Can I quicken up Autofocus

Not sure where to post this, hope this is ok


As you may know I have a Nikon D40 and the lens I use is the AF-S Nikkor 55-200mm 1:4-5.6 G ED, at least that what it looks like it says

My favourite things to take pics of is wildlife and birds, and these can be pretty fast moving at times, I've noticed that my lens on occasions can't focus on them quick enough, and I loose the shot and the subject, it can be quite frustrating at times, is this the lens, is there anything I can do to make it focus quicker, or is it just one of those things, would a better quality lens be able to focus quicker, I'm sure there must be a solution as I've seen pictures on the 'net of some of the things I've tried to capture and can't, any ideas, anyone

Thank you

Some lens focus faster than others, esp from one end of the scale to the other.

The quickest way would be to use manual focus or buy more expensive lens, but even those rely on a motor to do the work so I wouldn't expect lightening speeds.

I'm not sure what type of motor that particular lens has, but I would say it is most likely down to the fact that particular lens does not have a fast motor. For example, Canon lenses have different motors. Two very slow motors are the Micro motor and the AFD motor (the AFD is actually out of production now). They also produce USM lenses (lenses with an Ultrasonic Motor) however there are still two versions of this, Micro USM and Ring USM (where Ring is the better quality)..

The type of motor certainly affects the focusing time so I would say it is something you will have to put up with for now.

Thanks Azz and Greyhawk

It's as I thought, it's down to the lens, so will have to do some serious saving for a faster, better lens

If you want really super sharp pictures at a fast speed then this is where the Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 comes into its own. Unfortunately you have to pay a premium for such a lens around £1200 or there abouts, which is why most of us don't have one.

Photographic birds in flight must be one of the hardest tasks in photography, they best way is to go to a raptor center where hunting birds are flown, you stand a much better chance there.

Unfortunately only £'s can increase AF speed, either better glass or better camera.

Thanks Bazza & Stanokella

Bazza, going to a raptor centre is definately on my 'must do' list, there's one not too far from us called Eagle Heights, and I intend to have crossed it off my list this summer

The only trouble is, there not wild, and I will still have that desire to capture a Swallow or Swift on the wing, and that Dragonfly or Damselfly is flight
but £1200 for the lens , maybe if I'm really, really good Santa will be extra nice to me this year

Stanokella, as I feared , if by some miracle I got the better lens would the D40 be up to the lens, or as the lens would have the motor in it, and not the camera, would the camera be OK I've only had the camera since November '07 and really don't want to start thinking about a different one just yet

The 70-200 will work fine on the D40 and will give you quicker AF than lower end lenses, it does have a feature of 2 AF modes, one for objects from its minimum focus distance up to 2.5 m, and then 2.5 to infinity. In the 2nd mode the AF is even quicker than the full range.

Is it possible to 'upgrade' the motor in the lens?

don't think you can do an upgrade on a lens motor, at least i have never heard of it meing done. The price of an upgrade were it possible would far exceed the price of a new lens.

That is on of the problems with photography , you always want something just that wee bit better but financially out of reach.

Bazza