D200 problem

One of the work D200's messed up in field (specifically why we have two). The AF was only going on hunting trips, it absolutely could not find focus. Manual focus images are not accepted by our software either, so the option of using manual focus was off too. I goofed around with it a bit, swapped out the lens on it, but the problem persisted. I noticed later that at the 18mm wide angle there was some vignetting on the upper corners, I checked the hood and it was on properly. As such, my assumption was that the mirror was offset, so I decided to set to manual focus and release the shutter a few times to maybe try and get the mirror back in place. It worked, the AF is now working again and the vignetting went away, but I am concerned that the problem may persist at later times in field. Is this problem something that requires any repair or tuning to resolve, will it come back? Has anybody else here experience with this problem?

I have a 200 and have never had the problem. The mirror was offset...??? do you mean it was physically tilted off its axis ? if so Wow. That thing is supposed to be rock solid and only allow rotational (flipping up and down) motion along one axis.

A little confused on why you could not manually focus... software should not care how the image is focused I would think. But who knows.

G

well its a proprietary software thats used to screen images before being sent to lab, even if you AF and then engage DMF the software says 'exif states manual focus, not accepted'.

But yeah it was offset, not by much at all just enough to get some slight vignetting on the corners from the lens hood, and enough to make it constantly hunt for focus.

If I were you I would send the camera in for a check-up. The mirror assembly is delicate (i.e. must never be touched). It sounds like the camera has had lots of use. There might be some other problem lurking as well. Can't do any harm. Just cost some money..