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Over the Christmas period I went out and pushed my Nikon D300 and AF-S
VR Nikkor 70-200 1:2.8G to the limit. I was taking night exposures of
my nephew's New Year's Eve party across the bay. Nearly a mile of
water and up to 60 seconds of exposure.

I quickly found out that the lens was not quite focusing to infinity
and that I had to manually focus just a little bit short.

I know that this problem can be dealt with by registering the lens
with the camera and entering an appropriate focus correction.

My problem is that, even though I know it is there, I cannot find any
reference as to how to do this anywhere in the manual (I also know
that the information is cryptic even if you can find it).

Another problem is that although this has been discussed in one or
more news groups, I have deleted older messages and this vital
information has gone from my computer.

Yet another problem is that while I have a book which describes how to
do all this in adequate detail, I have lent it to my daughter (who is
now a thousand miles away) who has in turn lent it to _her_ daughter
who is now over the middle of the Pacific on the way to New York.

Is there anyone who can help me by either directing me to the relevant
page of the manual or to a helpful web page.

From a sweltering New Zealand ...



Eric Stevens

"Eric Stevens" <> wrote:

> I quickly found out that the lens was not quite focusing to infinity
> and that I had to manually focus just a little bit short.
>
> I know that this problem can be dealt with by registering the lens
> with the camera and entering an appropriate focus correction.

Are you sure that the softness you are seeing is due to focus
problems? At 1 mile, the hyperfocal distance at 200mm and f/2.8
is around 2830 feet.

The "AF Fine Tune" feature of the D300 is described on page 327
of the U.S. manual. It's designed to deal with front focus/back
focus issues, but getting AF confirmation on something a mile away
isn't going to be easy in daylight let alone at night.

Like most lenses with exotic glass in them, the 70-200 can "focus"
slightly beyond infinity under many environmental conditions, but
if the lens is truly not focusing to infinity, that's not something
that can be corrected by lens registration and requires repair.

--
Mike Benveniste -- (Clarification Required)
Its name is Public opinion. It is held in reverence. It settles
everything. Some think it is the voice of God. -- Mark Twain

On Mon, 03 Jan 2011 19:26:23 +1300, Eric Stevens
<> wrote:

>Over the Christmas period I went out and pushed my Nikon D300 and AF-S
>VR Nikkor 70-200 1:2.8G to the limit. I was taking night exposures of
>my nephew's New Year's Eve party across the bay. Nearly a mile of
>water and up to 60 seconds of exposure.
>
>I quickly found out that the lens was not quite focusing to infinity
>and that I had to manually focus just a little bit short.
>
>I know that this problem can be dealt with by registering the lens
>with the camera and entering an appropriate focus correction.
>
>My problem is that, even though I know it is there, I cannot find any
>reference as to how to do this anywhere in the manual (I also know
>that the information is cryptic even if you can find it).
>
>Another problem is that although this has been discussed in one or
>more news groups, I have deleted older messages and this vital
>information has gone from my computer.
>
>Yet another problem is that while I have a book which describes how to
>do all this in adequate detail, I have lent it to my daughter (who is
>now a thousand miles away) who has in turn lent it to _her_ daughter
>who is now over the middle of the Pacific on the way to New York.
>
>Is there anyone who can help me by either directing me to the relevant
>page of the manual or to a helpful web page.
>
>From a sweltering New Zealand ...

Michael has all ready replied that AF Fine Tune resides at pp 327-328
of the fine manual. Do note the following note on p328:

AF Tuning
The camera may be unable to focus at minimum range or at infinity when
AF tuning is applied.

Question how are you setting the lens to focus at infinity? Are you
manually setting the focus using the distance setting on the lens
barrel and then finding you need to manually set it to a slightly
shorter distance? If so, I don't believe this fine tune adjustmanet
will help you.

On Mon, 3 Jan 2011 10:51:16 -0500, "Michael Benveniste"
<> wrote:

>"Eric Stevens" <> wrote:
>
>> I quickly found out that the lens was not quite focusing to infinity
>> and that I had to manually focus just a little bit short.
>>
>> I know that this problem can be dealt with by registering the lens
>> with the camera and entering an appropriate focus correction.
>
>Are you sure that the softness you are seeing is due to focus
>problems? At 1 mile, the hyperfocal distance at 200mm and f/2.8
>is around 2830 feet.
>
>The "AF Fine Tune" feature of the D300 is described on page 327
>of the U.S. manual.

That's what I was looking for! Thank you very much.

>It's designed to deal with front focus/back
>focus issues, but getting AF confirmation on something a mile away
>isn't going to be easy in daylight let alone at night.

There was a fire on the beach and lights in the trees.
>
>Like most lenses with exotic glass in them, the 70-200 can "focus"
>slightly beyond infinity under many environmental conditions, but
>if the lens is truly not focusing to infinity, that's not something
>that can be corrected by lens registration and requires repair.



Eric Stevens

On Mon, 03 Jan 2011 16:28:41 -0500, me <> wrote:

>On Mon, 03 Jan 2011 19:26:23 +1300, Eric Stevens
><> wrote:
>
>>Over the Christmas period I went out and pushed my Nikon D300 and AF-S
>>VR Nikkor 70-200 1:2.8G to the limit. I was taking night exposures of
>>my nephew's New Year's Eve party across the bay. Nearly a mile of
>>water and up to 60 seconds of exposure.
>>
>>I quickly found out that the lens was not quite focusing to infinity
>>and that I had to manually focus just a little bit short.
>>
>>I know that this problem can be dealt with by registering the lens
>>with the camera and entering an appropriate focus correction.
>>
>>My problem is that, even though I know it is there, I cannot find any
>>reference as to how to do this anywhere in the manual (I also know
>>that the information is cryptic even if you can find it).
>>
>>Another problem is that although this has been discussed in one or
>>more news groups, I have deleted older messages and this vital
>>information has gone from my computer.
>>
>>Yet another problem is that while I have a book which describes how to
>>do all this in adequate detail, I have lent it to my daughter (who is
>>now a thousand miles away) who has in turn lent it to _her_ daughter
>>who is now over the middle of the Pacific on the way to New York.
>>
>>Is there anyone who can help me by either directing me to the relevant
>>page of the manual or to a helpful web page.
>>
>>From a sweltering New Zealand ...
>
>Michael has all ready replied that AF Fine Tune resides at pp 327-328
>of the fine manual. Do note the following note on p328:
>
>AF Tuning
>The camera may be unable to focus at minimum range or at infinity when
>AF tuning is applied.
>
>Question how are you setting the lens to focus at infinity? Are you
>manually setting the focus using the distance setting on the lens
>barrel and then finding you need to manually set it to a slightly
>shorter distance? If so, I don't believe this fine tune adjustmanet
>will help you.

You may well be right but, first I wanted to find what the manual had
to say about it.



Eric Stevens