Nikon 18-105mm VR AF mayhem!

[lerabu]

Hi all!

I recently got the lens from the title. I am using it on a Nikon D80. Prior to this lens I used a 21 year-old Nikkor AF 35-70mm 1:3.3-4.5 lens.

So my issue is that with the old lens I could autofocus on a subject and then while holding the shutter release halfway I kept the subject in focus and then I could compose the picture before taking the shot and thus moving the focused subject say to the right of the frame.

With the new lens it's a bit different in that when I focus on the subject and then move to the side of the frame the while holding the shutter release halfway, the lens goes on to focus on a subject in the middle of the frame

I have the camera body set on AF and also the lens switch is set on AF. When I put the camera body switch to M the lens doesn't autofocus with the servo anymore, which is logical.

Does it mean I will have to revert to manual focusing for these kinds of shots? I hop not I suppose in this case newer doesn't always mean better :P

If you have a trick please do share!

Thank you in advance for your answers!

[RecurrentNerve]

2 things you can do here. It's nothing to do with the lens. Perhaps a problem with the user!

Simplest way is to make sure your AF mode is set to S (Single). This autofocuses once and locks the focus thereafter, as long as you hold the shutter button halfway down. If it's set to C (continuous) it will refocus when you recompose the shot. It may do this in A (auto) mode if it decides you are photographing a moving subject. The AF button is on the top next to the LCD display I believe.

The other way is using your AE-L button. You'll notice on the back of the camera to the right of the viewfinder is a button with 'AE-L AF-L' on it. This stands for Auto Exposure Lock / Autofocus Lock. Pressing and holding this locks the metering and focus on the current setting. If you go into your camera's menu you can set this to lock only the metering or only the focus. I use it for metering personally.

[lerabu]

Haha! A user problem it is! I was afraid it was something like that :P I am quite new and it really does seem I need to get still acquainted a bit more with my gear Well I've been into it for two weeks :P

Thank you for the tips. I will check it out when I get home from work, though my mind is already at play with all the possibilites!

[RecurrentNerve]

There's an old phrase that is nonetheless still relevant today: RTFM!

[lerabu]

lol love the phrase! :P

I got hte camera second hand with no manual. my bad for not downloading the official manual and reading through it :P