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Archive 2016 · Nikon D4 soft focus issues at F1.4 up to F4 Photos inside.

  
 
peteypab2133
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Nikon D4 soft focus issues at F1.4 up to F4 Photos inside.


So I know you will say search, and I did. On and off the sites. The answers are basically the same (fine tune the lens, learn to shoot, its probably the lens etc)

That being said, I have not had an issue with any camera other than this one. Its only got like 6,000 shots on it.


Lenses I have issues with are all of them under F2.8 - F4

Been seeing the most issues with my sigma art 35 1.4 and my nikon 85mm 1.4G (If i shoot 1.4 its blurry, 2.2, 2.8 all blurry) When I shoot F4 it finally sharpens up.

Will nikon fix this for free if the camera was never registered, or will I have to pay the $496.00 quote I got from the service center tonight online...


Here are a couple photos, not edited, straight out of the camera and saved from Raw to Jpeg.

Top photo is 1.4, middle photo is 2.8 and the bottom photo is F4.











Sep 17, 2016 at 10:30 PM
Elijah
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Nikon D4 soft focus issues at F1.4 up to F4 Photos inside.


peteypab2133 wrote:
So I know you will say search, and I did. On and off the sites. The answers are basically the same (fine tune the lens, learn to shoot, its probably the lens etc)

That being said, I have not had an issue with any camera other than this one. Its only got like 6,000 shots on it.

Lenses I have issues with are all of them under F2.8 - F4

Been seeing the most issues with my sigma art 35 1.4 and my nikon 85mm 1.4G (If i shoot 1.4 its blurry, 2.2, 2.8 all blurry) When I shoot F4 it finally sharpens
...Show more

If you can't shoot with this camera wide open, something is definitely wrong.
Funny you say this, I had a horrendous experience with 85mm f/1.4G, maybe it was just my copy but the 1.4 was a hit or miss...
As for the sigma, I won't even go there... I've heard so many Sigma AF inconsistencies so I didn't even bother buying ANY Sigma lenses anymore.



Sep 17, 2016 at 10:40 PM
peteypab2133
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Nikon D4 soft focus issues at F1.4 up to F4 Photos inside.




Elijah wrote:
If you can't shoot with this camera wide open, something is definitely wrong.
Funny you say this, I had a horrendous experience with 85mm f/1.4G, maybe it was just my copy but the 1.4 was a hit or miss...
As for the sigma, I won't even go there... I've heard so many Sigma AF inconsistencies so I didn't even bother buying ANY Sigma lenses anymore.



Sadly though both my D750's are so freaking sharp. It kills me that I have to use my primes at F4 on this camera. I just emailed Nikon. I also downloaded and printed a couple focus charts. I plan to test them out tomorrow.

I was even using my 70-200mm 2.8 and wasn't happy with the results.

I get that the 750 is a sharper camera, , but to me this is totally unacceptable.

Thanks for the reply



Sep 17, 2016 at 11:28 PM
viczig
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Nikon D4 soft focus issues at F1.4 up to F4 Photos inside.


Looking at the first photo it looks to me that the 2 blonde woman at the table are sharper than your subjects and the same with the second photo. You mention fine tune the lens but did you? If you did I would redo and see what your results are.

I would doubt seriously that Nikon would fix for free.



Sep 18, 2016 at 12:30 AM
Elijah
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Nikon D4 soft focus issues at F1.4 up to F4 Photos inside.


viczig wrote:
Looking at the first photo it looks to me that the 2 blonde woman at the table are sharper than your subjects and the same with the second photo. You mention fine tune the lens but did you? If you did I would redo and see what your results are.

I would doubt seriously that Nikon would fix for free.


Fine tune? Fine tune will not fix this problem
The amount that it's off is definitely a problem with a camera or Lens.
Fine tune is for minor adjustments, nothing major like these.



Sep 18, 2016 at 12:58 AM
Christian H
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Nikon D4 soft focus issues at F1.4 up to F4 Photos inside.


What AF mode did you use? In the first and second images the camera focused on the two blondes at the table. That looks like operator error, not a camera problem. You managed to focus on the couple in #3 (in other words, the issue isn't f/1.4 vs. f/4). See if using single-point AF, which permits you to choose what the camera focuses on, while shooting in a dark room improves your hit rate. I don't trust any multipoint AF mode in marginal conditions because the camera will typically focus on the area of highest contrast.

If you did use single-point AF and focused on one of the couple's faces, you probably do have a camera problem. But even then I would blow any dust off the AF module first to see if that helps.



Sep 18, 2016 at 05:05 AM
Vcook
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Nikon D4 soft focus issues at F1.4 up to F4 Photos inside.


good luck, it appears to be backfocusing a TON.

From the cheapskate thread, maybe one of these alignment cards might help in demonstrating the problem for repair purposes: https://www.amazon.com/DSLRKIT-Focus-Calibration-Alignment-Folding/dp/B012F8G1DO




Sep 18, 2016 at 06:15 AM
trenchmonkey
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Nikon D4 soft focus issues at F1.4 up to F4 Photos inside.


Will never understand this...
when asking for help and posting pics, why strip the f'ing EXIF
No way the top photo is at f1.4 do you expect to be taken seriously??



Sep 18, 2016 at 06:26 AM
peteypab2133
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Nikon D4 soft focus issues at F1.4 up to F4 Photos inside.


trenchmonkey wrote:
Will never understand this...
when asking for help and posting pics, why strip the f'ing EXIF
No way the top photo is at f1.4 do you expect to be taken seriously??


Not sure why it strips it out. I upload them to flickr and just copy and paste.

Here are some screen grabs I just took of them.







Sep 18, 2016 at 09:06 AM
peteypab2133
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Nikon D4 soft focus issues at F1.4 up to F4 Photos inside.


Even at F4 its fairly soft. here is another shot.






Sep 18, 2016 at 09:14 AM
sjms
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Nikon D4 soft focus issues at F1.4 up to F4 Photos inside.


Not sure why it strips it out. I upload them to flickr and just copy and paste.

that's why.

really expecting us to see what is going on by visual means using a roughly 800x600 image?

on my screen it looks just fine and it is a 2560x1440 resolution screen.

if you're looking to pixel peep you need to cut out a 100% crop at minimum and post that section in the offending area ONLY.

Edited on Sep 18, 2016 at 09:24 AM · View previous versions



Sep 18, 2016 at 09:17 AM
peteypab2133
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Nikon D4 soft focus issues at F1.4 up to F4 Photos inside.


viczig wrote:
Looking at the first photo it looks to me that the 2 blonde woman at the table are sharper than your subjects and the same with the second photo. You mention fine tune the lens but did you? If you did I would redo and see what your results are.

I would doubt seriously that Nikon would fix for free.


I am going to test it today. These folks were standing still for about 10 seconds, as you can see I got three shots from them so they were patient enough to wait for me to flick through the settings.

why it would focus on a subject behind them is beyond me. I focused on his face, locked it in and moved it about 6-12 inches to the right. Thats what I got 3 times.



Sep 18, 2016 at 09:19 AM
peteypab2133
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Nikon D4 soft focus issues at F1.4 up to F4 Photos inside.


sjms wrote:
that's why.


Thanks for the info, I wasnt trying to hide it obviously



Sep 18, 2016 at 09:19 AM
peteypab2133
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Nikon D4 soft focus issues at F1.4 up to F4 Photos inside.


Christian H wrote:
What AF mode did you use? In the first and second images the camera focused on the two blondes at the table. That looks like operator error, not a camera problem. You managed to focus on the couple in #3 (in other words, the issue isn't f/1.4 vs. f/4). See if using single-point AF, which permits you to choose what the camera focuses on, while shooting in a dark room improves your hit rate. I don't trust any multipoint AF mode in marginal conditions because the camera will typically focus on the area of highest contrast.

If you did use
...Show more

Thanks for the heads up, I have another wedding in a couple weeks that I will try it out on. I took over 1500 shots with this camera, which sucks because that means I have made probably 900-1200 errors on my part.

I will review my settings yet again and adjust anything that seems out of wack.


I am about to just leave this thing home and rock 2 of my D750s lol



Sep 18, 2016 at 09:22 AM
ckcarr
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Nikon D4 soft focus issues at F1.4 up to F4 Photos inside.


To answer your first question,
Did you buy this camera new? And is it a USA model?

Secondly, these are not the best pictures to judge sharpness with. Have you done testing in good light?



Sep 18, 2016 at 09:28 AM
sjms
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Nikon D4 soft focus issues at F1.4 up to F4 Photos inside.


what AF metering setting were you using?


Sep 18, 2016 at 09:37 AM
the solitaire
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Nikon D4 soft focus issues at F1.4 up to F4 Photos inside.


Not trying to offend, but this:

Christian H wrote:
In the first and second images the camera focused on the two blondes at the table. That looks like operator error, not a camera problem. You managed to focus on the couple in #3 (in other words, the issue isn't f/1.4 vs. f/4).


is what comes to mind when reading your posts so this:

peteypab2133 wrote
Thanks for the heads up, I have another wedding in a couple weeks that I will try it out on. I took over 1500 shots with this camera, which sucks because that means I have made probably 900-1200 errors on my part.


kind of puzzles me. You take on such an assignment KNOWING that you will botch the job using the D4?

peteypab2133 wrote
I will review my settings yet again and adjust anything that seems out of wack.


This approach will not end up wit you being any smarter. Why not try to solve the problem one step at a time?

Do a full reset on the camera, place an apple on a plate and take a picture from short, medium and far distance at f1,4. Then search for where the camera placed the focal plane vs. were you set the focus point.

Then take it from there. One step at a time, to learn were your problem lies.

peteypab2133 wrote
I am about to just leave this thing home and rock 2 of my D750s lol


That would be a good approach for the wedding, given that the D750's focus where you want them to.

I could use a good D4 btw.



Sep 18, 2016 at 09:54 AM
peteypab2133
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Nikon D4 soft focus issues at F1.4 up to F4 Photos inside.




sjms wrote:
what AF metering setting were you using?


Af on 51
Center weighted average



Sep 18, 2016 at 10:25 AM
peteypab2133
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Nikon D4 soft focus issues at F1.4 up to F4 Photos inside.



Not offended. Just looking for advice so I am taking it all in.

As per botching the assignment I shot maybe 100 shots at 1.4 the rest were at f4 and above on this camera. Many of them are fine after sharpened adjustments in PP but don't enjoy doing that.

I have been in the past year or so getting the photo the way I like it in the photo and just adjusting some shadows and contrast afterwards.

first thing a first I'm going to prop it on the tripod and take some focusing photos of the charts I printed out. Save those reset the camera and check it again.

Then I will see if I can fine tune the lens a little to see if that resolves it. If not I will go from there


I did 16 weddings this year, I bought this camera a year ago used (first mistake, should have just paid the extra money, but it only had like 5,000 shots on it and that's what I wanted was a lightly used one hoping someone bought something they found to be too much for them). I may have bought something that someone was unhappy with instead. But I don't know that yet. With all the previous weddings I average about 2000-2500 photos and the work load has been 85% d750 and 15% D4 because of this.
the solitaire wrote:
Not trying to offend, but this:

is what comes to mind when reading your posts so this:

kind of puzzles me. You take on such an assignment KNOWING that you will botch the job using the D4?

This approach will not end up wit you being any smarter. Why not try to solve the problem one step at a time?

Do a full reset on the camera, place an apple on a plate and take a picture from short, medium and far distance at f1,4. Then search for where the camera placed the focal plane vs. were you set the focus point.

Then
...Show more



Sep 18, 2016 at 10:36 AM
peteypab2133
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Nikon D4 soft focus issues at F1.4 up to F4 Photos inside.


85mm 1.4G on both cameras.

Set up the tripod. left the settings the same.








Sep 18, 2016 at 11:23 AM
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