Common Lens Problems 

My books on the Nikon Z cameras have a full list of error messages and things that are commonly overlooked, but I thought it useful to put some of those that are generic on the Web site. This page deals with those that are lens-related. You'll find a similar article in the camera section for camera-related problems.

  • Your exposure is varying all the time. One of two things: (1) you've enabled bracketing; or (2) you're assigned Aperture or Exposure compensation to the lens control ring and are accidentally touching that ring and resetting your aperture.
  • You can't set Mechanical shutter. Some lenses don't allow this. Use Auto instead, which will manage the switch between shutter types for you.
  • Camera is not focusing on near subjects. Do you have the lens set to Full Range or a limited range?
  • Camera is not focusing. Do you have the switch on the lens set to M (manual focus)? 
  • Lens doesn't seem to work correctly. You might have accidentally pressed the Lens Release button and slightly twisted the lens. You'll know for sure when the lens falls off the camera ;~).
  • You're using Focus Set and Recall Setting in button assignments and this stops working. Did you change banks? Button assignments can vary between banks, so you may have gone from a bank that has these settings and one that doesn't.
  • You can't find infinity focus easily. SETUP > Save focus position > Off, and then turn the camera off and on. Voila, the focus is at infinity.
Looking for other photographic information? Check out our other Web sites:
DSLRS: dslrbodies.com | mirrorless: sansmirror.com | general/technique: bythom.com | film SLR: filmbodies.com

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