NIKON D5200 autofocus?

Okay so I have the Nikon D5200 which I use to record video. But when I use the AF-F setting the camera continues to "search" so a new focus causing my video to keep going in and out of focus every few seconds and making a loud lense noise which ruins the video. Is there a way I can have it autofocus but not as often? And a way to fix the loud sound? Would getting an external mic help?

Sadly you made some assumptions because you believe that digital SLR cameras are also video cameras. They are NOT. They just have a video feature, so any focusing you will be doing when shooting video is going to have to be manual.

When you are in the live view mode, unless there's plenty of light AND there's enough contrast in the scene, the live view auto-focus is going to search and search for something it can focus on.

You have another issue that needs covering.

"… Making a loud lense noise which ruins the video."

To get pristine sound, you need an external sound recorder like the Zoom H1 or H4n. Those recorders are highly sophisticated and will NOT pick up the sounds of your lens moving as you focus and zoom it, nor will it pick up the sounds of your hands touching the camera. The on-board microphones are going to record any sounds made by the camera or things touching the camera.

An external sound recorder is isolated from the camera and it not only has audio electronics that are far superior to any digital SLR cameras sound recording package, but is fully adjustable to assure that there's NO clipping of loud sound like that found when recording live voice or music

Here is a link that will show you the accessories you need to make a digital SLR camera a viable video camera… Sort of.

Totally agree with fhotoace, the issues with autofocus noise while videoing are well documented and highlighted in the You Tube content I regularly visit.

All the regular contributors on here constantly recommend research and make it perfectly clear that DSLR cameras are not the ideal route into video, not everyone listens.

Don't be put off most, if not all established or professional filmmakers video with manual focus and external audio recorders and/or some kind of external microphone set up, it is possible to achieve decent video with DSLR cameras its just not cheap.

There's no such feature as "focus less." It's either focusing or it's not. You must focus manually. You can help things out by using a smaller aperture like f/8 which will create a larger depth of field. This helps in that if you should move forward/backward a little bit, you won't go out of focus. It does mean that you may need additional lights and that the background is going to be more in focus. So you'll need to ensure that the background is clean and uncluttered.

Should have purchased a video camera for video, and leave the still camera for stills.