Lens problem? 70-200mm VR focus issues

[Hacker]

Ever since I got the above lens a few weeks ago I've noticed on some shots that they are not as sharp as they should be but I was putting it down to operator error, although the VR should have taken care of any slight shake I might have.

Recently it has started to bug me a bit more and tonight I was shooting a family party and it cropped up again, the odd thing is that is not on every shot, only some. As I became aware of it I changed my focussing to single spot and concentrated on putting the selected spot on the eye of the subject. As you can see from the image below the eye is badly OOF yet the coat (lower circle) is fine.

Full image 1/90th f/2.8 VR on:

Crop:

This shot was taken immediately after the one above and was also at 1/90th yet it is fine:

Any ideas what could be the cause of this intermittent problem?

 

[Joe T]

Hmmm

 

[Wile E. coyote]

The only thing I can think of is a slight bit of motion blur, but it certainly doesn't look like thats what the problem is. Strange one :shrug:

 

[chuckles]

Are you using VR normal or active? 'Active' is very aggressive and as the manual suggests, best used from a moving vehicle.....

Which AF focussing mode are using? Try changing the grouping to prove whether it's the lens or the camera......

I will say.... that lens had got to be the best AF lens Nikon have ever produced. You really ought to get it sorted.....

Any errors I've ever noticed is subject motion blur. And I've only really become aware of it because you can use such slow speeds. Thinking about it, that's probablyy why the dawg is sharp in some places and not in others... :shrug:

 

[Ross]

As Barry has said my guess is that the dog simply moved. They do that.