I am taking an unscientific poll to see how many owners here of the D800/E and D4 have the left focusing issue or problem on their cameras.

I guess I will find out about the D4 on Wednesday!

This is honestly the thing that scares me the most about getting a D800 right now.

I have the issue with my D800 but it does not impact me as i generaaly shoot at 50 pr above and never use any focus point outside the middle on any wide angle lens. I will send it in once things get sorted out in El Segundo.

Have not bothered to test yet

beshannon wrote:
Have not bothered to test yet

That's what I did and it passed the 30-day return window and I regret not testing it sooner.

The statistics don't look so good so far for Nikon in this poll. Seems like we're pretty confident that there's a problem here.

Seeing the results for D800e and D4, I wonder if pollsters might think (but not necessarily have) their other Nikons, Canons, etc. had left focus issues?

I just recently tested mine even though I've had it since the day it was released. I already have 22K actuation's on it. I didn't test it earlier because I didn't experience any issues. Needless to say I do not have a focus issue even when looking for it. I will now go and sell mine for $10K as a "special edition no AF problems" D800.

I had worse luck when the D7000 came out. Back focusing with my 70-200 was extreme.

I have the issue with my D800E, but since I bought it overseas, I am not sure what NikonUSA will do for me...
Called them, and they "made no promisses"... said for me to send it in first, and "we'll go from there".

Rob Galbraith posted these thoughts regarding the D4 on July 17th.

"All of the above assumes the use of lenses like the AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G, AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II, AF-S 400mm f/2.8G VR II and AF-S 200-400mm f/4G VR. What these all have in common is a maximum aperture of f/2.8 or slower. I've struggled to achieve the same level of autofocus performance with Nikon's f/1.4 lenses, including the AF-S 24mm f/1.4G, AF-S 50mm f/1.4G and AF-S 85mm f/1.4G. Even when the working aperture is f/2.8 and therefore shallower depth of field is not a factor."

I have the left focus issue with my D800E, more so with my 1.4 lens, 35/1.4, 50/1.4 & 85/1.4. I only checked my 1.4 lens as that was suggested by Thom's site. Over the next few weeks I'll check the 2.8's and 4.0. I purchased the D800E to replace my D3x or Canon 5DMKII since they offer the high res for landscapes.

It sounds like Nikon is not sure of the Official response yet but hopefully they'll come back with a solution officially for everyone. I came back to Nikon after 20 years with Canon, this is not IMO close to the messed up MKIII I had that would not focus on moving or stationary subjects and was inconsistent.

Mine is fine. I've read on another very popular forum that the % of bodies that have an AF issue is well under 10%.

Smridevan wrote:
beshannon wrote:
Have not bothered to test yet

That's what I did and it passed the 30-day return window and I regret not testing it sooner.

The statistics don't look so good so far for Nikon in this poll. Seems like we're pretty confident that there's a problem here.

I would maintain that the sample here as well as other places on the net is so small and skewed that the results are nearly useless.

Based on what I am reading, even if I have the issue it likely would not affect my landscape shooting. If I have a two year warranty why would I obsess over an issue I might not have or might not show up?

The only thing that can be concluded is that there are people who believe they have a problem.

My D800E has the left AF issue, but only with my 14-24mm f2.8G lens - I've tested all of my other lenses, and they all focus just fine with all AF points.

I usually have to use LiveView AF for critical shots anyway because of the 14-24's inherent field curvature/focus shift issues, so the problem doesn't really affect me.

ordered a D800 direct from Nikon store serial # 3027xxx -- AF tested on 50/1.8 -- all good

Mine seems to be all good, tested it with various lenses, it's good to go for me..

I've been thinking about getting a D800 for some time, but now after hearing about all these problems I'm going to just wait for a year or so now, plus I'm still very happy with my D700.

It seems to me that Nikon has rushed the D800 and D4 to beat Canon out of the gate to get new stuff out. Have not really heard any problems with Canons new big guns.

My D800 has a pretty bad case of the "Left side back focus". I've tested it with the 24 1.4, 28 1.8, 24-70, 14-24 and 18-200. It can be seen on every lens. My 24-70 at f8, focused at infinity back focuses on the left point. Other points are perfect. It's sooo frustrating.

Perhaps this is a Nikon conspiracy to keep people from buying the D800 in the used market. People would hesitate to buy it used, knowing that there might be that dreaded left focus issue!

I've had 3 D800 bodies, two of which had the issue, including the one body I own now. Just sent it off to El Segundo for fix'in.

Let us know the outcome once you get it back.