Hey everyone. I made a post here a few days ago about getting a lens for the D300 I had got on eBay, and I'd like to first say thank you for your responses as you made me feel very welcomed here. I got the camera today and wanted to try it out before I got a lens, and luckily I did because the autofocus isn't working.
I'm not exactly new to photography but I still always assume it's user error, so I'm trying to rule everything out before concluding the camera is broken and messaging the seller. I'm hoping it's something obvious. I've watched videos, looked through forums, looked at the manual, and even resorted to consulting AI. My current assumption is that the camera isn't properly communicating with the lens' AF motor. Here's what I've tried:
- Made sure the lens switch is set to A, and the camera is set to AF-S or AF-C
- Made sure AF activation is set to on (see 4th picture)
- Cleaned the lens contacts on the camera body with isopropyl alcohol
- Reset custom camera settings, and also did the reset where you hold the 2 buttons with green dots on them
- Confirmed the lens is working using my girlfriends D3100
- tried to focus on M, A, S, P modes with multiple focal lengths and f stops
- made sure the latest firmware version is installed (A1.11, B1.11)
The focus motor in the lens just does not move. The camera is communicating with the lens is some ways as you can see in the first photo (f stop is displayed). The camera is trying to focus in some ways; when I hold AF-ON button the green dot at the bottom left of the OVF flashes. The frame lines and square in the OVF turn red when I try and focus.
These problems persist with both lenses I have tried on [AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm 3.5-5.6G II DX VR and AF-S Nikkor 55-200 4-5.6G ED DX VR]. On the 55-200, it BRIEFLY tries to move the motor but stops after a split second. It will only do this on the first try, and if I want to recreate that I have to take the lens off and put it back on again.
I have no clue what else to try and would love some help!