autofocus on nikon d3200

[LCPete]

Bit of a vague question this I know but anyway
I was at the zoo the other day and there was a lady with a nikon d3200 with a kit lens who asked me to help
Her camera would not autofocus
I tried turning the AF switch on and off and tried AV and tv modes but could not get it to work
Felt sorry for her as she was trying to photograph the cheetahs
I showed her how to manually focus but was frustrated that I could not help
Is there any thing else that I could have tried ?
I'm not familiar with nikons but do suspect that the lens was faulty

 

[wyx087]

Nikon also have AF mode selection in the camera.

press the "i" button will allow you to adjust on screen settings (like Q button on Canon), go to AF mode it may have been set in MF instead of AF-S (single) or AF-C (AI servo).

 

[PaulButler]

Also have a switch on the lens - if that is in M then it will be manual only, needs to be M/A to AF.

 

[LCPete]

Nikon also have AF mode selection in the camera.

press the "i" button will allow you to adjust on screen settings (like Q button on Canon), go to AF mode it may have been set in MF instead of AF-S (single) or AF-C (AI servo).

Ahh I see thanks
Think it must have been set to manual focus as the focusing did not move at all
Will try to remember that

 

[LCPete]

Also have a switch on the lens - if that is in M then it will be manual only, needs to be M/A to AF.

I did try the switch on the lens , moved it to manual then back to auto but did not work
Think it was as Wuyan said set to.manual in the I menu

 

[george g]

it could have been set up for back button focusing. That threw me out for a while one morning when i thought the AF had broke... then i realised i set it up for BB focusing the night before...

 

[Mr Bump]

I once did this myself on my D3100 turned AF off in the settings.
stumped me for a while.

couldn#t understand why

 

[LCPete]

it could have been set up for back button focusing. That threw me out for a while one morning when i thought the AF had broke... then i realised i set it up for BB focusing the night before...

Never thought of that :bang:
Never mind I did suggest she took it back to the shop and they would look at it for her
Hopefully its now sorted and at least I know what to look for if it happens again
I do sometimes wonder if cameras now are more complicated than they need to be
On my 7D I'm always on AV mode on F 5.6 to 7.1 and just adjust the ISO and exposure compensatiion