Chosen Solution
The auto focus on the camera is broken. When the lens is switched onto Auto, the camera doesn’t take pictures at all, and on manual it needs to be focused manually (obviously). I’m not sure if it’s a setting that I can fix or if there is something wrong with the camera itself.
The problem might be with the camera body, the lens, or the interface between the two. In case it’s the latter, the following might be a quick fix: Detach / reattach the lens: turn off the camera, depress the lens release button and rotate the lens clockwise until it detaches. Then reattach the lens by inserting it and rotating counter-clockwise until it locks. You may repeat this a few times. Turn the camera on and check if the problem persists. If so, you can try cleaning the contacts that connect the lens to the camera body: detach the lens completely, and look at the rear flange of the lens to locate the contacts. Wipe the contacts carefully with a pencil eraser. Be careful to avoid debris getting into the rear of the lens. Then look at the lens flange on the camera body to locate the lens contacts’ counterparts, and wipe these with the pencil eraser as well. Again, be careful not to get any debris inside the camera. Reattach the lens, turn the camera on and check if the problem persists. If the above did not solve the problem, you’d have to figure out if the problem is with the camera or the lens. The easiest way to do this is to try a different lens. If you don’t have one, see if you can borrow one from a fellow Nikon owner. The lens does not have to be identical to the lens that came with your camera, any recent Nikon AF-S type lens will do. If autofocus works with the other lens, the the problem is almost certainly with your lens. In case the lens is a cheap kit lens like the AF-S DX 18-55, it is likely not worth the trouble to repair, since such a lens can be bought new for about 100 bucks - or you might take the opportunity to upgrade to a better quality lens. If autofocus does not work even with a different lens, there’s no easy fix - the problem is almost certainly with the camera body. There are (as far as I know) no menu settings that inhibit autofocus from working correctly. However, consider the following: If you’re using LiveView (that is, you use the camera’s LCD display rather than the optical viewfinder for composing your shots) autofocus will always be slower and less precise compared to using the viewfinder, and depending on conditions the camera might not be able to focus correctly.
I had the same issue and was able to fix it by slightly and gently turning the focus while in auto focus. It’s like something was gummed up inside or it wasn’t quite right on with the gears, but after I turned it slightly it would jump into focus. Now it works fine, without my assistance. For how long is yet to be determined…
I had the same problem and it turned out that I had set the AE button to AF on. I did not know that this negated the half press focus function of the shutter button. Have switched back to default mode since the autofocus function is much quicker and crisper that way.
Ok so I fumbled around with my camera for like an hour -_- only to find that the switch on the lense one for A and one for M was the problem. I had it on M for manual when it should have been on A for auto. My auto focus now works wonderfully.
similar difficulty. my d3200 already has that nasty ‘metering error, send to nikon’ message, but was using it on manual with no problems. then bought a new vr/af/dx lens and suddenly had all the features of that lens the with the knob on manual setting, BUT, only after drilling down into the setup menu. one of the metering settings was set to auto aperture. i set it to ‘manual’ and was shocked when the lens started auto focusing, vibration reduction and got some excellent images. twiddling the ISO auto, minimum shutter speed and other options also allowed improvements. it seems there’s more to this error than just a simple mechanical issue this camera has the old/original software version, but i don’t want to upgrade until i figure out what actually is causing the metering error. if anyone gets hold of a repair manual for these, PLEASE share it! nikon does release lens repair manuals, but who need them, they are a real nightmare to fix!
Same problem with failure to focus - solved by ensuring switch on lens was set at A not M - simply really !
I had the same problem last Sunday ( Sept 24, 2017) I had Nikon D5300 and the AF-P 18-55 lens suddenly stopped auto focusing. I have tried several methods as suggested above but t was still not working. I have tried a different lens and the auto focus is perfect. Hence, I am now confirmed that there is some issue with the lens. When I am changing the setting to manual the shutter is firing but still there is focus issues. I am still struggling . Someone plese help?
I was having this issue for MONTHS with the standard lens and a new lens. I finally reset the shooting menu and it magically worked. I feel dumb for not trying it sooner, but I’m very happy now.
Same here. After tinkering for a while I realized I had messed with the settings while on M mode and focused on the background. Then i inadvertently switched back to A mode and the pictures wouldn’t focus on the foreground because i needed to go back to M mode to switch focus to the foreground. Hope this helps.
I am having a similar problem. In live video mode when switching the setting to AF-F on my Nikon D3200 it acts like the AF-S setting is supposed to, only focusing when I half press the shutter. It focuses on its own right when I turn the setting on but then stays in that fixed range until I half press the shutter. How do I get it to work correctly and autofocus on its own? Any suggestions?
Initially I tweaked the lens back and forth, as has been suggested, and it worked for a while (temporarily) but I soon discovered that the issue of non Auto focsus was not resolved after all. I too then went into the ‘Menu’ setting, looked for ‘Buttons’, and assigned the AE/AF button to AF-ON. Now all I have to do is depress the AE/AF button to Auto Focus, you will hear the familiar beep sound when your image is focusesd release the AE/AF button once focused and take your picture in th usual way using shutter release - PROBLEM SOLVED. Hope this helps you guys! Admittedly it doesn’t explain why it no longer auto focuses with a slight depression of the shutter release as it used too, for for now at least, I am quite content to have found a work around.
I have this same problem with my Nikon D5300 and lens suddenly stopped auto focusing. I have tried several methods as suggested above but it’s still not working. I have tried a different lens it’s not still working. When i press the shutter button the lens will keep moving back and forth. I don’t know what to do anymore. I have only one camera.
On my D3200 I had the same trouble. I eventually discovered the problem could be resolved by holding down the “AE-L/AF-L” button. I then reassigned that button to AF On mode, which means it only autofocuses while that button is pressed. That eliminates the problem. I happen to like having the focus locked by default, but you can experiment with other settings for this button. I assume this is a bug in the lens or camera firmware but at least there are workarounds.
