[alisonaxworthy]

Hello all,
I have had my nikon d80 roughly 6 months now, I've recently been using it for close up photography and have been having some problems.
For extreme close ups sometimes I cannot get my camera to focus manually, auto focus will not focus it and the odd occasion it does it will not take the photograph. Is the camera faulty or am I doing something wrong?
Thankyou for all your help,
Alison

[Markulous]

Hi, Alison, welcome to Pixalo

What sort of close ups? What lens? Should focus manually whatever, so are you trying to get closer than lens will focus?

[Dabhand16]

Welcome to Pixalo Alison

I think you have encountered some issues that are not camera faults.

First, all lenses have a minimum focus distance. This is the distance from the front of the lens to the subject. If you are closer than the minimum focus distance, the camera will be unable to focus both manually or by autofocus. This distance will depend on the lens and the aperture setting.

Second you probably have the camera set to only allow the shutter to be released if the subject is in focus. if the autofocus cannot get a lock, the camera will not release the shutter. This is a setting that can be accessed via the menu or on a switch or button on the camera.

So, what can you do? For close-up work, focus is critical, so first you need to find out how close you can get to your subject. You might find this in the manual, or on the manufacturer's web site, but if you set the camera on manual focus, then set the lens at the closest distance on the scale and simply move back and forth looking at something that is nicely lit so you can see if it is sharp in the viewfinder. You will soon see what the closest distance is. You will be able to sneak a little more with a small apature setting, but generally, this will be your closest working distance.

You might find this Tutorial useful. there is a rather long thread here that has some excellent macro shots in it.

You do not say if you have a macro lens or not, but a specialist lens is probably the best way to go if you do not have one. Alternatively, there are cheaper options like close-up supplementary lenses that fit onto the front of your lens, or extension tubes that fit behind your lens.