D800 doesn't make sharp pictures

Vindis

Took 300 pictures of birds in flight.
The first 50 pictures were fantastic sharp then I got an 'Err' and the rest were not sharp at all.
Since then all pictures taken are not sharp.
Any idea what can be wrong? Or do I have to send in the D800 for inspection/repair?
/Per

(Shots from today can be seen here: http://vindis.dk/skarve-der-parrer-sig/)

kyoshinikon

What was your shutter speed?

spraynpray

Sounds like a settings issue. How long did you leave between shots?

Ironheart

Have you tried: resetting the camera to factory default, pulling the battery out (and making sure it is fully charged), unmounting and remounting the lens (or switching lenses, make sure camera is off)?

Msmoto

We need all the information. I am guessing the Err was due to an issue such as the aperture ring not being locked as is required on some of the older lenses.

I suppose a question might be as to why one would continue to shoot images with an Err message.

Give us a link to one posted on Flickr or other site we can view the Exif data.

pippigurl

Have you checked to make certain the SD card is properly seated. The "err" will indicate when the card has been remove and the camera powered up.

Vindis

As I wrote, I still have the problem.

Have tried to reset, pulling batteries out/in, changed lens.
And I have tried both SD-card (Sandisk Extreme Pro 64 GB) and CP card (Sandisk Extreme IV 16 GB)
I use a 500 mm f 4.0 VR (VR not active) and I shoot sharp pictures on my D3 but not on my D800.

I don't have any of the bad pictures right now, but will take some, when weather permits and put them on my site (www.vindis.dk)

spraynpray

Be sure to keep the Exif intact Vindis.

TaoTeJared

The card has nothing to do with the Sharpness of the images at all - so you can skip that.

I'm with MsMoto - aperture ring not locked, or the lens not seated completely. More care does need to be taken as the large resolution and large cropping, you will see slight vibrations.

Settings are probably more the issue, you should be shooting above 1/500th, ideally much higher, and at 5.6 for good light if you can. 500 @f/4 is razor thin DOF.

Vindis

I normally shoot faster than 1/2000 sec. In this case I shot at 1/3200 sec.

Msmoto

OK, has the lens had AF Fine Tune applied to the lens/body combination?

What ISO are you using? At 1/3200 of a second...what f/stop. I would tend to shoot a 500mm lens between 1/1000 and 1/2000 sec and stop down at least one stop from wide open. The AF fine tune is critical as TTJ has stated....Ain't no DOF at wide apertures and 500mm.

haroldp

an 'err' message is gods way of telling us something is wrong.
I am surprised it works at all with this message.

... H

TaoTeJared

I'm suprised too that it would work with an Err message. I'm assuming it was somehow cleared.

I normally shoot faster than 1/2000 sec. In this case I shot at 1/3200 sec.

Is the ISO low? Below 800?

If you got all of that covered, it probably would be time to do test shots in the back yard and see where everything is lining up. Lenses can get "knocked out of wack" from time to time. Wouldn't take much at all for it to miss focus.

If you post some images it would help us.

Golf007sd

@Vindis: Clearly you are not a novice shooter...given that you have a D3 and a 500 f/4. Thus, I believe you have the skills to trouble shot and narrow down the problem. I'm leaning towards something is up with the body...given that you are getting an Err message...which by the way I agree that the body would allow you to take a shot in the first place. But be that as it may, I would first check to make sure you have the latest firmware. This the link to the latest D800 firmware.

Questions for you: 1) Are you the original owner? 2) How long have you owned the body? 3) Does the "Eff" message go away with a different lens?

earthsea

For my money I would be looking at your lens and it conection to the camera. I had a similar problem once and it turned out to be a broken conection in the lens.
It is a pain though, all you want to do is shoot I bet.

Vindis

I have the lasted firmware.
I am the original owner and have owned the camera for 6-7 weeks.
I have only had the 'Err' message once.
As mentioned, when shooting with D3 and the 500 mm lens the pictures are very sharp.

The sun is shining today, so I will go to the harbor later to catch some birds with both the D3 and the D800. Pictures will be put on my homepage (vindis.dk)

Msmoto

@Vindis

Posting images on one's homepage does not help anyone here see the issue unless the image is posted at full size. Full size can be posted on Flickr, then on the NRF at 640 pixels with a link to the full-size image. Here is an example of "full size":
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fantinesfotos/8601610022/sizes/o/in/photostream/

sevencrossing

For my money I would be looking at your lens and it's connection to the camera. I had a similar problem once and it turned out to be a broken connection in the lens.
It is a pain though, all you want to do is shoot I bet.

same here but in my case it was simply the lens was not fully clicked into the mount

Vindis

Problem found!!!

Went to the harbor/beach to shoot cormorant.
Aparture was set to 5.6, ISO 400 and a monopod was used. Shutter-time was between 1/1600 and 1/4000 sec. All shots so far were not sharp.
Changed to D3 with same setup - all shots sharp.

Changed back to D800 and took some shots - still no sharp pictures.

Then I saw on the back of the camera, that the toggle-switch to choose video or still-photos was not set all the way up to still-photos. I switched it up - and voila, now pictures were razor-sharp again.

A great thank for all your suggestions to solve my problem - enjoy the Easter.

/Per

(shots from today can be seen here: http://vindis.dk/skarve-der-parrer-sig/)

SquamishPhoto

@Vindis

Posting images on one's homepage does not help anyone here see the issue unless the image is posted at full size. Full size can be posted on Flickr, then on the NRF at 640 pixels with a link to the full-size image. Here is an example of "full size":
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fantinesfotos/8601610022/sizes/o/in/photostream/

This wouldn't have proved anything. EXIF data might have been helpful, but as we see he got it sorted on his own.

spraynpray

Hindsight is the only 20/20 vision I have now too....

Golf007sd

@Vindis: Congratulations...and happy Easter to you as well.

Time to close the topic...no?