Am i going insane - please help with D7000 focussing

mikeyw

mikeyw

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Hi,

I'm really struggling with the focussing on my D7000, i simply can't seem to get consistently sharp results no matter what i try. I've even had it back to Nikon to get it checked out an they returned it with a clean bill of health.

This weekend i took some images of my son and all have come out soft to very soft.

I used D7000+Tripod+35mm @F5 + SB7000 TTL bounced from behind. Subject 8ft from Camera

Taken using AF-C to combat any small movement from my son who to be fair stood very still, i lowered the shutter to 1/40th to get some more ambient light in (i decided to blow instead in lightroom afterwards)

The 1st example has been sharpened a heck of lot to try and recover it and processed in lightroom.

DSC_0781-2.jpg


A Crop of the head shows the image still isn't in focus (check eyes)

DSC_0781.jpg


Finally another image cropped as it came out of camera.

DSC_0784.jpg


I've never been confident with my D7000's focussing and my keeper count is far lower than it should be.

I've tried both AFC-focus and AFC-release still with mixed results.

At times i could thrown in the towel and try Canon :'(

Anything obvious i need to check ? - i've checked the lens for AF fine tune and even that can give inconsistent results.

Thanks in advance,
Mike.
 
Isn't AF-C a better option for children who always have the knack of moving slightly ?
 
Depends on how much they move if its only slightly then I would use afs and just recompose etc..if they were running about I would use it but not for the type of shot you have posted
 
OK - i'll try AF-S for portraits then, they are getting a bit older now so less likely to move about unless running around the Garden.

That said how would AF-C get it so wrong ?....not even close..
 
1/40? Why???! You are definitely getting motion blur in there (He is moving!). With flash it is nice and simple 1/250s. As it's too dark, increase the power of flashgun till you get the right exposure in camera, rather than pulling 1-2 stops.

The crops don't seem incredibly out of focus (some blur yes). Where are you focusing - the eyes?
 
daugirdas said:
1/40? Why???! You are definitely getting motion blur in there (He is moving!). With flash it is nice and simple 1/250s. As it's too dark, increase the power of flashgun till you get the right exposure in camera, rather than pulling 1-2 stops.

The crops don't seem incredibly out of focus (some blur yes). Where are you focusing - the eyes?
Click to expand...

this - the eye blurring looks like motion blur, not out of focus. I always try for at least 1/160 with portraits generally to prevent that 'blinking blur' especially when using flash as blinking is more likely.
 
Yes, movement blur rather than out of focus. Could be subject movement or camera shake - both are likely at 1/40sec with a bit of ambient light about.
 
I had a similar problem when I first got my d7000, using the 35mm 1.8 DX lens

Went out with it and reeled a few shots off, upon uploading them into capture one, I find many to be out of focus.

So I did a bit of digging and concluded:

- The soft images tended to be taken around the f1.8 - 2.8 range
- The focusing was set as Af-A, 39 point auto.

When I changed the af to af-s and stopped the lens down to about f4.5 - 5.6, and used single point focus, images were much better.

The d7000 seems to have a very sensitive AF. Also upping the shutter speed to a minimum of 1/250th (hand held) helped.

Jury is still out a bit though, need to take some more shots to be totally sure...
 
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