Beginner Dullard Nikon Auto Focus Question

tenyearsafter

tenyearsafter

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Martin
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Having always been a Canon user I am clueless on all things Nikon. A friend, looking for her first DSLR, recently bought a Nikon D3300 which seems a perfectly acceptable bit of kit. She has now got a 2nd hand Sigma 70-300 F4 - F5.6 DG and cannot get it to auto focus. My knowledge of Nikons starts & ends with the rather vague idea that the system of AF motors they use is "different from Canon". Can anyone shed any light here; is she missing something or is that lens never going to AF on that body?

Thanks
 
Unless the lens is an HSM lens, it will not auto-focus on that camera. The D3300 does not have an auto-focus motor built into the body. The lenses your friend needs to look out for are AF-S (if its a Nikon lens) and HSM for Sigma. AF-S and HSM lenses have the auto-focus motors built into the lens.
 
Have a look at the mount on the lens. If it looks like this:-
8mmNonHSM by gpn63, on Flickr
it won't AF on your friend's D3300 but if it looks like this:-
12-24HSM by gpn63, on Flickr
it should.
As Nick says, Sigma lenses suitable for the lower end newer Nikons will be designated HSM. They tend to be more expensive than the older non HSM versions.
BTW, if this is the issue, your friend's not the first to be caught out and won't be the last.
 
I have the Sigma AF 70-300mm f4-5.6 DG Macro and it does autofocus on my D3100. It doesn't have the HSM motor so wasn't sure if it would work or not before I picked it up.
 
I have the Sigma AF 70-300mm f4-5.6 DG Macro and it does autofocus on my D3100. It doesn't have the HSM motor so wasn't sure if it would work or not before I picked it up.
 
There are lots of versions of the sigma 70-300. Some are HSM, some aren't, but there is also a few in the middle, that have focus motors, but aren't designated HSM. They are usually quite slow motors, not HSM motors.
 
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