My AF Focus is cured!

I have been moaning about my many out-of-focus shots with my 500mm lens. I was clueless why the photos are mostly Out Of Focus (OOF) - I have already eliminated those culprits such as AF mode, AF type, subject motion ( I took shots of a big rock & still turned out OOF !) , camera shake ( there were spots in the picture that were in focus), so what else have I not done?

As I studied my OOF shots last night, I saw "AF Finetune = 0" as part of the EXIF. I surfed the internet and finally struck gold. The search brouught many links which described my problem. What will we do without internet??

http://www.flickr.com/groups/nikon_d300_users/discuss/72157603567131829

http://photomatter.com/Reviews/NikonD300b.html

http://www.focustestchart.com/chart.html

Rather than following their steps to do the AF finetuning, I sent all my lens to Nikon service center today since they are still under warranty.

D300 has a function that you can finetune the AF from -20 to 0 to +20. With my 500mm plus TC1.4x, the finetune figure turned up to +17.

Tested my lens today - AF works MUCH better now ..i might still tweaked it a bit as I do more field tests. Some of my photos today of the White breasted waterhen in Singapore Botanical Garden - eco-lake (luckily she turned up..otherwise, I dont have any subject to test my lens...ha ha).

I liked the way she turned her head to look at me...that made this picture sweet.

I wished I had lower my camera so that I could take it at eye level...it would it make a more powerful shot.

cutie one again....

the eye was so sharp, i am impressed, but sad to realise that the beak is not in focus due to motion i think..so, this shot should rank as trash.... :-(