# help! going crazy..how do I use Autofocus with Nikkor 50mmf/1.8 with D3000??



## Sapphire07 (Jan 2, 2011)

I am new to photography and I just got an AF Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D lens from my hubs for xmas, but I can't get it to autofocus with my D3000 camera body. I have tried many times to reattach, I cleaned contacts, and tried to adjust settings. There is no AF/M switch, like on my kit lens, but its killing me that I can't figure it out.

Side note, I went to the Shooting Menu and it won't let me change the Focus mode - it tells me that 'this option is not available with current settings,' so its stuck at MF...

any input is appreciated!


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## OrionsByte (Jan 3, 2011)

The D3000 doesn't have a built-in focus motor; auto-focusing must be performed in-lens. While Nikon does make a 50mm with AF, it sounds like you got one without it. 

Short answer is: any lens you pick up will not auto-focus on the D3000 unless it has an AF switch.


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## flea77 (Jan 3, 2011)

That lens requires a camera more advanced than the D3000, the body must have a focusing motor in it. They make a AF-S version you can buy of the 1.4 I believe. 

Allan


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## Tbini87 (Jan 3, 2011)

Your D3000 needs to be used with an AF-S lens for it to auto focus. 

The 50mm 1.8 won't auto focus on your camera, but you can still use it by focusing manually. I am pretty sure that there will be a little green dot in your viewfinder once your shot is in focus.


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## OrionsByte (Jan 3, 2011)

flea77 said:


> That lens requires a camera more advanced than the D3000, the body must have a focusing motor in it. They make a AF-S version you can buy of the 1.4 I believe.
> 
> Allan



Just to clarify, the lens will still work with your camera and do everything else it's supposed to - it just won't autofocus. It's still a good lens.


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## Sapphire07 (Jan 3, 2011)

thanks everyone - I am disappointed I didn't get the AF-S version, but with the huge difference in pricetag, this will have to do for now! I enjoy shooting children/babies the most, so I am going to have to figure out how to manually focus quickly while running after them...


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## Dominantly (Jan 3, 2011)

The 35mm will autofocus, and is quite a bit cheaper than the 50mm f/1.4.

Just in case you decide to sell and switch.


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## Tbini87 (Jan 3, 2011)

Forgot to mention that the 35mm 1.8 is an AF-S lens at around $225 I believe. It is a great lens. We loved ours until we upgraded to a D90 which could AF with the 50 1.8, and we mostly use that now instead of the 35 for portraits.


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## Village Idiot (Jan 3, 2011)

I could be a dick and make a comment about how Canon is superior because you can AF with any current lens/camera combinations, like some certain forum member likes to do when it's anything that he can get in about Nikon, regardless whether or not the word Nikon was ever brought up in that thread, but I'm not going to.

Oops. Looks like I just did. Sorry OP.

And I personally did not find anything spectacular about 50mm on a crop sensor. I like wides. 35mm might be a better option. The wider you go, the more DOF you'll have at a wider aperture though. It's a trade off. If you want really thin DOF, get a longer lens with a wide aperture; you'll just need room to use it.


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## o hey tyler (Jan 3, 2011)

Village Idiot said:


> 35mm might be a better option.



^This 

Still a MF lens on the D3000 I believe, but it's the closest thing you'll have to a "50mm prime walkaround lens" for a small pricetag. My Girlfriend has the 35mm f/2 for her Canon and loves it.


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## Light Artisan (Jan 3, 2011)

Nah, 35mm f/1.8G is an autofocusing lens on the D3000 and comes in at only $199 to boot.



Village Idiot said:


> I could be a dick and make a comment about how Canon is superior because you can AF with any current lens/camera combinations, like some certain forum member likes to do when it's anything that he can get in about Nikon, regardless whether or not the word Nikon was ever brought up in that thread, but I'm not going to.


 
Define 'current', because the same is true for Nikon... all 'current' releases of Nikon lenses have an autofocus motor built in. Not only that but almost every lens ever made will at least mount on most current bodies as well.


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## robb01 (Jan 3, 2011)

Time to upgrade  The D90 is getting cheaper everyday


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## o hey tyler (Jan 3, 2011)

Light Artisan said:


> Nah, 35mm f/1.8G is an autofocusing lens on the D3000 and comes in at only $199 to boot.



Okay thanks for clearing that up. I wanted to say that my friend had the same lens on a D*5000* and it didn't autofocus... But now that I think about it, maybe she said it didn't meter? I don't know Nikon lingo though...


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## Light Artisan (Jan 3, 2011)

There are older 35mm lenses that won't (the 35mm f/2 for example)... the new 35's (1.8 and 1.4) will.


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## mjhoward (Jan 3, 2011)

Village Idiot said:


> I could be a dick and make a comment about how Canon is superior because you can AF with any current lens/camera combinations



I just mounted a lens from 1986 on my Nikon body...


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## Village Idiot (Jan 3, 2011)

Light Artisan said:


> Nah, 35mm f/1.8G is an autofocusing lens on the D3000 and comes in at only $199 to boot.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
Every single EF and EF-S lens...except maybe the Tilt Shift lenses. But I want just making a point.



mjhoward said:


> Village Idiot said:
> 
> 
> > I could be a dick and make a comment about how Canon is superior because you can AF with any current lens/camera combinations
> ...


 
I just mounted a Nikon 12-24 on my Canon body.

Wait, no I didn't, but I could.


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## KmH (Jan 3, 2011)

Village Idiot said:


> I could be a dick and make a comment about how Canon is superior because you can AF with any current lens/camera combinations, like some certain forum member likes to do when it's anything that he can get in about Nikon, regardless whether or not the word Nikon was ever brought up in that thread, but I'm not going to.
> 
> Oops. Looks like I just did. Sorry OP.


Be sure and mention that none of Canon's EF-S lenses can be used on Canon EF camera bodies, because EF-S lenses prevent the mirror from getting up out of the light path to the image sensor.

Almost every Nikon lens made since 1959 can be used to make images on every Nikon body, some may have to be manually focused, non-cpu lenses won't meter either, and the DX lenses may only use the middle part of an image sensor, but they can all be used.


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## KmH (Jan 3, 2011)

Sapphire07 said:


> thanks everyone - I am disappointed I didn't get the AF-S version, but with the huge difference in pricetag, this will have to do for now! I enjoy shooting children/babies the most, so I am going to have to figure out how to manually focus quickly while running after them...


That's what photographers did before AF was invented.

But cameras then had some focusing aids they don't have today.

However, the AF 50 mm f/1.8D lens you got *is* a CPU lens and it transmits distance information to your D3000 so the D3000 will know when focus has been acheived as you turn the lens focus ring, and will light up the in-focus indicator in the camera viewfinder.

In other words all of the auto focus system is there, except a motor to move the lens focus mechanism, which you do manually.

Like most things, it will take a little practice to develope and refine your technique, but you have to do that to an extent with auto focus too.


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## gsgary (Jan 3, 2011)

Village Idiot said:


> I could be a dick and make a comment about how Canon is superior because you can AF with any current lens/camera combinations, like some certain forum member likes to do when it's anything that he can get in about Nikon, regardless whether or not the word Nikon was ever brought up in that thread, but I'm not going to.
> 
> Oops. Looks like I just did. Sorry OP.
> 
> And I personally did not find anything spectacular about 50mm on a crop sensor. I like wides. 35mm might be a better option. The wider you go, the more DOF you'll have at a wider aperture though. It's a trade off. If you want really thin DOF, get a longer lens with a wide aperture; you'll just need room to use it.



I don't know who you can be talking about  sorry again to OP but couldn't resist


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## Village Idiot (Jan 3, 2011)

KmH said:


> Be sure and mention that none of Canon's EF-S lenses can be used on Canon EF camera bodies, because EF-S lenses prevent the mirror from getting up out of the light path to the image sensor.
> 
> Almost every Nikon lens made since 1959 can be used to make images on every Nikon body, some may have to be manually focused, non-cpu lenses won't meter either, and the DX lenses may only use the middle part of an image sensor, but they can all be used.


 
All 6 of those EF-S lenses that have much better EF lenses in those focal ranges with sharper glass and wider apertures?


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