Something wasn't jiving with my 80-400 and D7200. It wouldn't autofocus accurately, and any AF fine tune I could dial in would only work for that focal length and that subject distance.
After trying for weeks (and faking my way through a few swamp trips) to manage this issue...I gave up.
Nikon lady ran me through a few tests that I had already done, and then she asked me what my firmware version was. I know there was an update for it recently, but I hadn't put it on there. The changelog says this:
• Fixed the following issues:
- Selecting Firmware version in the SETUP MENU would not display “C X.XX L X.XXX”.
- About 4 seconds of static could be heard on audio recorded with external HDMI recorders during movie live view.
- Exposure compensation would fail to produce the desired results if a negative value was selected when NEF (RAW) images were processed using the NEF (RAW) processing option in the RETOUCH MENU.
- February 29th would sometimes not display correctly in leap years.
View Quote
She says that (apparently, according to an unspecified source and I can find no reference for it myself) this update also fixes AF fine tune issues and various other lens compatibility problems.
So, she had me run the update...and wouldn't you know it. The 80-400 is now absolutely spot on with 0 AF fine tune, as is my 105D. My 35mm and 50mm required a bit of negative each, but still within reason.
Couple test images I shot while on the phone with the Nikon lady
No crop:
DSC_5219-Edit by
Zack, on Flickr
Crop in, and I got caught:
DSC_5220-Edit by
Zack, on Flickr
DSC_5221-Edit by
Zack, on Flickr
The middle one apparently objected to my taking pictures
DSC_5222-Edit by
Zack, on Flickr
They soon decided to depart
DSC_5230-Edit by
Zack, on Flickr
DSC_5231-Edit by
Zack, on Flickr
Found one a little farther away in a dark part of the scenery
DSC_5236-Edit by
Zack, on Flickr
Horses way way way way far away (super cropped...but damn that detail
)
DSC_5251-Edit by
Zack, on Flickr
And finally, this part of a palm tree or something
DSC_5261-Edit by
Zack, on Flickr
You might be thinking that these pictures don't show much detail...and you're right. But they're also super heavy crops from a damn far away shot. The focus, however, is absolutely spot on with each and every one.
No complaints from me!
D7200 users, NorthPolar posted a thread not too long ago about the updated firmware. The changelog is apparently not an exhaustive list of what it does. I recommend the update, especially if you're having any odd AF issues.