with one of the store's lenses and it worked fine, so we knew it was definitely a problem with my lens motor. They left it for the in-store repair guy to look at before deciding to ship it off. He called me today to say that he had to do a reset (done differently than what the Nikon technical support guy had me do) which basically reset the motor of the lens and voila! It worked! I just went and picked it up and it's working fine! I am so happy! Praise the Lord! Thanks for all your help, guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkInTheBlue Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 What an amazing coincidence that this conversation is now. We just bought our D40 today! I sent the link to my sweetheart so he might read it and tab this info in his brain in case we need it later. Janna, I'm SOOO glad it all worked out for you! Great news! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genie Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 Yay! Well, it bites that the Nikon tech support was not more helpful, but I'm really glad you have your camera operational for the birth of your sweet little baby! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phred Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 I'm so glad to hear this worked out. The D40 with the 18-55mm lens is such a great combo. If you have a new baby on the way you might want to look into a couple of things. One is myphotopipe.com They make all sorts of prints and books and such at very good prices. They provide you with a little piece of software you download and then upload your pictures to them for printing when you want them. I just find I like them better than kodak or snapfish. Our walls are covered with pictures from them. A second thing is a flash unit. I know the D40 has one built in. Nikon makes a flash called the SB-400. It allows you to bounce the flash off the ceiling. This fills in the room with light and doesn't blind your little one with a direct blast of light. It is reasonably priced flash-wise at under $100. Oops, one more... do you have a filter on your lens? They cost about ten bucks and will save your lens if you should drop it. A 52mm UV Haze filter is what you'd be looking for. Sorry for rambling on. Again, glad to hear this worked out. I love Nikons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janna Posted April 15, 2008 Author Share Posted April 15, 2008 What an amazing coincidence that this conversation is now. We just bought our D40 today! I sent the link to my sweetheart so he might read it and tab this info in his brain in case we need it later. Janna, I'm SOOO glad it all worked out for you! Great news! Thanks, Jessica! And yes, definitely remember this incident in the future. I've not had any problems with the camera until last week when just all of a sudden it wouldn't focus. I'm pleased that the motor just needed to be reset and isn't defective. That should be good news for you too. You'll love your new camera! Enjoy it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janna Posted April 15, 2008 Author Share Posted April 15, 2008 Thank you so much, Phred for these helpful tips! I do have a UV filter on my lens. I believe I bought it the same day as my camera at the suggestion of the salesperson. The flash is especially helpful to me and I'm very appreciative to you for it. I try not to use the flash at all because the lighting is just so harsh. But I only have the 18-55 lens which doesn't have a small f/stop, so it's hard to get good lighting. I want a 50mm f/1.8 but it doesn't come in an AF-S lens. Supposedly they are coming out with an AF-S 60mm f/1.8 (or maybe it's a 1.4?) in about 6 weeks, but it's gonna run $499 (I think is what the sales guy said) which I can't afford. So the softer flash is an excellent suggestion. Thank you! Oh, and thanks for the myphotopipe.com link too. I'll look into it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janna Posted April 15, 2008 Author Share Posted April 15, 2008 Thanks, Genie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Tara~ Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 Weird. I was just catching up here on the board, stumbled upon this thread...just days after having the same problem. I just removed my lens, gave it all a quick blow, switched my a/m switch for a couple of seconds in both directions and all was well again. I had just recently cleaned it all out due to a speck I was seeing within. I guess when that was done, something got in the way on that lens contact as someone else mentioned. It freaked me out too....I'm in the same boat as you Janna...baby due soon...I can't NOT have my camera..are you kidding me!?! Glad to hear your problem has been resolved! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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